A modifier question tests whether an opening describing phrase points to the right person or thing. Read through the opening to its comma, and ask who or what it describes. Name that person or thing from the passage. The main noun right after the comma must be what the opening describes, even when the phrase is long or contains several parts. Check that noun rather than deciding by how smooth the sentence sounds.
Hints
- Hint 1
Start with “By comparing” and read to the comma before the blank. Ask who does what that phrase describes.
- Hint 2
Look at the first sentence. Ask how it helps you identify who compares the scratches with the tool marks.
- Hint 3
Once you've named who compares, check the main noun right after the comma. Does that noun itself name who does the comparing?
Step-by-step
Name who the opening describes
Step 1Find the describing phrase
The words By comparing microscopic scratches begin a modifier, a describing phrase, but don't name who compares. Read through rather than relying on the fragments’ corrosion-altered edges to reach its ending comma and the blank. To complete this sentence, the main noun after that comma must name whoever uses this method.
- Step 2
Name who compares
Who compares the scratches with the tool marks? The first sentence says researchers made replicas of several ancient tools, so the researchers are the ones doing this test. The vessel and its fragments are what they study, not who studies them. That gives us the researchers as the people the opening phrase describes.
- Step 3
Find each main noun
Which nouns would By comparing microscopic scratches describe in these versions? The main nouns in the order and the assembly sequence are order and sequence, which can't compare marks. In the research team’s confidence, the main noun is confidence, not team. The apostrophe only says whose confidence it is, so this sentence would make confidence do the comparing. Naming the team elsewhere can't fix that mismatch at the comma.
- Step 4
Complete the sentence
In the research team reconstructed, the main noun is team, which names the people doing the comparing. Does this also fit the rest of the passage? The team reconstructed how the fragments had been joined, which leads into The resulting reconstruction in the next sentence. Choice C.