Predicting the Future: A Comparison between Insurance Companies and Fortune Tellers
- Insurance companies and fortune tellers both strive to foresee the future, but with different levels of success. Whereas insurance companies, which deal with statistical averages, are able to predict outcomes consistently, fortune tellers, who focus on individual cases, can only succeed occasionally. This distinction arises from the fact that it is easier to predict what will happen to a large number of things or people than to predict the fate of any particular thing or person.
- In the given passage, the phrase 'if at all' is used to convey the limited success rate of the members of the other group, i.e., fortune tellers. It implies that fortune tellers often struggle to achieve successful predictions, and there are times when they are unable to do so.
- Yes, in the context of the passage, 'the members of one group' refer to insurance companies, while 'the members of the other group' refer to fortune tellers. The passage draws a comparison between these two groups in terms of their ability to foresee the future.
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（1）英文読解
Let us begin with the longest look into the future—The Next Million Years. Paradoxically enough, it is easier, in some ways, to guess what is going to happen in the course of ten thousand centuries than to guess what is going to happen in the course of one century. Why is it that no fortune tellers are millionaires and that no insurance companies go bankrupt? Their business is the same—foreseeing the future. But whereas the members of one group succeed all the time, the members of the other group succeed, if at all, only occasionally. The reason is simple. Insurance companies deal with statistical averages. Fortune tellers are concerned with particular cases. One can predict with a high degree of precision what is going to happen in regard to very large numbers of things or people. To predict what is going to happen to any particular thing or person is for most of us quite impossible and even for the specially gifted minority, exceedingly difficult. この英文の But whereas the members of one group succeed all the time, the members of the other group succeed, if at all, only occasionally.の個所に出てくるif at allはどのように訳すのでしょうか？ また、the members of one groupは"insurance companies"、the members of the other groupは"fortune tellers"を指しているのでしょうか？ ----Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow : ALDOUS HUXLEY
- Lyuvic1
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質問者が選んだベストアンサー
すみません、結果的に同じような意味ですが、if at all でかたまりです。 succeed only occasionally とつながる中で、 (only) occasionally という頻度について、if at all がかかっていきます。 ます、こういう if 形容詞・副詞は「たとえ～でも」で挿入されたり、末尾にきたりします。 そして、if any とか、if ever のような表現で「たとえあったとしても」のように用います。 ものの存在について言う場合が if any であり、頻度について言う場合が if ever です。 any は数や量について「少しでも」、ever は頻度的に「一度でも」の意味合いです。 今回も occasionally で頻度にも近いのですが、理論的にあり得る的な感覚で、 at all「かりにも、ともかくも」を使って、やはり「あったとしても」の意味です。 succeed, if at all, only occasionally では 「あったとしてもほんの時折しか成功しない」となります。
その他の回答 (2)
- bakansky
- ベストアンサー率48% (3502/7245)
> But whereas the members of one group succeed all the time, the members of the other group succeed, if at all, only occasionally. の個所に出てくる if at all はどのように訳すのでしょうか？ if at all はもちろん仮定の文ととらえることができます。if at all possible (そもそもそういうことがあるとするならば) というのを短縮したものと見れば、「せいぜいが ・・・ である」 という意味合いと取れます。 たとえば、「一方は常に予測が当たるのに、他方はたまに当たるのがせいぜいである」 などとも訳せるかも。 > また、the members of one groupは "insurance companies"、the members of the other group は "fortune tellers" を指しているのでしょうか？ そうです。私もそのように理解しました。
お礼
ご回答ありがとうございます。 if at all をif at all possibleと考えると、「せいぜいが ・・・ である」 という意味合いに取れるのですね。
- wind-skywind
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if は直接的には (only) occasionally につながり、 「たとえ、ほんの時折であっても」という意味です。 その「ほんの時折」に at all がかかります。 not とともに使わない at all は私の学生時代は「いやしくも」のような訳で習いましたが、 「かりそめにも」とか「とにかく」のような響きです。 流れの中で特に訳出する必要はないと思います。 the members of one group と the members of the other group についてはおっしゃる通りです。
お礼
ご回答ありがとうございます。 the members of one group～のところ、合っていたようでよかったです。
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お礼
再度詳しくご回答して頂きましてありがとうございます。 succeed, if at all, only occasionallyの構造と意味についてよくわかりました。 「あったとしてもほんの時折しか成功しない」となるのですね。