1. The first time they met, she had no difficulty in identifying him, standing there with the book gripped firmly in one hand.

请问老师，句中“standing… …in one hand” 现在分词短语作非限制性定语修饰him，是吗？可等价于非限制性定语从句：The first time they met, she had no difficulty in identifying him, who was standing there with the book gripped firmly in one hand.

【答】“他们第一次见面时，她毫不费力地认出了他，他站在那里，手里紧握着那本书。”

从结构上看，standing there with the book gripped firmly in one hand 是现在分词短语，作非限制性定语修饰him，转换为定语从句是完全可以的。但从语义上看，理解为“原因状语”更佳，说明因为是他那副拿书的样子，她才毫不费力地认出他来。其实，非限制性定语（从句）也可以表示“原因状语”的意义。

2. During the 1870s, several black collages were founded in the US to broaden education opportunities for black students and help them make their way in the world.

原句中的to broaden 和(to) help 作目的状语表示“建学校是为了拓展教育机会和帮助黑人走向世界”。那请问老师，可否换作“broadening” 和 “helping ”，用现在分词短语表示伴随状语？这样现在分词的动作“broadening” 和 “helping ”和主句were founded同时发生。

【答】动词不定式表“目的”是非常强烈的，而现在分词表目的不明显，所以，如果确定是目的，最好使用动词不定式，不用现在分词。关于该问题，你可参考：

http://www.yygrammar.com/Article/201403/3572.html