darwin wrote:I still have question regarding "pronounced it as". To me, I seems that in C, "that somebody pronounced greatest..." is still not correct. Shouldn't it be "pronounced it as"? Please explain

Hi,
@darwin: I guess you want to say that you feel in choice B somebody "pronounced the greatest" does not seem right to you. It should rather be "pronounced it as" as in choices C and D. If that's the case then here is the explanation.

Let us first take choice C: In 1713, Alexander Pope began his translation of the Iliad, a work that had taken seven years to complete, and that literary critic Samuel Johnson, Pope's contemporary, pronounced it as the greatest translation in any language.

If we break this sentence to understand the role of the modifier better, then it will read: In 1713, Alexander Pope began his translation of the Iliad, a work that literary critic Samuel Johnson pronounced it as the greatest translation in any language.

Notice that "a work" is modifying "translation of the Iliad" that has already been directed to by the word "that". In other words, Pope's "translation of the Iliad" is the work that critic Samuel Johnson pronounced the greatest translation in any language. In that case, use of pronoun "it" to refer to the same work again is ungrammatical.

For example: Joe recently bought iPhone 4S, a phone that the techies label the best in the market right now.
It will not be correct if we say: Joe recently bought iPhone 4S, a phone that the techies label "it" the best in the market right now.

As far as the use of "as" after "pronounced" goes, it is actually optional. Use of "as" is not necessary after "pronounced". This does not affect the meaning of the sentence.

For example:
1. Williams College, in Williamstown, Mass., was rated the best liberal-arts college in the U.S., followed by Amherst College in Massachusetts and then Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania. (https://online.wsj.com/article/SB125071411648744047.html)

2. Cooper Lighting's product was rated as the best performing LED fixture after measuring light levels and was ultimately chosen for its low profile, superior energy savings and payback. (https://online.wsj.com/article/PR-CO-201 ... 07437.html)

Hope this helps.
Shraddha