If increased production of electricity by nuclear reactors... enables it to remain economical... we may soon reach the crossover point for hydrogen... The second attractive use of hydrogen would be to produce electricity by fuel-cell conversion. [上海交大《英语》(三), p. 312]
[原译]……如果用核反应堆……来增加发电量使电保持廉价的话,我们很快就可以转而生产氢了……氢的第二种引人注目的用途也许是通过燃料电池换能法来发电。(教参)
这里并没有非真实条件从句,为什么句子动词用虚拟语气 would be? 另外, would 在这里是表达“也许”的意思吗?
要想探讨这里的虚拟语气问题,必须弄清英语动词虚拟语气在非条件句中的用法和意义。我们在教学中发现,许多学生往往不懂得这类虚拟语气的功用,因而常常产生一些误解。例如,有不少学生不能理解下列句子的谓语动词使用虚拟语气的原因,因而不能确切理解句子的真正含义:
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The crew's deaths would have been less likely in peacetime because the crew could have radioed their position. (Reading Laboratory, IIIb, Book 6, p. 15) 如果是在和平时期的话，机组人员是不大可能死亡的，因为他们可以用无线电报告他们的位置。
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A list of all the ways in which diesel power is used would take pages, and engineers keep finding new uses for these engines. 要是把柴油机的所有用途都一一列举出来的话，一定会占好几页的篇幅……
这里应当首先指出,除了 if, unless, in case, as long as, suppose (supposing), on condition that, provided that, even though 能引出非真实的条件之外,英语里还有许许多多其它语言手段能够表达非真实的情况,即所谓“假想”的情况。
A. 介词短语
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Without steel, there would be no industry. 没有钢就没有工业。(事实是:有钢)
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But for friction, people could neither walk, nor even stand up. 如果没有摩擦,人们就不能走路,甚至连站也站不起来。(事实是:有摩擦)
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She would leave her husband except for the children. 如果没有孩子她就会离开她丈夫。（事实是：她有孩子）
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Because of his arguments he was convinced that friction provided the forces, which stop bodies in horizontal motion, and that in the absence of all forces the bodies would continue to move forever. 由于这个论点他认为是摩擦提供了力，使水平运动的物体停止下来，假如没有任何力的话，物体就会永远继续运动下去。（事实是：不可能没有摩擦力）
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They could have achieved more under better conditions. 如果条件较好的话他们本来会取得更大的成就的。(事实是:条件不好)
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Man's life would be impossible in a world free from friction. 在没有摩擦的世界里,人是
无法生活的。(事实是:没有摩擦的世界是不存在的)
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But for John, they would all have died. (CGEL) 如果没有约翰, 他们大家都死了。
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Except for John, they would all have died. (CGEL) 如果没有约翰,他们大家都死了。
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In a better world, this sort of conversation between a husband and wife would be no one's business but our own. (Hillary, Living History) 在一个比较好的世界里，这类夫妻间的谈话，除我们自己之外，是和别人毫不相干的。
上面各例句中的介词短语,实际上起着与非真实条件状语从句相同的作用,因而都可以转换为非真实条件状语从句。例如,例2可以转换为:If there were no friction, people could neither walk, nor even stand up. 但是,介词短语比非真实条件状语从句简洁、紧凑,因而在书面英语里用得颇为广泛。明确这一点,便可以很容易纠正某些误解。例如,有一本英语语法著作(《科技英语结构分析与翻译》)是这样解释下列句子里的 would 的用法的。
“The weight of the body, the earth pull on it, depends on the location of the body on the earth and of course would be quite different on another planet. 物体的重量，即地球对它的引力，与该物体在地球上的位置有关，当然，该物体的重量在另一星球上应当是完全不同的。
(would...是虚拟语气,有‘应当’,‘理应’之意,语气委婉。)”
读者很难理解,在这个表达科学内容的句子里,语气为什么要“委婉”。读者也很难理解,为什么 would 偏偏在这个句子里具有“应当”“理应”之意。是不是这里的 would be 与一般的虚拟语气不同? 其实,只要我们抓住介词短语可以表示假想情况(虚拟的条件)这个关键,就能很容易解释这个句子里的虚拟语气的用法。原文中的介词短语 on another planet 表示的是一种假想的情况,因为该物体(the body)并没有真的放到另一个行星上,因此,on another planet 相当于 if it were on another planet。
还应指出的是,在英译汉时,往往需要把介词短语所表示的假想意味给表达出来,否则可能有歧义。例如:
It should be noted that a rocket does not depend on the atmosphere for its propulsion, but would actually perform better in the absence of an atmosphere because of lessened air resistance.
[原译]应该注意,火箭的推力与大气无关,在没有大气的情况下,由于空气阻力减小,火箭实际上会运行得更好。(《科技英语结构分析和翻译》,p.489)
原文中的介词短语 in the absence of an atmosphere 表示虚拟的条件, 即表示与客观现实相反的假想情况, 译文译作“在没有大气的情况下”, 未能把这种假想情况表达出来。因为人们有可能把“在没有大气的情况下”理解为“在火箭脱离大气层以后的情况下”。
[试译]应该指出，火箭推力的产生是与大气无关的，但是，假如没有大气的话，由于空气阻力减小，火箭实际上会运行得更好。
请读者自己分析为什么下列四个句子都用了虚拟语气。
Without air, there would be no wind or clouds. There would be no weather, as we know it. The night time would be very cold and the days very hot. We would be forced to seek shelter from the sun, as there would be no atmosphere to protect us from the sun's deadly rays.
B. 动词不定式短语