because what還是because of what

有這樣一道考題，答案是選哪個(gè)？

He was sentenced to death _________ what he had stolen from the bank.

A. that B. since C. because D. because of

許多同學(xué)們認(rèn)為此題應(yīng)選C，因?yàn)殛P(guān)于 because 和 because of 的用法有如下區(qū)別規(guī)則：because是連詞，其后接句子；而because of是介詞，其后接名詞、代詞或動(dòng)名詞。此規(guī)則并沒(méi)錯(cuò)，只是表述不很準(zhǔn)確。一般說(shuō)來(lái)，because 作為從屬連詞，用以引導(dǎo)原因狀語(yǔ)從句時(shí)，其后應(yīng)是一個(gè)不含有引導(dǎo)詞的句子，而不能是 what 引導(dǎo)的從句。另一方面，本題中的 what he had stolen＝the thing(s) that he had stolen，也就是說(shuō)，這個(gè)what-從句從本質(zhì)上說(shuō)，它相當(dāng)于個(gè)一名詞(或者更準(zhǔn)確地說(shuō)是一個(gè)受定語(yǔ)從句修飾的名詞)，所以此題應(yīng)選 because of。請(qǐng)看以下類似的例子：

She cried because of what you said. 她哭是因?yàn)槟阏f(shuō)的話(www.網(wǎng)址未加載)。

He left angrily because of what you said at the meeting. 他生氣地離去，是因?yàn)槟阍跁?huì)上說(shuō)的話。

The man was punished because of what he had done. 他因?yàn)樽约核龅氖露艿搅藨土P。