大全787（og256）：由og解释所引出的问题

256. The nephew of Pliny the Elder wrote the only eyewitness account of the great eruption of Vesuvius in two letters to the historian Tacitus.

(A) The nephew of Pliny the Elder wrote the only eyewitness account of the great eruption of Vesuvius in two letters to the historian Tacitus.

(B) To the historian Tacitus, the nephew of Pliny the Elder wrote two letters, being the only eyewitness accounts of the great eruption of Vesuvius.

(C) The only eyewitness account is in two letters by the nephew of Pliny the Elder writing to the historian Tacitus an account of the great eruption of Vesuvius.

(D) Writing the only eyewitness account, Pliny the Elder’s nephew accounted for the great eruption of Vesuvius in two letters to the historian Tacitus.（E）

(E) In two letters to the historian Tacitus, the nephew of Pliny the Elder wrote the only eyewitness account of the great eruption of Vesuvius.

E, the best choice, conveys its meaning clearly, without ambiguity, and uses straightforward syntax. In A, the placement of the phrase in two letters to the historian Tacitus generates ambiguity: the nonsensical suggestion is that the eruption of Vesuvius took place in the letters themselves. In B, the verb phrase that begins being the only eyewitness accounts modifies the subject of the preceding clause, suggesting nonsensically that the nephew of Pliny the Elder himself was the eyewitness accounts. Furthermore, To the historian Tacitus, the nephew... wrote two letters is unnecessarily clumsy. In C, the meaning of the sentence is unclear (The only eyewitness account of what?), the repetition of account is clumsy, and the syntax is highly convoluted (... in two letters by the nephew of Pliny the Elder writing to the historian Tacitus an account...). In D, Writing the only eyewitness account, Pliny the Elder’s nephew accounted is redundant, and the placement of in two letters to the historian Tacitus generates ambiguity, suggesting under one available reading that the eruption took place in the letters.

这题对答案没什么问题，但是og的解释（highlight的部分）让我有点疑惑：being + n.位于句首或句尾在GMAT中到底是否允许？我印象里好像没再大全里见到过Being+n., somebody did/does……或者Somebody did/does……，being+n..这样的句型。但是og的这个解释好像又暗示being+n.可以用来修饰句子主语。那么，如果being +n.的逻辑指代没有问题的话，它到底能不能作为正确选项？

虽然在OG选项中being几乎无一例外的全在错误选项中，但是，这并不说明being的表达就一定错。下面是我以前总结的being结构，希望有点帮助。

being

1. being在一般情况下强调事物正在进行或正在保持一种状态，其强调的是动作的连续，而且其相当于一个动词，所以可以用于现分结构中。

2. 在介词结构后表达被动，则补出being，且并不表达进行；15/183

3. being在逗号后开始句子，则being修饰前面句子(的主语)(即作状语)而不是就近名词；253/256

15 – mood swings, which may be violent without being grounded in mental disease 当要表达被动又跟在介词后，being补出

X24 – The 1^st decision for most tenants living in a building undergoing being converted to cooperative ownership is … 句中being和undergoing都表示了进行的动作，所以being多余，the phrase being converted is awkward and redundant, since the sense of process indicated by being has already been conveyed by undergoing.

X42 – The current administration, being worried about … being在此处纯属多余，worried about是形容词结构，表达一种状态，worried about is preferable when describing a condition rather than an action.

X86 – Having the right hand and arm being crippled by a sniper’s bullet during the 1^st World War, sb … 逻辑性考量外，being/having两个现分结构没必要，In A, the use of the two participles Having and being is ungrammatical.

X86 – His right hand and arm being crippled by a sniper’s bullet during the 1^st World War, sb … 逻辑上判断，being应省略，因为crippled这个动作仅发生在过去，并没有持续，In choice D, being should be omitted.

102 – Besides a concert performance being staged by the composer himself in 1911, S’s opera was … 逻辑上判断，being应省略，因为staged这个动作仅发生在过去，并没有持续，C uses the participle being inappropriately.

183 – was probably buried to keep it from being stolen by invaders.

X223 – the students are being increasingly successful in the job market 强调进行状态，being in C and E is less precise than becoming for describing a pattern of events that is unfolding.

230 – smokers frequently express anxiety that their prospects for being hired and promoted are being stunted by their habit. 强调进行状态和同时性

X256 – To the historian Tacitus, the nephew of Pliny the Elder wrote two letters, being the only eyewitness accounts of the great eruption of Vesuvius. ETS解释：B, the verb phrase that begins being the only eyewitness accounts modifies the subject of the preceding clause, suggesting non­sensically that the nephew of Pliny the Elder himself was the eyewitness accounts. (参OG39C的解释)

X261 – Being born in Calcutta in 1940 and having been a United States citizen since 1988, author Bharati Mukherjee lived in England and Canada, and first came to the United States in 1961 to study at the Iowa Writers' Workshop. OG解释：the use of progressive forms (Being born, having been. Having been born, and being) implies continuous action, a notion that is not appropriate to the facts being presented. Being只能表达一个连续的动作

XB19 - The herbicide Oryzalin was still being produced in 1979, three years after the wives of workers producing the chemical in Rensselaer, New York, were found either to have had miscarriages or children born with heart defects, without any of their pregnancies being normal. 第二个being是因为without介词的缘故；第一个being强调动作进行状态；划线最后部分在正确答案中被改为：none of the pregnancies was

Wow! So many details, very cool! I got it. Thank you very much, stoneren.

The herbicide Oryzalin was still being produced in 1979。

这里的being用法对吗？难道是强调这个herbicide Oryzalin在1979年的时候一直被生产？

个人觉得being在gmat中还是有可能作为正确选项的，只要符合用法，相对正确。being之所以不对，是因为作定语时being往往是多余的。但是也有一些情况，比如要表达进行时态是可以用being的。

真是有好多东西要学！！

真奇怪，石头人老大的这个being的帖子竟然没有加精华，斑竹一定要给补上，实在太好太好了！