作者：陈觉法
想象是人类特有的一种思维活动，它反映了人类对美好事物的憧憬与追求。自古以来，人们一直用想象编织着许许多多美好的故事与传说，如嫦娥奔月、女娲补天、精卫填海、夸父追日，以及牛郎织女的故事等。这些美好的传说既反映了人类社会惩恶扬善的主流道德观，同时也反映了古人对战胜自然、追求美好生活的渴求和愿望。想象同时也是一粒种子，一切发明创造因此得以萌芽、开花、结果。牛顿凭借丰富大胆的想象，从一个苹果的自然下落发现了万有引力；李四光根据"地球板块理论"的构想，提出了中国不但不是贫油国，而且蕴藏有丰富的石油能源的论断，在他的理论指导下，中国于六十年代起先后发现了几处油田，大庆、大港、克拉玛依等，从此将"贫油国"的帽子一下扔到了太平洋里！
在日常生活中，我们也无时不在进行想象性的思维活动：对过去已发生了的事情作虚拟假设，对目前事情作换位假想，对将来可能实现的事情进行假定性推断，等等。下面就是一段类似的对话：
- Is Tom worried about his failure in the exam? He looks very upset.
- I guess so.
- What if he hadn't failed in the exam?
- Well, I don't know. I think he wouldn't have been so upset.
I. Useful Expressions
(A)Asking for imaginary situation
What would you do if you ran out of money during the travel? 假如旅途中你用光了钱，你会怎么办？
How would you feel now if you had failed the college entrance examination? 假如你高考失败了，你现在会是什么感受？
What would you want to do first if you became a millionaire? 要是你成了百万富翁，你想做的第一件事是什么？
Supposing that you come into a lot of money, what would you do then? 假设你得到许多钱，然后你会怎么办？
Imagine you were trapped on a snow-capped mountain alone, what could you do? 设想你独自一人被困在雪山上，你会怎么办？
(B)Answers
Oh, I don't know. I guess I would ask the police for help. 哦，我不知道。我想我可能会求助于警察。
It's hard to say, but I think I would spend some money on a car. 这很难说，但我想我可能会花点儿钱买一辆车。
Well, I could have broken down. 嗯，我可能已彻底垮掉了。
(C)Talking about imaginary situations
If I were you, I would accept his offer. 我要是你，我就会接受他的帮助。
But for your co-operation, we could not have succeeded in our experiment. 要不是你的配合，我们的实验就不可能成功。
If you were to be late again, you would lose your job. 你要是再迟到，你就将丢掉你的工作。
If only I had more money, I could buy a flat. 要是我有更多的钱，我就能买一套房子了。
Supposing that there were no war in the world, all the children could be studying in peace in the classrooms. 假如世界上没有战争了，所有的孩子就都能在教室里平静地学习了。
Imagine all the money that is used for weapons were used instead for food and education, there would not be anyone going hungry or dropping out of school any more. 假设所有用于制造和购买武器的钱都用于食品和教育，就不会再有任何人挨饿或者失学了。
II. Background Information
我们常常会回忆过去的事情或经历，于是我们会问"What might have happened?" 偶然一件事情的发生，我们常会因此而作出一个决定；可假如是另外一种情形，结果又将如何呢？就像现在有人会问：What would have happened at that time if Saddam had initiatively（主动地） given up fighting back the US-British armies?