For example, John Steinbeck is 27 to have been an excellent listener, yet he was hated by some of the people he wrote about.
答案：(C) said
【句型】be said to have been 固定被動句型「據說是……」；called／named／told 都不能這樣構成「據說」的固定用法。
本題大考中心未公布逐題答對率，以下不談數據，只談觀念。
四個選項接在 be 動詞後面都能變成被動，中文也都能翻出「被叫做、被說成」的味道，光比意思會卡住。這一格要靠課本教過的句型來定。
這是課本教過的句型，而且課本是用一個等式在教的：It is said that he was an excellent listener.（據說他是個極好的聆聽者。）＝ He is said to have been an excellent listener.（他據說曾經是個極好的聆聽者。）兩句意思完全相同，差別在於把 that 子句的主詞 he 提到句首當主詞，原來的動詞就變成不定詞掛在後面。特別注意等號兩邊的時態怎麼換：左邊 that 子句用的是過去式 was，提到右邊之後不能只寫 to be，要寫成 to have been——因為「據說」是現在的事，而「他是個好聆聽者」是更早的事，用完成式的不定詞把時間往前推一格。本句空格後面正好就是 to have been，完全對得上。
told：be told to V 是「被要求做某事」（89 年第 20 題考的就是這個），主詞是被交代的那個人，與「據說」無關。同一個「be ＋ 過去分詞 ＋ to V」的句型，換一個動詞意思就整個變了，兩題可以對照著記。called、named：意思是「被稱作、被命名為」，後面要接名詞當補語（He is called a genius. 他被稱為天才。），接不了不定詞。
It is said that …／sb is said to V（據說……）、be believed to V（一般認為……）、be reported to V（據報導……）、be told to V（被要求做……）、be known as（以……著稱）、an excellent listener（極好的聆聽者）。
Most people like to talk, but few people like to listen. 21 listening well is a rare talent that everyone should treasure. Because they hear more, good listeners 22 to know more and to be more sensitive to what is going on around them than other people. In addition, good listeners are inclined to accept or tolerate 23 to judge and criticize. Therefore, they have 24 enemies than other people. 25 , they are probably the most loved of people.
However, there are 26 to that generality. For example, John Steinbeck is 27 to have been an excellent listener, yet he was hated by some of the people he wrote about. No doubt his ability to listen contributed 28 his capacity to write. 29 , the results of his listening did not make him popular.
Thus, 30 on what a good listener does, he may become either popular or disliked in his lifetime.