新概念三第五课

问题描述:

新概念三第五课
Last year a journalist had been
instructed by a well-known magazine to
write an article on the president's palace
in a new African republic.这句话为什么要用 had been

‘had been instructed’是在本文作者写报到之前,而写报到是在过去,那过去的过去,按照时态推推移,不应当是过去完成时态吗?