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Q&A
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Q: The following piece is from the TOEFL Test in 1998:
Ironically, the poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Claimed he never liked teaching, although----a Professor at Harvard University and taught for many years.
(A) becoming
(B) he became
(C) had he become
(D) for him to become
Answer:
(B) is the obvious choice. "become" is a conjunction here leading a clause reading "although he became a Professor at Harvard University and taught for many years". The other choices are not possible. Let's look at them one by one.
(A) "becoming" is not good because "although" as a conjunction does not permit a "verb-ing" form.
(C) " had he become " expresses concession, 直译成中文就是"虽然虽然他……" Two concessions going together is absurd. (两个让步，荒唐，讲不通) 。
(D) "for him to become" does not fit into the sentence because "although" as a conjunction can not take such an infinitive phrase (因为作为连接词的although后面不能跟动词不定式短语)。
(Contributed by Professor He Daokuan, an experienced teacher of English in the College of Arts, Shenzhen University.)
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