The land is characteristic of undisturbed nature.The absence of strife between the generations was characteristic of such societies.以上两个句子中的be characteristic of为什么表示了不同的意思，第一句中表示“具有...的特征”，第二句中却表示“...
英语可以说 say sb to be 吗? 比如下面的句子：He said us to be
wrong.I said him to be
honest.They say her to
have a lot of money.He said her to
know the answer.He says her to live
abroad.
People who work in offices are frequently referred to as “white-collar workers” .这里的 be referred to as，其中的 refer 是不及物动词吧，所以才接介词 to；可是不及物动词不是没有被动式吗？以及后面的 as 又做什么成分?
The portion of Americans aged 18 to 29 who claim to have had no sex for 12 months has more than doubled in a decade—to 23% last year. That is, counter-intuitively, despite the removal of many impediments to sex.介词 despite可以连用 be 吗？比如最后一句话。
Most of the matter strictly appropriate to a Preface you may find, if you so elect, in the Foreword addressed to Sinclair Lewis.为什么这里的appropriate to前面没加be系动词，如果换做动词也只有及物动词。