翻译题
Time travel belongs not to the realm of realistic possibility but rather to fiction, and within that world it is part of a genre involving dreams about the realization of desires, like a magic spirit in a bottle, or a pact with the devil, or, in the present case, a proposal by the editor of a magazine. In literature, if these desires come to pass, they almost always lead to regret, or to hell. I think I know how to avoid such unfortunate ends. I would start by asking this powerful figure if she were willing to transport me far, far back in time. Once I received an affirmative response, I would strike a deal. 【F1】I would propose exchanging this trip spanning a thousand years for the same amount of time, only divided into small trips to the immediate past. Bound by her word, which is unbreakable, she'd have no choice but to grant me my request. 【F2】With this simple trick, I would change a worthless opportunity to see a historical spectacle that would be of no use to me at all for a practical power that can make my life easier. These small jumps will be more useful than any other thing I could possibly have. 【F3】They will allow me to go back each time I've made an error, and fix it; or when I've said something I regret, and not say it; or when I haven't found an adequate answer to a question, and show off with one that I hatched after some further thought. I will be in a position to overcome what Rousseau called l'esprit de l'escalier, the ingenious phrase that occurs to us when we're leaving the house where we should have uttered it Rousseau had good reasons to assign a name to that all too common circumstance. The original anecdote that gave rise to the expression can be found in his "Confessions." At dinner with important guests, a woman asked him, either out of spite or ignorance, if he had children. Everyone knew that he had five, and that he had put them up for adoption. In the anxious silence that followed, Rousseau managed only to stumble in the negative, and he spent the rest of the night being upset about it. 【F4】But when he left, repairing down those fateful stairs, the perfect response struck him: "Ma'am, that is not a question to ask a bachelor." (I suspect that Rousseau wrote the eight hundred pages of his "Confessions" just to deliver that phrase, and thus to find peace.) 【F5】If only he could have availed himself of the time-travel device that I'll be getting, he'd have gone back and had some relief.
问答题16.【F1】
【正确答案】我会提议把这跨越千年的时光之旅划分为多次短途旅行，回到刚刚过去的某些时刻。
【答案解析】①本句为主谓宾结构的简单句。②spanning a thousand years是现在分词短语作后置定语，修饰this trip，说明这个时光旅行时间长达一千年。exchange A for B表示“以A换成B”。此处的A指跨越一千年的时光旅行(this trip spanning a thousand years)，B指同等时间的多次旅行(the same amount of time)。③only divided into…immediate past是过去分词短语，修饰the same amount of time，即这些时间被分割成多次短途旅行；to the immediate past表示trips的目的：这些多次的时光之旅能穿越到不久的过去。
【答案解析】①本句为主从复合句。②With引导的独立主格With this simple trick承接上文，trick指代的是上文作者的提议。③主干的谓宾结构change…opportunity to…for a practical power意为“把无意义的机会交换成有实际能力的机会”。后置定语to see a historical spectacle修饰opportunity，说明机会的具体所指：回看历史大事件。其后的定语从句that would be…at all，修饰的是a historical spectacle。句末的that can make my life easier也是定语从句，修饰a practical power。
【答案解析】①本句带有多个并列的时间状语从句，主干为：they will allow me to go back。②主语They指代上文提到的jumps“穿越时空”。fix it中，it指代error；not say it中的it指代something I regret；show off with one中的one指的是an adequate answer to a question“对问题合适的回答”。③句末的定语从句that I hatched…thought修饰one，补充说明这个答案是事后经过考虑得出的。
【答案解析】①本句为主从复合句，包含一个时间状语从句。主句是主谓宾结构，后带有一个直接引语。②现在分词短语repairing down those fateful stairs作从句谓语动词left的伴随状语。介词短语down…stairs意思是“下楼梯”。这个分词短语意思是“离场下楼梯时还在想着修补之前的回答”。fateful在这里意为“重大的；决定命运的”，修饰stairs，带有嘲讽和遗憾的感情色彩。③主句中sth．strike sb．等同于sb．suddenly realize sth．，意思为“突然想到”。引语是response的具体内容，是事后想出来的一个回答。
问答题20.【F5】
【正确答案】如果他能借助我所谓的时光机回到过去该有多好，这样他就能扭转局面，长舒一口气了。
【答案解析】①本句为主从复合句，包含一个虚拟条件状语从句和一个定语从句。②虚拟条件状语从句谓语部分could have done是对过去已发生情况的虚拟，avail oneself of sth．表示“某人利用某物”。定语从句that I'll be getting修饰的是the time-travel device，that在从句充当宾语。③主句的内容表示在前述虚拟条件下发生的情况。主句谓语would have done表示对过去将来情况的虚拟，即在从句虚拟条件下，会发生的结果。