這是英文“現(xiàn)在簡(jiǎn)單式”翻譯講解的第三部份，其他部份在‘英文“現(xiàn)在簡(jiǎn)單式”的使用時(shí)機(jī) (1)’、‘英文“現(xiàn)在簡(jiǎn)單式”的使用時(shí)機(jī) (2)’與‘英文“現(xiàn)在簡(jiǎn)單式”的使用時(shí)機(jī) (4)’。閱讀下面英文時(shí)態(tài)解說(shuō)之前，版主建議先閱讀‘英文時(shí)態(tài)概論’與‘英文文法基本概念：動(dòng)詞的基本型態(tài)’，先掌握基本概念，然后再研究細(xì)節(jié)。

◎ 文章中用于描述或說(shuō)明“假設(shè)/想像”的情況

想像的事情‘并未真正發(fā)生’，因此絕對(duì)不可使用過(guò)去式，只能用現(xiàn)在式。網(wǎng)友可參照下面的文章，實(shí)際體會(huì)英文正確的時(shí)態(tài)用法。

1) Some of my friends and I have a similar opinion regarding the way some toilets are designed here. Imagine (假設(shè)開(kāi)始) having dinner at a restaurant, and all of a sudden your stomach tells you that what you had (過(guò)去事件) for lunch is 90 percent digested. What do you do? Well, of course, you simply get up and look for a place to ease the tension. You go asking where the toilet is, and when you get there, what do you see? A squat toilet!
(節(jié)錄自 Literally Wuman 《吳大維週記》)

(翻譯)
我和某些好友對(duì)于此地馬桶的設(shè)計(jì)看法類(lèi)似。比如你在餐廳用餐，突然之間胃通知你，吞下肚的中餐百分之九十已經(jīng)消化完畢，你會(huì)怎幺做？當(dāng)然，你會(huì)不加思索便起身找地方“紓解壓力”。你會(huì)去問(wèn)廁所在哪里，不過(guò)當(dāng)你到了廁所，你發(fā)現(xiàn)什幺？蹲式馬桶！

2) Imagine (假設(shè)開(kāi)始) going to heaven and standing by God as He lovingly shows you the calendar of His plan for your earthly life. It begins with the day you were (過(guò)去事件) born. Once you received (過(guò)去事件) Christ as Savior, every day that follows is outlined in red. You see footprints walking through each day of each week of your life. On many of the days, two sets of footprints appear.

(翻譯)
想像你上到了天堂，站在天父的身邊。天父親切向你說(shuō)明祂為你一生規(guī)劃的計(jì)畫(huà)，這項(xiàng)計(jì)畫(huà)從你出生的那天便開(kāi)始。你接受耶穌基督成為你生命救主之后，接下來(lái)的每個(gè)日子都以紅色標(biāo)示。你會(huì)看到你生命中的每一天都留下足跡，有許多日子甚至出現(xiàn)兩對(duì)足跡。

3) Shifting Your Clock
Let’s start with a common example: traveling from the West Coast to the East Coast of the United States, which requires a three-hour advance of the body clock. Let’s say (假設(shè)開(kāi)始) that when you arrive in New York, you want to feel sleepy at 11 P.M. and to be able to wake up at 7 A.M. (when it is only 4 A.M. in Los Angeles). To advance your clock, take a half-milligram of melatonin at 3 P.M. Pacific time on the day before departure and again on the day of departure.
(節(jié)錄自?Personal Health, The New York Times, Wednesday, Aug. 20th, 2008)

(翻譯)
調(diào)整生理時(shí)鐘
舉個(gè)常見(jiàn)的例子：從美國(guó)西岸飛往東岸，這通常需要將生理時(shí)鐘往前調(diào)三個(gè)小時(shí)。你抵達(dá)紐約之后，如果要在晚上 11 點(diǎn)就想睡覺(jué)，然后隔天早上 7 點(diǎn)就能起床 (那時(shí)洛杉磯才凌晨 4 點(diǎn))。這時(shí)要將生理時(shí)鐘往前調(diào)，出發(fā)前一天的太平洋時(shí)間下午 3 點(diǎn)服用半毫克的退黑激素，出發(fā)當(dāng)天的同一個(gè)時(shí)間再服用一次。

◎‘戲劇、小說(shuō)或電影’的簡(jiǎn)介

戲劇是面對(duì)觀眾，通常會(huì)假設(shè)劇情發(fā)生于當(dāng)下，因此人物對(duì)白或場(chǎng)景敘述皆采現(xiàn)在的時(shí)態(tài) (‘現(xiàn)在式’與‘現(xiàn)在完成式’)。由于小說(shuō)或電影情節(jié)只存于想像，并未在真實(shí)時(shí)空中演出，因此時(shí)態(tài)要定在“現(xiàn)在”，但是仍然需要以時(shí)態(tài)變化來(lái)表達(dá)“事情的先后順序”。

1) Charles turns a leaf. A distant clock strikes the half-hour softly. Charles shuts the book with a clap; throws it aside; snatches up the rattle; and whirls it energetically, making a deafening clatter.
(source: Saint Joan / Epilogue 1 by George Bernard Shaw)

(翻譯) 查理翻了一頁(yè)。遠(yuǎn)處的鐘樓輕柔地敲了一記半點(diǎn)鐘響聲。他啪的一聲闔上了書(shū)，將它丟于一旁，隨手抓起撥浪鼓使勁旋轉(zhuǎn)，發(fā)出震耳欲聾的嘎嗒聲。

2) The Family Man (2000) Plot:
Jack Campbell, a successful and talented businessman, is happily living his single life. He has everything, or so he thinks. One day he wakes up in a new life where he didn’t leave (過(guò)去) his college girlfriend for a London trip. He is married to Kate, lives in New Jersey and has two kids. He, of course, desperately wants his life back for which he has worked 13 years for. He is president of P. K. Lassiter Investment House and not a tire salesman at Big Ed’s. He drives a Ferrari and not a mini-van that never starts. And most importantly he doesn’t wake up in the morning with kids jumping on the bed. After a bad start, day by day he is more confident in his new life and starts to see what he has been missing. Turns out money’s good to have but that’s not everything.

(翻譯)
【扭轉(zhuǎn)奇蹟】劇情簡(jiǎn)介：
杰克坎貝爾是個(gè)成功且精明的商人，他過(guò)著快樂(lè)的單身生活，以為擁有自己想要的一切，不料有一天竟然墜入異樣的新生活。杰克驚覺(jué)自己并未離開(kāi)大學(xué)女友凱特而前往倫敦追尋夢(mèng)想。他倆婚后住在紐澤西，生下了兩個(gè)寶寶。杰克當(dāng)然不想放棄奮斗 13年所得到的成就，極欲想回到原本的生活。他過(guò)去是 P. K. Lassiter 投資公司的總裁，不是在 Big Ed’s 賣(mài)輪胎的銷(xiāo)售員，出門(mén)皆以法拉利代步，不是開(kāi)著時(shí)常拋錨的箱型車(chē)。更重要的是，早上不會(huì)有小孩在床上蹦蹦跳跳擾他清夢(mèng)。杰克剛開(kāi)始雖然諸事不順，他卻活得愈來(lái)愈有自信，開(kāi)始明白自己到底失去了什幺。結(jié)局是，金錢(qián)雖好卻絕非萬(wàn)能。

3) A City of Sadness?is a 1989 Taiwanese historical drama film by Hou Hsiao-hsien. This film has its setting in a once prosperous gold-mining town in northern Taiwan, and depicts one family’s experiences during the White Terror. The eldest brother is murdered by a Shanghai mafia boss, the middle brother is driven insane in a KMT jailhouse, and the youngest brother is a mute, who wants to flee to the mountains with his friends to fight in the anti-KMT resistance movement. By the end of the film only the youngest brother is alive to tell, in writing, the story of his family’s destruction.

(翻譯)
《悲情城市》是侯孝賢導(dǎo)演 1989 年推出的臺(tái)灣歷史電影。本片于北臺(tái)灣過(guò)去盛極一時(shí)的金礦小鎮(zhèn)取景，描述某個(gè)家族在白色恐怖時(shí)期的辛酸血淚史。家族長(zhǎng)兄遭到上海黑幫老大殺害，老二被國(guó)民黨關(guān)入大牢后發(fā)瘋，最小的弟第失聰，想與友人前往深山加入反抗國(guó)民黨的勢(shì)力。電影結(jié)束時(shí)只有幺弟還倖存于世，將家族衰亡的過(guò)程記錄下來(lái)昭告于世。