一、问题的引出

The first textbooks _______ for teaching English as a foreign language came out in the 16th century.(1994年高考题)

A. having written    B. to be written    C. being written    D. written

这是个很有意思的问题，我们的重点不在于这道题选哪个答案一定能得分这个“术”层面的问题，只要是认真复习过的考生会觉得选D靠谱一点，考试的时候时间有限，得分之后不必管背后的深层次原因，但是对于不考试的我们来说，搞清一个问题非常非常重要，我们有时间。

二、观点与分析

1. Quirk在其著作（17.32节）中也提到过这种用法，可以去看看。不定式作后修饰语要么带有情态意义，要么不带有情态意义，不带有情态意义这种情况尤其发生在有最高级和序数词出现时。此时相当于是一个定语从句，这一点在Swan的PEU中也有提到。但是都没有再继续深入分析，很遗憾！

鉴于对大量词典和英文原版书籍的分析，个人认为问题在于系表结构（绝大部分例句）和非系表结构（很少），至于大家讨论的是同时还是先时这并不是一个很重要的问题，因为什么时候用完成，什么时候不用完成而用过去主要取决于说话人的偏向，不需要深究到底哪个动词是先发生还是后发生，比如（以下所有例句素材均选自权威词典和英文原版书籍）：

The people questioned gave very different opinions. (=The people who were questioned...)[选自Swan]

用的过去分词，等同于一个关系从句，这里很明显是先“提问”后“给出意见”，但Swan把它改成关系分句后仍然用的是过去时，并没有用完成时。

The first textbooks written for teaching English as a foreign language came out in the 16th century.

改成关系分句= The first textbooks which were written for teaching English as a foreign language came out in the 16th century.

不必要非要把write改成过去完成时had been written，这主要看写这句话的人是否要特别强调“写书早前就已经完成”这个论点上，如果说话者并无强调此点，则用过去时也完全正确。

很多时候我们分不清到底是用过去时还是完成时，其中一个原因是英语不是我们的母语，有些细微的差别我们很难体会，这是没办法的事，只能琢磨和类比汉语，汉语中也有很多这样细微的差别的例子，为什么用这个说法而不用另外一种说法，肯定是有原因的，汉语是我们的母语，大家自己体会是没问题的。

2. 可以确定的是，这种the first/last/superlative....to.....这种结构无论是主动还是被动，大多都是指过去发生的动作, 且几乎全是系表结构的例子：

He is (一般现在) the second man to be killed in this way. (the second man who was killed一般过去)

He was (一般过去) the fifth person to be killed in sectarian violence. (the fifth person who was killed一般过去)

Mr Knowles is (一般现在) the last PERSON to cause trouble. (the person who would (情态的would表推测不是将来) be the last to cause trouble)

The next TRAIN to arrive was from Chicago. (‘the train which arrived next’)

Amundsen was the first MAN to reach the South Pole. (‘the man who reached the South Pole first’)

Bannister was the first man to run a mile in under four minutes.

He was the last man to be hanged for murder in this country.

He was the fifth person to be killed in sectarian violence.

You're not the first person to be tricked out of your savings.

I was always the last person to be picked to be on a team.

He is the sixth person to be arrested in relation to the coup plot.

He was the first to come and the last to leave.

I was the last person to be called.

He was the first by far to understand the importance of this discovery.

He is the second man to be killed in this way. (the second man who was killed)

He is the third man to be murdered on the corner of the Donegal Road and the Falls Road in the past two years. (NEWS)

跟那道高考题的句子结构比较相近的的例句很少，目前只找到两例：

The deepest hole ever to be bored on land went down 25340 feet-considerably less than the height of Mount Everest.

The first opera ever to be staged in England is to be recreated to celebrate its 300th anniversary.

3. 如果说话人需要强调动作早前已经完成，则可以这样表达：

the first/last/superlative....to have （been）.....或者the first/last/superlative.... ever to (be).....,

例如：

That was the last cigarette to have been smoked by me. (用完成)

She's the only scientist to have won three Nobel prizes. (用完成)

He is the only player to have been held over from their previous team. (用完成)

Don't worry. You are not the first to have been disappointed in love. (用完成)

a 19th-century British stamp that was the first sticky stamp ever to be used for letters (用ever)

Blue whales are the largest creatures ever to have lived. (ever加完成)

He is the youngest person ever to be given a death sentence in San Diego County. (用ever)

Takahashi was the first Japanese woman ever to be appointed ambassador to a foreign country. (用ever)

Unlike stamina, insignia, agenda, and regalia — also originally plurals — phenomena is most unlikely ever to be accepted as the standard singular form. (用ever)

She is one of the finest players ever to have graced the game. (用ever)

She's the only woman ever to have climbed Everest in winter. (用ever)

She is by common agreement the most brilliant economist ever to have come out of Harvard. (用ever)

an Australian cricketer, one of the best batsmen ever to have played (用ever)

补充一点，事实上，first / last / only...ever是一个固定搭配（见麦克米兰高阶第二版），这里的ever解释为used for emphasizing that something has never happened before or should never happen，有完成时的意味。

三、结论

综上所述，个人认为这道高考题选to be written有些勉强，简单说就是该句不是系表结构，如果是系表结构选to be written没有问题，还有一个原因是：不是系表结构的这样的例句（抱歉只找到两句）都无一例外的用了ever表示完成，似乎都想强调动作早前已经完成。希望能有更多的例句被发现，这样会更接近真相。

The first textbooks written for teaching English as a foreign language came out in the 16th century.

The first textbooks ever to be written for teaching English as a foreign language came out in the 16th century.

The first textbooks to have been written for teaching English as a foreign language came out in the 16th century.

以上三句均正确，但有细微的区别。

四、补充

鉴于对学友们对这个问题的很多疑问，再补充一下：

Eastwood在其著作 Oxford Learners Grammar Grammar Finder 在P383写道：

275  Infinitive relative clauses

Look at this pattern with an adjective and a to-infinitive.

Which was the first country to win the Rugby World Cup? (= the first country that won the Rugby World Cup)

The last person to leave will have to turn out the lights. (= the last person who leaves)

You're the only student to sign up for the course. (= the only student who has signed up for the course) 用了完成

Ronald Reagan was the oldest man to become IJS President. (= the oldest man who became US President)

We can use a to-infinitive after an ordinal number (first, second, etc); (after next and last); after only, and after a superlative adjective (e.g. oldest ). We can use a passive to-infinitive.

The first British monarch to be filmed was Queen Victoria.

这是目前而言对这个问题描述最为清楚的，可惜的是都只说的系表结构。

现再列举一些与那道高考题很相似的例句：

The first 10 correct entries drawn out of the hat will win a pair of tickets, worth £20 each. （新世纪英汉大词典胡壮麟）

The first statement uttered by Socrates applied only in Socrates’own lifetime.(Quirk)

The first words ever spoken on the newly invented telephone were “Come here Watson, I want you.” (Longman Collocations Dictionary and Thesaurus)

The first British TV commercial, broadcast in 1955, was for toothpaste.(Eastwood,1994)

the first movie to be made using computer animation (麦克米兰高阶)

The first three forms cited above show the influence of the Middle Eastern words for coffee.（The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language）

The first shot, showing the family at home, sets the scene for the viewers.（朗文多功能英汉双解词典第5版）

供参考！