The history of Li's career took its special course because it occurred at the end of imperial times, when institutional problems of traditional Chinese history became ___new elements brought in by the impact of the West.
我决定选d。因为只有d有with.
我的理解是,Li的发迹具有历史特定时期,因为是发生在帝制结束时期。而这个时期是中国由来以久的传统历史问题与来自西方世界影响的种种新问题融合的时候。
我觉得还是要联系上下文翻译比较准确。
问一下,这个Li是李鸿章吗?