Because she knew many of the leaders of colonial America...

[tim]

Ron already answered this. Please read the entire thread before posting..

[ntr1989512]

so, a vantage point can refer the whole idea before, why can not choose B?
thanks

the modifier "when" in choice (b) is nonsensical, as the sentence is not describing anything restricted to that timeframe.

Hi ron
can i regard "when combined with her talent for writing" as parenthesis?? plus, if not, can you help me summary the usage of the parenthesis?
thanks in advance.

[ntr1989512]

Why A is wrong?

does phrase "combining with her talent for writing" not serve the intended purpose "make one of the most valuable historians of the ear".

Tense of "combining " should be same as that it is attached.
We cannot say that it is wrong because It is not in past test.

"ing" modifiers are active forms. in other words, if properly used, they should have a meaning equivalent to that of an active-voice verb whose subject is the noun in question.
so, if you are going to write "a vantage point combining...", that's equivalent to saying that "the vantage point combined..." -- in other words, suggesting a literal act of combining, as in a chemical reaction or something along those lines.


ron
do you think "to make" has a problem here?
"to make" means something happen in future, while the sentence definitely show something had happen in the pass. so it makes no sense. is that right?

[ntr1989512]

Why A is wrong?

does phrase "combining with her talent for writing" not serve the intended purpose "make one of the most valuable historians of the ear".

Tense of "combining " should be same as that it is attached.
We cannot say that it is wrong because It is not in past test.

"ing" modifiers are active forms. in other words, if properly used, they should have a meaning equivalent to that of an active-voice verb whose subject is the noun in question.
so, if you are going to write "a vantage point combining...", that's equivalent to saying that "the vantage point combined..." -- in other words, suggesting a literal act of combining, as in a chemical reaction or something along those lines.[/quote]


ron
in A if i use "combined" instead of "combing", since combined can use as adj to modify "point". A will right?

[tim]

can i regard "when combined with her talent for writing" as parenthesis?? plus, if not, can you help me summary the usage of the parenthesis?
thanks in advance.

that sounds about right..

[tim]

do you think "to make" has a problem here?
"to make" means something happen in future, while the sentence definitely show something had happen in the pass. so it makes no sense. is that right?

"to make" is not necessarily indicative of the future, but even if it were, you need to measure the future relative to the rest of the sentence here, not relative to the vantage point of the author of the sentence..

[tim]

in A if i use "combined" instead of "combing", since combined can use as adj to modify "point". A will right?

No; switching the tense does not eliminate any of the other problems with A..

[ntr1989512]

in A if i use "combined" instead of "combing", since combined can use as adj to modify "point". A will right?

No; switching the tense does not eliminate any of the other problems with A..

besides "combing", are there another problems with A? i couldn't find those.

[ntr1989512]

can i regard "when combined with her talent for writing" as parenthesis?? plus, if not, can you help me summary the usage of the parenthesis?
thanks in advance.

that sounds about right..

but why B is wrong?

[aliassad]

B is wrong because of "When" . As explained above its use is nonsensical here.

[tim]

it's really tough to say whether there are problems with A independent of the one you identified. there are a lot of ways the "combining" could be fixed, some of which would introduce different problems in A..

[jyothi h]

do you think "to make" has a problem here?
"to make" means something happen in future, while the sentence definitely show something had happen in the pass. so it makes no sense. is that right?

"to make" is not necessarily indicative of the future, but even if it were, you need to measure the future relative to the rest of the sentence here, not relative to the vantage point of the author of the sentence..

I ruled out option A and D , cos "to make" sounded like , "vantage point combined with her writing , IN ORDER TO MAKE her ...." I now understand it is wrong because of "combining/combined" , sounds like vantage point did the combining. But also "to make" , sounds like , there was this goal to make her one of valuable historians , and the combining happened in order to achieve that goal. Not sure if I have expressed my interpretation clearly , but this is why i ruled out these two options. can anyone confirm whether my interpretation is right or wrong i.e if "to make" in these two options are fine or not ?

[RonPurewal]

can anyone confirm whether my interpretation is right or wrong i.e if "to make" in these two options are fine or not ?

not really.
"combine to make..." is standard usage whenever things come together to make other things.
e.g., in a fuel cell, hydrogen and oxygen combine to make water.
--> this is an idiomatically acceptable sentence, even though hydrogen and oxygen clearly don't have the "intention" of creating water together.

[jyothi h]

can anyone confirm whether my interpretation is right or wrong i.e if "to make" in these two options are fine or not ?

not really.
"combine to make..." is standard usage whenever things come together to make other things.
e.g., in a fuel cell, hydrogen and oxygen combine to make water.
--> this is an idiomatically acceptable sentence, even though hydrogen and oxygen clearly don't have the "intention" of creating water together.

Oh , I get it. Thank you for clarifying, Ron !

[tim]

:)