Solution: Sentence Correction Drill #1

1. Created in October, 1972, the Consumer Product Safety Commission, which enacted a host of regulations affecting a wide range of goods, from overly flammable mattresses to unhealthy aerosol sprays to fireworks.

A. the Consumer Product Safety Commission, which enacted a host of regulations affecting a wide range of goods
B. the Consumer Product Safety Commission enacted a host of regulations affecting a wide range of goods
C. a host of regulations affecting a wide range of goods enacted by the Consumer Product Safety Commission
D. a host of regulations enacted by the Consumer Product Safety Commission, which affected a wide range of goods
E. when a host of regulations affecting a wide range of goods was enacted by the Consumer Product Safety Commission

Correct Answer: B

English Explanation

Sentence Meaning: The Consumer Product Safety Commission, created in October 1972, made safety rules for many kinds of products.

Grammar Concept: Introductory modifier placement and dangling modifier avoidance

1) What is a Modifier?

A modifier is a word or group of words that adds more information to another part of the sentence.

It can tell us how, when, where, or in what condition something happens.

Think of a modifier as an adjective or adverb phrase that describes.

Example 1:

Example 2:

So, a modifier must be close to the word it describes, or the meaning will shift.

2) What is a Dangling Modifier?

A dangling modifier happens when the descriptive phrase is not followed by the right noun - it “dangles,” because it seems to describe the wrong thing or nothing at all.

Example 1 (wrong):

Walking home, the rain started to fall.

→ Who was walking home? The sentence sounds like the rain was walking!

Example 2 (corrected):

Walking home, I felt the rain start to fall.

→ Now the modifier “Walking home” clearly describes “I.”

Rule to remember:

When you start a sentence with a modifier, the noun right after the comma must be the thing the modifier describes.

✅ Born in Dhaka, Rahim became a doctor. (“Born in Dhaka” correctly describes Rahim.)

❌ Born in Dhaka, the hospital was built by Rahim. (The modifier wrongly describes the hospital.)

✅ Created in 1972, the committee made several new safety laws. (The modifier “Created in 1972” logically describes the committee, not the laws.)

❌ Created in 1972, several new safety laws were made by the committee. (Here it sounds as if the laws were created, not the committee.)

3) Applying the Rule to Our Sentence

The sentence begins with:

This phrase describes something that was created in 1972.
That “something” is the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC).

So, right after the comma, we must place the Consumer Product Safety Commission - otherwise the modifier will “dangle.”

If we write:

✅ This is correct.

The phrase “Created in October, 1972” modifies “the Consumer Product Safety Commission.”

It tells when the Commission was created.

Then “enacted many regulations” gives the action, making the sentence complete.

4) Why “Enacted” is Important

Every full sentence needs a subject (who/what) and a main verb (what they did).

Here:

Subject → the Consumer Product Safety Commission

Verb → enacted

“Enacted” means made into law or put into effect. So the sentence clearly states:

The Commission, which was created in 1972, later made many rules about consumer safety.

That’s clear, logical, and grammatically sound.

5) Why the Other Options Are Wrong

A. “which enacted …”

Using “which” turns the clause into a relative clause, so there’s no independent main clause.

The sentence becomes a fragment - incomplete because it lacks a standalone subject-verb pair.

Example: Created in 1972, which enacted many regulations. (Who did what? No answer.)

C. “A host of regulations”

Puts “a host of regulations” (many rules) right after the modifier, so the sentence says the regulations were created in 1972.

That’s illogical - the commission was created, not the regulations.

This is the classic dangling modifier error: the modifier is describing the wrong noun.

D. Same dangling problem - “a host of regulations” follows the modifier.

Plus, “which affected” is unclear: does “which” refer to the commission or the regulations? That makes it ambiguous.

E. “Created in October, 1972, when …”

This mixes a time clause (“when … was enacted”) with the modifier “Created.”

The result is confusing and grammatically tangled - “Created” has no clear subject to modify, and “when” pulls the meaning in another direction.

Therefore, only Option B follows all modifier rules and gives a clear, complete sentence.

Bangla Explanation (বাংলা ব্যাখ্যা)

১) Modifier মানে কি?

Modifier হলো এমন একটা শব্দ বা শব্দগুচ্ছ যা বাক্যের অন্য অংশকে বর্ণনা করে বা অতিরিক্ত তথ্য দেয় – যেমন কখন, কোথায়, কীভাবে বা কোন অবস্থায় কিছু ঘটেছে।

উদাহরণ ১:

উদাহরণ ২:

Modifier সবসময় যাকে বর্ণনা করে তার কাছেই থাকতে হবে। না হলে অর্থ ভুল হয়ে যায়।

২. Dangling Modifier কি?

যখন modifier-এর পরে যে নাম থাকার কথা তা না থাকে, বা ভুল নাম থাকে, তখন একটি dangling modifier ঘটে। মানে, modifier-টা “ঝুলে থাকে” কারণ এটা স্পষ্ট নয় কাকে বর্ণনা করছে।

ভুল উদাহরণ:

সঠিক উদাহরণ:

নিয়ম: যদি বাক্য modifier দিয়ে শুরু হয়, তবে কমার পরেই সেই নাউন বা বিষয়টি আসতে হবে যাকে modifier বর্ণনা করছে।

৩) এই নিয়ম আমাদের বাক্যে প্রয়োগ

বাক্যটি শুরু হয়েছে: “Created in October, 1972,”
এটি বর্ণনা করছে যে বস্তুটি ১৯৭২ সালে তৈরি হয়েছিল - অর্থাৎ Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC)।

তাই কমার পরেই এই নাউনটি আসা উচিত:

এভাবে বাক্যটি পরিষ্কার এবং সঠিক হয়। এখানে modifier কমিশনকেই বর্ণনা করছে।

৪. কেন “enacted” গুরুত্বপূর্ণ

একটি সম্পূর্ণ বাক্যে দুটি অংশ থাকতে হয় - subject (কে বা কি) এবং verb (কি করেছে)।
এখানে:

“Enacted” মানে আইন বা নিয়ম প্রণয়ন করা।
তাই বাক্যটির অর্থ হলো কমিশনটি গঠিত হয়ে নিয়মাবলি প্রণয়ন করেছিল।

৫. কেন অন্য অপশনগুলো ভুল

2. The radiation emanating from the Sun has been very nearly constant for millions of years, but the amount of heat that falls on Earth's surface depends on both the length of the period of daylight as well as on the angle of incidence of incoming sunlight.

A. depends on both the length of the period of daylight as well as on
B. depends both on the length of the period of daylight as well as
C. depends both on the length of the period of daylight and on
D. both depends on the length of the period of daylight and
E. both depends on the length of the period of daylight and on

Correct Answer: C

Explanation:

3. Because you simultaneously focus two eyes on an object, employing a sophisticated method of determining distance and perceiving depth, we call our vision binocular.

A. you simultaneously focus two eyes on an object
B. you simultaneously focus on an object by two eyes
C. of our simultaneous focus on an object with two eyes
D. of our simultaneously focusing on an object by two eyes
E. we simultaneously focus two eyes on an object

Correct Answer: E

Explanation:

4. A gale-force solar storm that hit the Earth on March 13, 1989, sent electrons arcing across power lines, railroad tracks, and expanses of iron-bearing rock in eastern Canada, where alarmed engineers tried but failed to keep the Hydro-Quebec power grid operating.

A. tried but failed to keep
B. tried but failed in their keeping
C. had tried but were failing in keeping
D. were trying but having failed to keep
E. were trying but they had failed in keeping

Correct Answer: A

Explanation:

5. The body heat of reptiles and amphibians is not regulated by internal thermostats, therefore, they raise or lower their own temperature in that they seek or flee warmth, sometimes merely by moving into or out of direct sunlight.

A. thermostats, therefore, they raise or lower their own temperature in that they seek or flee
B. thermostats, therefore raising or lowering their own temperature by seeking or fleeing
C. thermostats, therefore, in raising or lowering their own temperature by seeking or fleeing
D. thermostats; therefore, they raise or lower their own temperature by seeking or fleeing
E. thermostats; therefore, they raise or lower their own temperature in that they seek or flee

Correct Answer: D

Explanation:

6. Until about 10,000 years ago, humans had lived almost exclusively as hunters and gatherers, harvesting wild plants and animals, then, people had begun to cultivate domesticated plants, and to grow food.

A. animals, then, people had begun
B. animals, people then began
C. animals, so that then, people had begun
D. animals; so that then, people began
E. animals; then, people began

Correct Answer: E

Explanation:

7. In 1777, when news reached Colonel Ludington that the town of Danbury, Connecticut, was being looted and burned by British troops, his daughter Sybil rode forty miles through the night so that the soldiers of her father's regiment had been alerted to the danger.

A. so that the soldiers of her father's regiment had been alerted
B. so that the soldiers of her father's regiment may be alerted
C. alerting the soldiers of her father's regiment
D. and alerting the soldiers of her father's regiment
E. for alerting the soldiers of her father's regiment

Correct Answer: C

Explanation:

8. Two hundred million years ago, during the Jurassic period, all of the land area on Earth, found in one large continent called Pangea, which eventually broke apart through a process now known as continental drift.

A. all of the land area on Earth, found in one large continent called Pangea, which
B. one large continent, in which all of the land area on Earth was found, called Pangea, and it
C. one large continent called Pangea, in which all of the land area on Earth was found, which
D. one large continent was called Pangea, in which all of the land area on Earth was found and
E. all of the land area on Earth was found in one large continent called Pangea, which

Correct Answer: E

Explanation:

9. In 1990, the Fish and Wildlife Service has placed the northern spotted owl on the threatened species list, a native of Pacific Northwest forests.

A. the Fish and Wildlife Service has placed the northern spotted owl on the threatened species list, a native of Pacific Northwest forests
B. the Fish and Wildlife Service placed the northern spotted owl, a native of Pacific Northwest forests, on the threatened species list
C. a native of Pacific Northwest forests, the Fish and Wildlife Service placed the northern spotted owl on the threatened species list
D. the northern spotted owl has been placed on the threatened species list by the Fish and Wildlife Service, which is a native of Pacific Northwest forests
E. the northern spotted owl, a native of pacific Northwest forests, placed on the threatened species list by the Fish and Wildlife Service

Correct Answer: B

Explanation:

10. In the United States at the end of the nineteenth century, public places such as theaters, restaurants, shops, and banks had installed electric lighting, but electricity was in fewer than one percent of homes and lighting still provided mainly by candles or gas.

A. electricity was in fewer than one percent of homes and lighting still
B. electricity was in fewer than one percent of homes, where lighting was still
C. fewer than one percent of homes that had electricity, where lighting was still being
D. fewer than one percent of homes with electricity, having lighting that was still
E. fewer than one percent of homes had electricity, where lighting had still been

Correct Answer: B

Explanation:

11. Mainly through the efforts of Jane Goodall, apes were revealed to be not blundering, primitive automatons, but beings with as complex and subtle social lives like us.

A. as complex and subtle social lives like us
B. complex and subtle social lives just like us
C. as complex and subtle social lives as us
D. social lives complex and subtle just as ours
E. social lives as complex and subtle as ours

Correct Answer: E

Explanation:

12. In the sixteenth century, the forests were destroyed in Britain, which meant not only a shortage of the most important building material of the time, but also a fuel shortage.

A. the forests were destroyed in Britain, which meant not only a shortage
B. the forests in Britain were destroyed, which meant a shortage not only
C. the forests were destroyed in Britain, meaning a shortage not only
D. destruction of the forests in Britain meant not only a shortage
E. destruction of the forests in Britain meant a shortage not only

Correct Answer: D

Explanation: