still cited from OG 12: The main point of this sentence is to explain that while Marconi felt the radio would substitute
for the phone as an instrument of private communication, in fact it has become an instrument of mass communication. It is less wordy to use Marconi as the subject of the active verb conceived than to use the subject conception with the static verb was. The pronoun it positioned as the subject of the fi nal verb hasbecome refers back to radio. Versions of the sentence that use the relative pronoun which indicate that the telephone has become a mass medium.
-- by 会员 dontwannalose (2010/2/26 8:08:13)