Find English Teachers
younes
that would not have opened had they not had that disease! hi there 1.whats meaning of this sentente"But in every case, Oliver Sacks, you find this new avenue opening, that would not have opened had they not had that disease! That’s the paradox. 2."you"referes to whom??? TERKEL: This is the first of Oliver Sacks’s new book, An Anthropologist on Mars. We’ll come to that very title itself. Alien place for this particular person, this woman, who is remarkable. And of course we’ll come to “The Last Hippie,” to the surgeon with Tourette’s, to a special kind of artist who re-sees the hometown of his childhood landscape of his dreams, and an autistic kid who becomes a remarkable artist. But in every case, Oliver Sacks, you find this new avenue opening, that would not have opened had they not had that disease! That’s the paradox.
May 12, 2019 1:47 PM
Answers · 7
'you' refers to Oliver Sacks, the well known neurologist and author. The meaning of the sentence is: His patient's neurological problems are the means by which he learns how their minds work.
May 12, 2019
This idea of an 'avenue opening' is a metaphor. It's quite a common idea to represent an opportunity or a different choice in life as a new road or a door opening (so that we can metaphorically 'travel' into this future). In this case the illness of his patients was an opportunity for him to research. The sentence with 'had' twice is a typical conditional sentence construction often used to imagine hypothetical past situations. Usually it should have the word 'if' - so "That would not opened if they hadn't had the disease" - does that help make it clearer? Chris
May 12, 2019
Still haven’t found your answers?
Write down your questions and let the native speakers help you!