现在分词短语和不定式短语都可以作结果状语，但是它们之间是有一定的区别：
1.现在分词短语作结果状语：表示的是谓语动词所带来的直接结果或意料中的结果（即自然的结果）。
We increase the length of the wire, thus increasing its resistance.
我们增加了电线的长度，从而增加了它的电阻。
It rained heavily, causing great damage.
大雨滂沱，造成了很大损害。
Neal kept interrupting, breaking my concentration.
尼尔不断打扰，打断我的注意力。
The bell indicating the end of period rang, interrupting our heated discussion.
下课铃响了，打断了我们热烈的讨论。
Then foreign settlers started to arrive, bringing with them new diseases which killed many Kooris and seizing the land on which the Kooris had lived for thousands of years.
接着，外国殖民者开始来到这里，带来了新的疾病，这种疾病掠夺去了许多古利人的生命，殖民者还掠夺了古利人赖以生活了成千上万年的土地。
2.不定式短语作结果状语比较常见；有时表示意料之外的，甚至是不幸的结果，不定式前常加上only，以加强语气。
Many of the Disneyland are built to look like streets in the USA in the 1890s.
迪士尼乐园里的许多街道修建得好像是19世纪90年代美国街道。
He lived to be a very old man.
他活得很长寿。
He left his native country never to return.
他离开了故乡再也没有回来。
Two years later, her father disappeared, never to be heard from again.
两年后，她父亲失踪了，以后再也没有听到他的音信。
Mary drove all the way to Maine, to find that her friends had moved to Florids.
玛丽驱车一路驶到缅因州，结果发现他的朋友已搬到佛罗里达州去了。
We returned by motorcade to the President’s residence to find it transformed.
我们搭乘车队回到总统官邸，发现它已经改头换面了。（希拉里《亲历历史》）
He returned home to find his friend Tom waiting for him.
他回到家，发现他的朋友汤姆正在等他。
One day I went shopping and came back to find my front wheel was missing.
有一天，我去购物，回来发现我的前轮不见了。(上海高考真题)
I reached the station only to find that my train had already left.
我到了车站，却发现我要搭乘的火车已经开走了。《牛津高阶英汉双解词典》
Dan made a break for his car only to find the driver's door locked.
丹朝他的汽车跑去，却发现驾驶座位置的门被锁住了。
She turned up the driveway, only to find her way blocked.
她开上自家车道，不料发现路已被堵。
He turned off only to find he was trapped in a town square with no easy exit.
他转入岔路，却发现自己困在了一个难觅出口的市镇广场。
The attack was unsuccessful and served only to alert the enemy.
进攻未奏效，反而使敌人警觉起来。
I didn't mean to hurt her, only to keep her still
我不是故意要弄痛她，只是想让她别乱动。
He had tasted freedom only to lose it again.
他刚尝到了自由的甜头，却又失去了。
She writes me often, if only to scold me because I haven't written to her
她常来信，即使仅仅为了责怪我还没回信给她。
They reached the company out of breath only to be told they were fired.
他们上气不接下气地赶到公司，不料却被告知他们被开除了。
A customer took a perfectly serviceable washing machine in for repair, only to be told it needed replacing.
一位顾客带着一台性能尚好的洗衣机来修，不料竟被告知该换洗衣机了。
3.充当作结果状语的不定式的逻辑主语和句子的主语保持一致；而现在分词作结果状语充当起逻辑主语的有时并不是句子的主语，而是句子的内容或部分内容。
比较：
European football is played in 80 countries, making it the most popular sport in the world.
有80个国家踢欧洲足球，它成了世界上最流行的运动项目。（高考真题）
作结果状语的现在分词making的逻辑主语是European football is played in 80 countries。
Her husband died in 2020, leaving her with four children.
2020年她丈夫死了，丢下她和四个孩子。
He didn’t come today, thereby making it necessary for us to find someone to do his work.
他今天没有来，因而我们必须找人来做他的工作。
A bomb exploded at the hotel yesterday, killing ten people.
昨天一颗炸弹在旅馆爆炸，炸死了10人。
Fifteen million trees had been blown down by the high winds, blocking roads, paths and railways.
1,500万棵树被狂风刮到，堵塞了大小道路和铁路。
Monkey King talked about eating Pigsy, nearly frightening Pigsy to death.
孙悟空说要吃猪八戒，差点把猪八戒吓死。
By 1820 the population of New York had grown to about 125,000, making it the most largest city in the USA.
到1820年，纽约市的人口增长到12.5万左右，使它成了当时美国最大的城市。