Ask & Learn聞問切英語口語:Should have agreed

讀者 Tracy 讀報時看到一段文字：

It is strange that, despite the shortage of hospital beds in Sha Tin and the opposition of the Department of Health, the authorities should have agreed to the change in use of the hospital site for residential development.

(沙田區(qū)病床短缺，政府不理會衛(wèi)生署的反對，把醫(yī)院用地改作住宅發(fā)展，不合情理。)

Tracy 問，既然政府的決定不合情理，為什 么翻譯為 should have agreed？ Should not agree 不是更正確嗎？

政府把醫(yī)院用地用作住宅發(fā)展，漠視衛(wèi)生署的意見是不對的。英文的翻譯為 should have agreed，表面上好像與原文的意思相反，其實不然。因為這句是以 It is strange that 開頭，也就是說政府的決定，令人不明所以。

為什么不說 has agreed 而說 should have agreed 呢？我們通常把 should 理解成「應(yīng)該」，但 should 在這里是虛擬式（subjunctive）的用法，具有不可能發(fā)生、但竟然發(fā)生了的含意，使政府的決定聽起來更令人摸不著頭腦。

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