At one time, the majestic American chestnut was so prevalent that it was said a squirrel could jump from tree to tree without once touching the ground between New York State and Georgia.
so prevalent that it was said a squirrel could
so prevalent that a squirrel was said that it could
so prevalent for a squirrel to be said to be able to
prevalent enough that it was said a squirrel could
prevalent enough for a squirrel to be said to be able to
if you have
it was ADJ ...
or
it has been/was/is said/believed...
then the "it" doesn't have to stand for anything. you should just memorize this as an idiomatic construction.
"it was a terrible mistake", though, would be incorrect unless "it" actually stood for some noun.
登录 或 注册 后可以参加讨论