九叔@乾元_用九

老师@Felix_Wan

楼楼@夜雨寒楼

Oxford Learner*s Grammar:
(1)
We can use the perfect to talk about possible actions in the past.
You could have forgotten to post the letter.
= It is possible you forgot.
The flight could have been delayed.
= It is possible the flight has been/was delayed.
He could have been having a shower.
= It is possible he was having a shower.
(2)
We can also use this structure for a possible action when we know that the action did not happen.
You were mad to drive here on these icy roads. You could have had an accident.
(3)
To say that someone had the ability or the chance to do something but didn*t do it, we use could have done.
He could have walked there, but he was too lazy.
I could have got tickets, but there were only very expensive ones left.

@Beach梦楼兰

忙着追杀框框大师，忘了你这个贴。。。。
朗文：
could
- 3 emphasizing your feelings
(spoken)
used to emphasize how happy, angry etc you are by saying how you want to express your feelings:
He irritates me so much I could scream.
I was so angry I could have killed her.
I was so relieved I could have kissed them all.
一种强调你的感觉的表达方式

网友观点：
▲2012年普通高等学校招生全国统一考试（江苏卷）
—Happy birthday!
—Thankyou! It’s the best present I _______ for.
A. should have wished
B. must have wished
C. may have wished
D. could have wished
▲我在网上找到3个解析：
1. 本题考查情态动词与虚拟语气。句意：—生日快乐！—谢谢！这是我所能希望得到的最好的礼物了！
should have done表示本该做，但却未做；must have done一定做过；may have done可能做过；could have done可能做过或本可以做，但却未做。据句意排除选项A和B。此句有虚拟语气的用法，故选D不选C。
2. 本题考查情态动词。句意：“生日快乐！”“谢谢你！这是我可能希望的最好的礼物了。”could have wished “可能希望”，符合语境。should have wished “本应该希望而实际上并非如此”；must have wished “肯定希望”；may have wished “也许希望”。
3. 解析：A项意为“本应该期望而实际上并非如此”；B项意为“一定希望”；C项意为“也许希望”；D项意为“可能希望”。句意为：—生日快乐！—谢谢你！这是我所能期望的最好的礼物了。根据句意可知，应选D项。
▲在【朗文当代高级英语辞典_英英·英汉双解_外语教学与研究出版社第四版】wish词条下：
I couldn*t wish for a nicer / better etc ... also the nicest / best etc ... I could wish for: used to emphasize that you are very happy with what you have and cannot imagine anyone or anything better. 我不用再祈求会有更好的¼¼，我想要的最好的。
It*s the best birthday present I could have wished for. 这是我想要的最好的礼物了。
▲我的看法：根据（柯林斯高阶英汉双解词典）的解释，wish for 的意思为：默默祈盼(If you wished forsomething ，you express the desire silently to yourself.)。
此句主语是我，我做过的事，我是完全知道的，不必推测，怎么可能推测自己“可能做过或本可以做，但却未做”呢？所以我认为解析的不对，应该是固定习惯的用法，句型就是The nicest / best etc ... I could wish for，表示最高级。I could have wished for不表示对过去推测，仅仅是I could wished for 的完成时，表示到目前为止，这是我一直默默祈盼的礼物，是我一直想要的礼物，当然就是最好的。