OG-11TH #3

Diabetes, together with its serious complications, ranks as the nation's third leading cause of death, surpassed only by heart disease and cancer.

(a) ranks as the nation's third leading cause of death, surpassed only

(b) rank as the nation's third leading cause of death, only surpassed

(c) has the rank of the nation's third leading cause of death, only surpassed

(d) are the nation's third leading causes of death, surpassed only

(e) have been ranked as the nation's third leading causes of death, only surpassed

ans: A

對於這題我有個修飾位置差異(surpassed only/ only surpassed)的問題想請教一下

OG解釋:

"only" is placed with precision next to the group of words it actually limits, by "heart disease and cancer". Placed before "surpassed", "only" would more ambiguously limit "surpassed".

簡單的說就是ETS認為兩者在語意上有不同

surpassed only by heart disease and cancer

only surpassed by hear disease and cancer

可是我認為only貼近修飾對象比較正確沒錯, 可是以這個例子來說

我個人讀起來卻感覺不出來那"細微的差異", 哪位大俠指點一下