【问】 We are less credulous than we used to be. In the nineteenth century，a novelist wouldbring his story to a conclusion by presenting his readers with a series of coincidences-most of them wildly improbable. (New Concept English，Book 3，L. 36)

most of them之后是否省略了were?这里没有谓语呀!我查了《新概念英语》的所有辅导材料，均未对此进行分析。

【答】 上面的句子里并没有省略谓语were。上面的结构叫做带逻辑主语(most of them)的形容词(improbable)独立结构，与带逻辑主语的分词结构具有相同的语法特征，见absolute construction，nominative absolute past participle construction，nominative absolute present partici-ple construction。