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Chapter X focuses on the problem of dangling modifiers, including those of participles, gerunds, infinitives, prepositional phrases, and single adjectives. Dangling modifiers mislead readers due to incorrect grammatical relationships and need to be eliminated by adjusting the sentence structure or changing the way of expression. For example, "Using either military or peaceful means, most of the remaining enemy forces were put out of action." should be revised to "We put most of the remaining enemy forces out of action using either military or peaceful means." This problem is also common in daily life. For instance, "Looking out of the window, the mountains came into view." should be changed to "Looking out of the window, I saw the mountains come into view."
Chapter XI introduces the parallel structure, which can make sentences more logical, rhythmic, and expressive. The elements connected by coordinating conjunctions, correlative conjunctions, items in a list or headings, and elements in comparisons should all have the same grammatical form. For example, "Also to be coordinated are water supply, security, and how to move people and trucks across the border more efficiently." should be revised to "Also to be coordinated are water supply, security, and efficient movement of people and trucks across the border." In daily life, when describing a person's strengths, "He is kind, helpful, and always willing to offer a hand." can be optimized to "He is kind, helpful, and willing to offer a hand." |
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