use of which

[souravm121]

In the below example, "which" is referring to "inquiries" or "methodology"? Since "inquiries" is just before "comma which" , the " which" here may refer to "inquiries", but 
"inquiries" is in a prepositional phrase and is never the subject. Here " methodology" is the subject.

"The methodology of historical enquiries, which in the past has depended largely on the acceptability of written records, will be greatly affected by the revolution in communications

[StaceyKoprince]

Hi! Please remember to read (and follow!) the forum guidelines before posting.

This folder is only for general strategy questions, not content or specific test problems. Check out the content / problem folders and post in the relevant folder depending upon the source of the text you want to post (and make sure to follow the rules about banned sources).

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In this case, the "which" could refer to either one. The verb in the which-modifier will tell you which one it is supposed to be.

The methodology of historical enquiries, which are numerous and far-reaching, is...

In the example above, the which-modifier refers to enquiries (because of the plural verb are).

In the example that you gave, the which-modifier refers to methodology, because the modifier contains a singular verb.

The real test will not make you choose between the two unless there is some very clear logical way to tell that it can only be one and not the other.

For example:
The mother of the puppies, who was/were born only a week ago, was exhausted.

Here, the mother can't have been born a week ago - it has to be the puppies, so the verb should be plural.

In the example that you gave, I think the meaning of the modifier points a bit more towards the word methodology, but that's because I know something about scientific theory. The real test wouldn't expect you to know that outside info, though, so they wouldn't give you this particular test.