例一:Perhaps, some scientists thought, migrants determine their geographic position on Earth by celestial navigation, almost as human navigators use stars and planets, but this would demand of the animals a fantastic map sense. (选自N0.6题第一套section 1短文章)
这句话看似很长,翻译成为中文的意思是:“有些科学家认为,就像人类采用恒星和行星来定位一样,候鸟或许也是采用天体的导航才得以确定它们所处的地理位置,但这要求这类动物具有令人难以置信的地图感。”中文读过去都让人头疼。其实我们用虚拟语气取非的思想来处理,其要表达的意思就很简单,对前半句话取非,说白了就是前半句话是行不通的,也就是“migrants cannot determine their geographic position on Earth by celestial navigation.”可以知道作者对这种解释持负评价。
我们再来看个例子:
例二:According to natural selection theory, a worker would enhance her fitness—or ability to propagate her genes—by hatching her own eggs in addition to or in place of the queen’s.(选自国内题1993年10月考题section 5短文章)
这句话也是虚拟语气,我们直接取反理解,作者想要表达的就是 “a worker will not enhance her …”