modifier issue

[vivekkapoor73]

Option 1: Scientists, having amassed a wealth of
knowledge over the past twenty years about the brain
and its development from birth to adulthood, are now
drawing solid conclusions about how the human brain
grows and how babies acquire language.---Clear to me

Option 2: Scientists have amassed a wealth of knowledge over the past twenty years about the brain and its development from birth to adulthood,now drawing solid conclusions about how the human brain grows and how babies acquire language.

Hi RON,
Same type of question in OG
My question is for option 2, I read in explanation that it seems that "now drawing" modifing adulthood but I read in some of your forum that "now drawing" should modify whole idea of preceding clause.

Please correct my understanding as i get confused in these type of problems.

thanks

[vivekkapoor73]

Moreover, in option 2 "have amassed" which is the event already completed( completes sentence) & "now drawing conclusion" as modifier occurring after "have amassed" event.

Sorry I couldnt write both questions in one shot.

Please correct my understanding for both.

[RonPurewal]

"Now drawing..." describes a later development.
First, Scientists built up a whole bunch of knowledge. Now that they've finished amassing that knowledge, they are drawing xxxxx blah blah blah conclusions.

Doesn't make sense as a modifier -- it's a whole new idea.
The whole idea of precisely nailing down what it modifies isn't even necessary here, because it doesn't logically describe anything in the preceding clause. (To work correctly, it would have to describe "Scientists have amassed a wealth of xxxxx" -- the subject+action of the previous part.)

--

As far as I can come up with, there's only one situation in which the __ing modifier can describe a later event. Specifically, if that later event is a [b]direct/immediate/inevitable consequence[/i] of what was described earlier, then you can use an __ing modifier.
E.g.,
The oil tanker ran aground, spilling 750,000 barrels of oil into the sea.

That doesn't happen in this sentence.

[RonPurewal]

Hi RON,

Why do so many people write my name in all uppercase letters? Genuinely curious -- I don't get it. (People don't seem to do the same thing with other moderators' names, like "Stacey", "Jamie", or "Tim".)

My question is for option 2, I read in explanation that it seems that "now drawing" modifing adulthood but I read in some of your forum that "now drawing" should modify whole idea of preceding clause.

If this modifier were used correctly, it would do the latter.

The OG problems are of top quality, but many of the explanations are out to lunch.

[vivekkapoor73]

Hi RON,

I feel RON has become title for people who are preparing for GMAT.

thanks for your prompt replies for our questions.

[jlucero]

Glad you're learning something here.