[Grammar] the one pursuit she feared, though desperately ached to do ...

[kadioguy]

[From The New York Times' twitter]

It's never too late to learn horseback riding. For Rose Young, learning to ride was about finding a new joy. It was also her reward for surviving breast cancer. "I've learned to slow down and enjoy each moment that I'm with the horse," she said. "I'm trying to take pleasure in the feeling of accomplishment."

She has worked as an FBI officer focusing on white-collar crimes, a lawyer practicing insurance litigation and a health care compliance officer. But the one pursuit she feared, though desperately ached to do, even as a child, was to go horseback riding.

[Source]
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The blue text seems a dangling modifier to me. It grammatically modifies "the one pursuit" rather than "she".

I'd rewrite it with "... though she desperately ached to do ...".

What do you think?

 

[Rover_KE]

It's fine as is.

 

[kadioguy]

It's fine as is.

I agree that it looks fine, but I'd argue that a grammarian would call it dangling modifier. :-?

 

[Rover_KE]

We'll hear from a grammarian later.

 

[tedmc]

But the one pursuit she feared, though(she) desperately ached to do, even as a child, was to go horseback riding.

The second she is understood and optional.

 

[5jj]

Nothing is 'dangling'.

 

[Rover_KE]

Walking into the kitchen, the roast chicken smelt delicious.

That's a dangling participle.

 

[kadioguy]

The second she is understood and optional.

Then how about this one?

But the one pursuit she feared, though desperately aching to do ....

[The version uses a reduced clause.]

 

[5jj]

It's still not dangling.

 

[kadioguy]

It's still not dangling.

a. the one pursuit she feared, though (she) desperately ached to do ....

b. the one pursuit she feared, though desperately aching to do ....
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They both work, but I guess (a) is better. Is that right?

 

[tedmc]

b. the one pursuit she feared, though is desperately aching to do ....

No, #2 needs an auxillary verb with the continuous tense.

 

[kadioguy]

No, #2 needs an auxillary verb with the continuous tense.

b. the one pursuit she feared, though desperately aching to do ....

I think that (b) is like this type:

Though desperately aching to do, she feared [something] ....

What do you think?