<ol>
<li>By simply entering an Internet website or calling a toll-free number, a catalog order can be placed for almost anything from cheesecakes to fully equipped desktop computers.</li>
</ol>
<p>Answer:
(D) you can place a catalog order</p>
<p>Why is it not:
(A) a catalog order can be placed</p>
<p>when you see the “-ing” ending think that a person is doing the action and it should immediately follow the comma; also " a catalog order can be placed" although grammatically valid is passive , ALWAYS refrain from picking the passive on the SAT unless it is the only grammatically valid answer. There is nothing wrong with saying “you can place a catalog order” and it is better than the former cause it is active.</p>
<p>No, “a catalog order can be placed” is NOT grammatically correct!</p>
<p>The question you need to ask is who is “entering an Internet website” or “calling a toll-free number”? And that question needs to be answered in the sentence! You have to say who is doing these things. For that reason, answer (A) is incorrect.</p>
<p>In that sentence, a catalog does not go with the action ‘entering internet or calling a number’. We must use a reasonable subject then, which is ‘you’. Furthermore, never use the passive voice unless it is the only grammatically correct choice.</p>
<p>Dangling modifier/Misplaced modifier</p>