[General] "found it proposed by"? I can't understand this sentence!

[azhu]

I found this following sentence on an exercise sheet:

"Ann found it proposed by John that the meeting be postponed."
Sorry, there's no more context...

I totally don't know what this sentence's trying to say. Like, what does "it" refer to? What might has John proposed? And why writing "be postponed" instead of "was postponed"?


Please help me. Thanks.

 

[probus]

Beyond a doubt the exercise sheet was not written by a fluent speaker of English. Possibly the writer meant something like this:

Ann learned that John had proposed that the meeting be postponed.

 

[driftwood]

There are 2 points to consider.

John[B] proposed[/B] that the meeting [B]be[/B] postponed.

Somebody suggests, proposes, recommends, advices... that SUBJECT + BE OR bare INFINITIVE...

This grammar rule refers to the SUBJUNCTIVE mood.

The second point concerns the "preparatory IT".

[B]Ann found it proposed by John.[/B]

It, the object of the verb, found, stands for the that-clause.
When the object is too long, you use the 'preparatory it' in place of the long object and place the object proper at the end of the clause.

it = that the meeting be postponed

 

[bhaisahab]

It's a completely unnatural sentence.