Which of the following sentences is/are grammatically CORRECT with respect to modifier placement and subject-verb agreement?
Options:
(A) Neither the tractor operator nor the irrigation technicians were present at the briefing.
(B) Walking across the experimental plot, the agronomist noticed severe nitrogen deficiency in the maize leaves.
(C) Each of the soil core samples collected from the watershed has been cataloged.
(D) Having completed the tillage operation, the tractor was parked inside the shed by the farmer.
Answer Key:
A, B, C
Step-by-Step Solution & Explanation
**Method 1: Syntactic and Agreement Analysis**
- (A) Correct: With 'neither... nor', the verb agrees with the closer subject ('technicians', plural $\implies$ 'were').
- (B) Correct: The participial phrase 'Walking across the experimental plot' logically and syntactically modifies the subject 'the agronomist'.
- (C) Correct: The distributive pronoun 'Each' takes a singular verb 'has been cataloged'.
- (D) Incorrect: Contains a dangling modifier. The tractor did not complete the tillage operation; the farmer did. The sentence should read: 'Having completed the tillage operation, the farmer parked the tractor inside the shed.'
Therefore, statements **A**, **B**, and **C** are grammatically correct.