As schoolchildren

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keannu

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Sorry for so many questions, so you can answer only one if three are too burdensome.
1. Does this "As choolchildren" mean "When we are schoolchildren" or "By the title of schoolchildren"?
2. What is the usage of "be" in "whether it be true"'? What's the difference with "whether it is true"?
3. I think this "could have believed" is not a conditional or presumption, but a present pefect meaning of "have been able to believe", right?

is52
ex)As schoolchildren, we learn that different weights fall at the same speed. This simple and readily tested observation, first published by Galileo, refuted Arisototle, who claimed that heavy things fall faster. Galileo put in in Two New Sciences, "I greatly doubt that Aristotle ever tested by experiment whether it be true..." We are left to wonder how people could have believed what they were told for two millennia without ever checking...
 
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keannu said:
Sorry for so many questions, so you can answer only one if three are too burdensome.
1. Does this "As choolchildren" mean "When we are schoolchildren" or "As the title of schoolchildren"? When we are in school
2. What is the usage of "be" in "whether it be true"'? What's the difference with "whether it is true"? It is a subjunctive
3. I think this "could have believed" is not a conditional or presumption, but a present pefect meaning of "have been able to believe", right? "We are lef to wonder why/how come people believed what they were told..." is another wording that makes sense here, IMO.

is52
ex)As schoolchildren, we learn that different weights fall at the same speed. This simple and readily tested observation, first published by Galileo, refuted Arisototle, who claimed that heavy things fall faster. Galileo put in in Two New Sciences, "I greatly doubt that Aristotle ever tested by experiment whether it be true..." We are left to wonder how people could have believed what they were told for two millennia without ever checking...
Click to expand...

Greetings,

cahrliedeut
 
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What do you mean by "subjuctive"? I know its dictionary meaning, but is it different from conditionals?
Is it the past or present perfect? "could have believed"

2. What is the usage of "be" in "whether it be true"'? What's the difference with "whether it is true"? It is a subjunctive3. I think this "could have believed" is not a conditional or presumption, but a present pefect meaning of "have been able to believe", right? "We are lef to wonder why/how come people believed what they were told..." is another wording that makes sense here, IMO.
 
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Okay, subjunctive mood seems to refer to counterfactual things or wishes that don't exist, but I also have seem a lot more of "whether it is true" than "whether it be true", so I can't tell the difference between the two.

in "whether it be true"'
 
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keannu said:
Okay, subjunctive mood seems to refer to counterfactual things or wishes that don't exist, but I also have seem a lot more of "whether it is true" than "whether it be true", so I can't tell the difference between the two.

in "whether it be true"'
Click to expand...
The use of the present subjunctive is virtually dead in British English. Most speaker of BrE would use 'is' in that sentence.
 
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Anyone who writes in a way that suggests that Aristotle refuted something Gallileo said is a bit dodgy in their writing style.
 
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The final extra question I missed.
Which do you think "observation" here means? "watching" or "opinion"? The translation is "watching", but "opinion" also seems to work.

is52
ex)As schoolchildren, we learn that different weights fall at the same speed. This simple and readily tested observation, first published by Galileo, refuted Arisototle, who claimed that heavy things fall faster. Galileo put in in Two New Sciences, "I greatly doubt that Aristotle ever tested by experiment whether it be true..." We are left to wonder how people could have believed what they were told for two millennia without ever checking...
 
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keannu said:
Which do you think "observation" here means? "watching" or "opinion"? The translation is "watching", but "opinion" also seems to work.
Click to expand...
Now which seems more likely to you, keannu?
 
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Most of the questions are from the workbooks for university entrance exam in Korea. The translations were made by Korean professors or teachers of English - some renowned - and sometimes I feel brainwashed by their translations even if theirs are wrong due to their public influence. I only post confusing ones, but in this case, it seems "opinion" to me.
 
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