<p>Wrong: The story has finally been told after 150 years of the Donner Party.
Right: The story of the Donner Party has finally been told after 150 years.</p>
<p>Wrong: Carlos, after arriving from Honduras, described his ordeal in my class.
Right: After arriving from Honduras, Carols described his ordeal to my class.</p>
<p>Wrong: A report was submitted about the bank robbery by the police.
Right: The police submitted a report about the bank robbery.</p>
<p>Can anyone tell me why the right answers are more correct than the wrong answers?</p>
<ol>
<li><p>The 1st is incorrect because it means the Donner party has been in existance for 150 years.</p></li>
<li><p>Don't know, I would say it just sounds better.</p></li>
<li><p>Two focuses on the police sending the report, the action. 1 is passive.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Having people tell you exactly what is wrong or right with a sentence, and learning techinical terms like modifiers will not help you. What you need is more practice in reading. Reading a variety of well written materials will help you tremendously, as you will become accustomed to gramatically correct sentences.</p>
<p>Of course, you need time to improve your reading skills...so sign up for the latest SAT you can.</p>
<p>inseniarator , can you tell me which word is misplaced and how to make the modifier not misplaced.</p>
<p>Stupor, I disagree with your statement. I need to know why the statements are wrong, in case something like misplaced modifiers will show up on the SATs.</p>
<p>Twinkletoes -
you can find and learn the rule of misplaced modifiers in many places...
Wait a second, is it "The Rule Of Misplaced Modifiers In Many Places", or it's "you can find the rule in many places"?</p>
<p>How about this:
People who visit CC frequently have serious problems.</p>
<p>Without even knowing the rule you still can spot an ambiguity.</p>
<p>All three of your "Wrongs" do have misplaced modifiers, but you don't need to come up with a grammatical diagnosis.
All three of those sentences are ambigous - they might be interpreted (understood) in different ways.
In "Rights" ambiguity is removed.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Has the story finally been told after 150 years of the non-stop Donner Partying?
Or the Donner Party's story has finally broke after 150 years of the facts having been suppressed?</p></li>
<li><p>Has Carlos had an ordeal in my class and described it after making it from Honduras?
Or he felt safe in my class and described what he's gone through?</p></li>
<li><p>Was it "the bank robbbery by the police" or "a report ... submitted by the police"?</p></li>
</ol>