the distinction of being …

[syflysun1]

Hello,

In og, there is one sentence uses "the distinction of being ..."
I think this kind of phrase is strange to me.
So I google it, then I find:
1.Mesa Verde National Park enjoys the distinction of being the only one of the great western national park areas created to preserve the works of men.
2. This impressive pile has also the unique distinction of being the habitable possession of the descendants of its original founders.

My question is "the distinction of being" is an idiom? If not, why "being" is used here?

Mesa Verde National Park enjoys the distinction of being the only one of the great western national park areas created to preserve the works of men.
Mesa Verde National Park enjoys the distinction of the only one of the great western national park areas created to preserve the works of men.

Any difference?
Thanks

EDITED: I deleted your post below as instructors answer the oldest posts first. Bumping up a post will only make getting an answer take longer! - Brie Truesdell, studentservices@manhattangmat.com

[RonPurewal]

hi -

you can regard this as an idiom if you want to, but it's better to think VERY LITERALLY about whether you need to say "being" in a sentence. (if not, then you'll have to memorize every single correct instance of "being" as an idiom. that will get very tiresome and unmanageable, very quickly.)

if "being" is NECESSARY in the sentence, then you need to leave it there. if it's not, then get rid of it.

here are some examples of NECESSARY "being". in each of these sentences, think about why the sentence wouldn't make sense anymore if you killed "being".
* james is notorious for being the first student to skip school 20 times in one year.
* many soldiers' worst phobia is the fear of being shot accidentally by their fellow infantrymen.
* simply being mentally prepared isn't good enough; you have to have the right equipment.

your example is a lot like the first of these.
if you take out "being", then you have a sentence that doesn't make much literal sense at all, but says, if anything, that "the only one of the great western national parks..." is a feature of mesa verde national park. that's not what we mean to say; we mean that mesa verde national park itself is the only one of the great western national parks that blah blah blah.

--

here's an analogy:

sharon has the privilege of being an executive assistant. --> sharon herself is an executive assistant, a position that is viewed as a privilege (probably because she is an assistant to some powerful executive).

sharon has the privilege of an executive assistant. --> sharon has an executive assistant (so sharon is probably an executive).

not the same thing at all.
consider your example in light of this analogy.