Indeed,haditnotbeenforthesuperbpreservationofthesefossils,theymightwellhavebeenclassifiedasdinosaurs.这句话中的it指的是什么

Question

Indeed,had it not been for the superb preservation of these fossils,they might well have been classified as dinosaurs.
这句话中的it指的是什么

Answer 1

it 指代上文的某件事,或着你就把它看成是虚拟语气的一个固定句式的一部分（It had not been for...,sb would have done...要是没.,某人就.）.如：上月我要参加一个工作面试,苦于没有经验,我求助于张教授,他帮我获得成功.所以我说,If it had not been for professor Zhang ,I would have failed.(当时要不是张教授的话,我就失败了.it 可以指代我参加面试这件事.