表示将来时间的虚拟，为什么可以用If had done...would have done这种形式呢
"You are a most unmitigated cad."
"Now that you've got that off your chest, let's go and have dinner."
I dare say it would have been more seemly to decline this proposal. I think perhaps I should have made a show of the indignation I really felt, and I am sure that Colonel MacAndrew at least would have thought well of me if I had been able to report my stout refusal to sit at the same table with a man of such character. But the fear of not being able to carry it through effectively has always made me shy of assuming the moral attitude; and in this case the certainty that my sentiments would be lost on Strickland made it peculiarly embarrassing to utter them. Only the poet or the saint can water an asphalt pavement in the confident anticipation that lilies will reward his labour.
章振邦新编高级英语语法195-196页说:
这里的Colonel MacAndrew at least would have thought well of me if I had been able to report my stout refusal to sit at the same table with a man of such character.是表示将来时间的“非真实”。
表示将来时间，为什么可以用If had done...would have done这种形式呢？
我不能理解，既然是表示将来时间，为什么不说成：
Colonel MacAndrew at least would think well of me if I was/were? able to report my stout refusal to sit at the same table with a man of such character.
另外，顺便请教老师：这里的a most unmitigated如何分析理解？most是最高级还是very的意思？ unmitigated有最高级吗？或most=very可以修饰unmitigated吗？
最佳答案 2021-04-16 18:14
这是说话人以第一人称的口吻讲故事。讲述中经常主句用现在是表示讲故事时自己的看法，但宾语从句描述的却是过去的事情。例如，I‘m sure he was at home that day, but I didn't know then. 你提问的句子就是如此，that从句讲的是当时的情况，是对当时（即过去情况的假设）所以虚拟语气用had done/would have done. 章振邦的解释是错误的。
a most +形容词+名词，most为very的意思。你也不想想，不可分级的形容词说母语的人会用most吗？
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