核心问题
Without the air to hold some of the sun's heat, the earth at night ____, too cold for us to live. A. would be freezing cold B. will be freezing coldly C. would be frozen cold D. can freeze coldly(上海高考,97-24)
答案为 A。令我不解的是,上句中并没有非真实条件从句,为什么谓语动词要用虚拟语气 would be 呢?
词典解答
如同 with 短语一样, without 短语也可以引出非真实(虚拟)的条件。拿上句来说, without ... heat(如果没有空气来接收太阳的一些热量)是一个与现在事实相反的假设(条件)。它相当于 If there were no air to hold some of the sun's heat。注意: without 引出与现在事实或过去事实相反的条件,是很常见的(参见 subjunctive mood )。例如:
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“Without the message I would not have found you on the buoy,” he said. (全国高考, 92 - 阅 C) “要是没有他提供的信息, 我是不会在浮标上找到你的,”他说。
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Without Betsey Wright, I could not have become President. (B. Clinton, My Life) 没有贝琪·赖特,我根本就不可能成为总统。(《我的生活》)