Answer:
1. Their fence was covered with morning glories, which were blooming abundantly.
2. Derek, who played a creative guitar solo, received high marks from the judges.
3. While I waited in the doorway, I stared up at the clouds.
4. Brightly wrapped boxes, which had yet to be opened, lined the hall.
5. Helicopters that were used on training missions for pilots flew over the houses.
6. Angela, who had just returned from aerobics class, leaned down and picked up the baby.
7. Dust that had blown in from the plains swirled around the house.
8. The students, who were wearing rain gear, hiked all day on the mountain.
9. In the auditorium, Mr. Jones lectured about bridge construction.
10. Carrie is often carried away by her enthusiasm.
Explanation:
The sentences above either present a misplaced or a dangling modifier.
A misplaced modifier is a word or phrase that is placed incorrectly in a sentence, causing ambiguity. It makes it a bit difficult to understand to which word the modifier refers. An example would be sentence 4 in the question. The modifier, "that had yet to be opened" is placed far from the word it should be modifying, which is "boxes". By changing the modifier's position, we correct the sentence.
A dangling modifier also causes ambiguity, but not simply because of where it is placed. There is something missing, something that would clarify which word it modifies. That is what happens in sentence 1, with the modifier "blooming abundantly". To make it right, we had to change its position in the sentence besides adding "which were" to make it clear that it modifies "morning glories".
