og 13 sc 29 v-ing 问题

邹醒醒

Emily Dickinson’s letters to Susan Huntington Dickinsonwere written over a period beginning a few years before Susan’s marriage toEmily’s brother and ending shortly before Emily’s death in 1886, outnumberingher letters to anyone else.

(A) Dickinson were written over a period beginning a fewyears before Susan’s marriage to Emily’s brother and ending shortly beforeEmily’s death in 1886, outnumbering

(B) Dickinson were written over a period that begins a few years before Susan’s marriage to Emily’s brother and ended shortly before Emily’s death in 1886,outnumber

(C) Dickinson, written over a period beginning a few years before Susan’s marriage to Emily’sbrother and that ends shortly before Emily’sdeath in 1886 and outnumbering

(D) Dickinson, which were written over a period beginninga few years before Susan’s marriage to Emily’s brother, ending shortly beforeEmily’s death in 1886, and outnumbering

(E)Dickinson, which were written over a period beginning a few years before Susan’smarriage to Emily’s brother and ending shortly before Emily’s death in 1886,outnumber

这题可不可以理解成emily在期间写给susan的信 以至于outnumber了她写给其他人的信呢？为什么outnumbering不能做结果状语？？选a很通啊～
是不是因为outnumber不是一个动作行为而只是一种状态？？

musichyy88

V-ING的用法：一般是两种，一种是describe前面那个句子的结果，还有一种是描述一个动作，这个动作是跟前面那个句子同时发生的。
而这题A选项Outnumbering就不是这个time period的直接或者间接结果
按照我自己的理解就是因为A前面一直在描述这个时间过程，outnumbering modifiers前面的时间period，这个time period是不能out number的，是letters outnumber.

http://www.manhattangmat.com/forums/emily-dickinson-s-letters-to-susan-huntington-dickinson-were-t6529.html
Ron在这里有解释，this is exactly the problem: the phrase in question, "outnumbering ...", is NOT, in any way whatsoever, a "(direct/indirect) result" of the time period over which the letters were written. These are two completely independent and unrelated observations about the letters, and so they can't be placed into the sort of construction that appears in choice (a). this is thus not a grammatical problem so much as a problem of clarity, but it's still a problem.
examples:
my brother, who ate bagel bites for breakfast every single day of his high school career, graduated in 1994. --> correct; his eating bagel bites had no impact on his graduation date.
my brother ate bagel bites for breakfast every single day of his high school career, graduating in 1994. --> incorrect; these are two unrelated observations, but this construction erroneously implies some sort of relationship.

课件里面他的解释是：(1) to describe a direct and immediate consequence of the action in the clause;
E.g ray scored a perfect 100 on his most recent exam, bringing his average for the semester up to 93.
OR
(2) to describe an action that is simultaneous with and subordinate to the action in the preceding clause.
e.g. ray ran down the sidewalk, flailing his arms.