【求教】OG：请问句子,-ed/ing这样的结构分词究竟是修饰什么？

Vickyliu

OG上有这样一题：
In theory, international civil servants at the United Nations are prohibited from counting to draw salaries from their own governments; in practice, however, some goverments merely substitute living allowances for their emplyees' paychecks, assigned by them tothe United Nations.
A答案同题目划线部分，OG的解释说A错在assigned就近修饰了paychecks，而逻辑上应该修饰employee。
这样符合白勇的规则：句子，-ed/-ing的结构，分词首先就近修饰前面的名词，如果前面没有名词，则修饰前面的整句，其主语是主句的逻辑主语。

但是OG上又有另外一题：
Fossils of the arm of a sloth, found in Puerto Rico in 1991, have been dated at 34 million years old, making the sloth the earliest known mamal on the Great Antilles Island.
这句已经是正确答案了。这里的found是修饰fossils而不是a sloth的啊~

究竟逗号后的分词是修饰哪个的呢？向各位高手求救啊。。。。。。。

liuyinghong

我也不明白呀~~~
答案里说A选项中assigned 是修饰PAYCHECKS,
C选项中HAVING是修饰GOVERNMENT。
为什么修饰的不一样呀

Vickyliu

谢谢楼上的好心人~
我很认真地看了你提供的解释，还是有一点疑惑。。。

If a participial phrase comes at the end of a sentence, a comma usually precedes the phrase if it modifies an earlier word in the sentence but not if the phrase directly follows the word it modifies.

如果按照上述的原则的话，我之前举的第一个句子中assigned by应该是修饰some governments，但第一个OG的解释是assigned修饰paychecks的。

我下午回去翻以前的题研究了下，发觉GMAT中-ed，无论前面有没有逗号（作为插入语除外），基本上都是就近修饰前面的名词。但当-ed短语作为插入语的时候，就如我举的第二个例子，就可以修饰前面句子或短语的主语。

不知道这样理解对不对？

suners

回复 3# sunflower88

楼上辛苦！

sunflower88

给你看这个吧
Participles
Summary: This handout provides a detailed overview (including descriptions and examples) of gerunds, participles, and infinitives.
Contributorsurdue OWL
Last Edited: 2010-01-08 12:04:39
A participle is a verbal that is used as an adjective and most often ends in -ing or -ed. The term verbal indicates that a participle, like the other two kinds of verbals, is based on a verb and therefore expresses action or a state of being. However, since they function as adjectives, participles modify nouns or pronouns. There are two types of participles: present participles and past participles. Present participles end in -ing. Past participles end in -ed, -en, -d, -t, or -n, as in the words asked, eaten, saved, dealt, and seen.

The crying baby had a wet diaper.
Shaken, he walked away from the wrecked car.
The burning log fell off the fire.
Smiling, she hugged the panting dog.
A participial phrase is a group of words consisting of a participle and the modifier(s) and/or (pro)noun(s) or noun phrase(s) that function as the direct object(s), indirect object(s), or complement(s) of the action or state expressed in the participle, such as:

Removing his coat, Jack rushed to the river.
The participial phrase functions as an adjective modifying Jack.
Removing (participle)
his coat (direct object of action expressed in participle)

Delores noticed her cousin walking along the shoreline.
The participial phrase functions as an adjective modifying cousin.
walking (participle)
along the shoreline (prepositional phrase as adverb)

Children introduced to music early develop strong intellectual skills.
The participial phrase functions as an adjective modifying children.
introduced (to) (participle)
music (direct object of action expressed in participle)
early (adverb)

Having been a gymnast, Lynn knew the importance of exercise.
The participial phrase functions as an adjective modifying Lynn.
Having been (participle)
a gymnast (subject complement for Lynn, via state of being expressed in participle)

Placement: In order to prevent confusion, a participial phrase must be placed as close to the noun it modifies as possible, and the noun must be clearly stated.

Carrying a heavy pile of books, his foot caught on a step. *
Carrying a heavy pile of books, he caught his foot on a step.
In the first sentence there is no clear indication of who or what is performing the action expressed in the participle carrying. Certainly foot can't be logically understood to function in this way. This situation is an example of a dangling modifier error since the modifier (the participial phrase) is not modifying any specific noun in the sentence and is thus left "dangling." Since a person must be doing the carrying for the sentence to make sense, a noun or pronoun that refers to a person must be in the place immediately after the participial phrase, as in the second sentence.

Punctuation: When a participial phrase begins a sentence, a comma should be placed after the phrase.

Arriving at the store, I found that it was closed.
Washing and polishing the car, Frank developed sore muscles.
If the participle or participial phrase comes in the middle of a sentence, it should be set off with commas only if the information is not essential to the meaning of the sentence.

Sid, watching an old movie, drifted in and out of sleep.
The church, destroyed by a fire, was never rebuilt.
Note that if the participial phrase is essential to the meaning of the sentence, no commas should be used:

The student earning the highest grade point average will receive a special award.
The guy wearing the chicken costume is my cousin.
If a participial phrase comes at the end of a sentence, a comma usually precedes the phrase if it modifies an earlier word in the sentence but not if the phrase directly follows the word it modifies.

The local residents often saw Ken wandering through the streets.
(The phrase modifies Ken, not residents.)
Tom nervously watched the woman, alarmed by her silence.
(The phrase modifies Tom, not woman.)
Points to remember

A participle is a verbal ending in -ing (present) or -ed, -en, -d, -t, or -n (past) that functions as an adjective, modifying a noun or pronoun.
A participial phrase consists of a participle plus modifier(s), object(s), and/or complement(s).
Participles and participial phrases must be placed as close to the nouns or pronouns they modify as possible, and those nouns or pronouns must be clearly stated.
A participial phrase is set off with commas when it:
a) comes at the beginning of a sentence
b) interrupts a sentence as a nonessential element
c) comes at the end of a sentence and is separated from the word it modifies.

suners

楼主的问题比较有深意啊。
我觉得是不是别按照一个模式来记忆啊。
意思上的理解告诉我，assigned by them to the United Nations，说的就是employees或者international servants，理解成其他的是不和逻辑的。

Fossils那个，如果理解成一个sloth在1991年找到，这个是不是有点别扭。have been这个谓语说的也是fossils，那么中间的部分，更大可能是说fossils吧。

我只能理解到此。