这句话中"if not"怎么理解,Thank you!
问题描述：
这句话中"if not"怎么理解,Thank you!
What might have been a catastrophe in New York — one that evoked the feel if not the scale of the Sept.11 attack — was averted by a pilot’s quick thinking and deft maneuvers,and by the nearness of rescue boats,a combination that witnesses and officials called miraculous.
请问句中的if not该怎么理解呢（结合整个句子,破折号中间这部分怎么翻译）?根据字典if not意思有：要不,不然；如果不；除非,如果不；否则.但是好像直接带到句子里都不太合适.
答
省略结构.＝if it is not在这里的意思是如果没有发生的话……这个句型不常见,知道就行.不过if是一个非常重要的词它有两个意思1.是否.当是否讲是,它引导的句子根据句子时态的变化而变化例如：I don't know if he will...