Question

一道SAT语法题

in 1850 Jim Beckwourth, a Black American explorer,discovered in the mountains of the Sierra Nevada a pass soon becoming an important gateway to california gold-rush country.
A.discovered
B.in the
C.soon becoming
D.gateway
答案是C，但是不知道原因

Answer 1

把句子精缩了去理解。

一、去掉所有附加成分

时间状语 in 1850
同位语 a Black American explorer
处所状语in the mountains of the Sierra Nevada
gateway 的后置定语 to california gold-rush country.

二、留下句子的主要成分

Jim Beckwourth discovered a pass soon becoming an important gateway
其中谓语部分的核心是 discover sth. doing, 即 sth. doing 是复合宾语，分词doing 是宾语补足语，意思是发现某物在做某事或即将做某事。由此可见，discovered a pass soon becoming gateway 意思是“发现一条小路很快就要变成重要通道”，这在意思上是说不通的，“要变成重要通道”怎么会被“发现”呢！
应该改为 discovered a pass that/which soon became an important gateway，that 引导的是定语从句，修饰 pass，意思为“发现一条不久变成重要通道的小路”，这才是合情合理的。

Answer 2

这样：
In 1850 Jim Beckwourth, a Black American explorer,discovered 【in the mountains of the Sierra Nevada状语置前】 a pass，soon becoming an important gateway to california gold-rush country.
你是不是少了个逗号？

Answer 3

现在分词“becoming”的动词形式与主句的过去时态“discovered.”不一致。

根据句子的意思，用过去将来时。

would soon become

探讨！！