问
——Are you pleased with her job? ——Not at all. It couldn't be ____.
A. any worse B. so bad C. much better D. the worse
[原译]——你喜欢她的工作吗？——还可以，它不错。（《海淀名题·高中英语语法完全解题》，东北师大出版社，p.122）我觉得译文不对头，请分析
答
译文有三处错误。1. Are you pleased with her job? 应译为：“她的工作你满意吗？”2. Not at all. 应译为：“一点儿也不满意。”3. It couldn't be any worse. 应译为：“她的工作糟得不可能再糟了（或糟透了）。”
应特别注意 couldn't + 动词 + 形容词(或副词)的比较级结构常常被我们中国学生所误解。请分析下面的类似的实例：
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I couldn't agree more. [ = I absolutely agree. ] 我完全同意。
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We couldn't have had worse news. 我们不可能有更坏的消息了。
练习
—Are you satisfied with her answer? —Not at all. It couldn't have been _.