——I stayed at a hotel while in New York. ——Oh, did you? You ____ with Barbara. A. could have stayed B. could stay C. would stay D. must have stayed(全国高考,98-19) 答案为 A。但全句是什么意思呢？
我们在上条中已经讲过,could have done 可能表示两种不同的意思:A. 某事在过去有可能发生,但说话人确切知道该事并未发生;B. 说话人推测某事在过去有可能发生,至于该事是否真的发生,说话人并不确切知道——说话人仅是对过去事件的一种推测,一种估计。请对比下列实例:
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I could have lent you the money. Why didn't you ask me? 我本来可以把钱借给你的。你为什么没有向我借呢？（说话人确切知道 you 并没有向他借钱）
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The letter could have got lost in the post. 这封信可能是在邮递中丢失了。(说话人并不确切知道那封信是否在邮递中丢失)
由于这个结构能表示两种不同的含义,所以有些句子,脱离上下文,可能会产生歧义:
He could have sent a message. a) 他可能送了个信儿来。(说话人并不知道他事实上是否送来了信儿)
b)他本可以送个信儿来的。（说话人确切知道他并没有送信儿来）
同样,上面的试题可能含有两种不同的含义:
a)……你本来可以同巴巴拉住在一起的。(暗含的意思是:你本不必住旅馆的)
b)……你可能同巴巴拉住在一起了。(说话人的一种推测)请做下面的英语试题:
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He learned to speak the language so quickly and well that he ____ for a native speaker. A. must have been taken B. should have been taken C. could have been taken D. need have been taken
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We ____ you a ride this morning, but the car was full. A. will give B. could have given C. must have given D. should have given
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Some women ____ a good salary in a job instead of staying home, but they decided not to work for the sake of the family. A. must make B. should have made C. would make D. could have made(全国四级,00.1-70)