下面句子中by代表什么意思

题目

下面句子中by代表什么意思
English has attained the status of a universal tougue to a degree of never approached even by Latin in the heyday of the Rome Empire.

答案

to a degree后的 of 是多余的,要去掉.by是与过去分词approached一起连用,表被动.句子可以扩写为English has attained the status of a universal tougue to a degree which was never approached even by Latin in the heyday of the Rome Empire.