兩個固定說法
把那一圈條件直接拿來當理由：一句用它來說「怎樣都不行」，一句用它來說「這樣已經算不錯了」。
under the circumstances · noun · B2
Used in the phrase "under the circumstances" to say that because of the situation, something is fair, sensible, or as good as it could be.
在這種情況下（所以說得過去）
核心畫面
Picture an event in the middle, and all the facts standing in a ring around it — who was there, what the weather was, how much money there was, what had happened the week before. None of them is the event, but together they decide how it goes. The word is that ring, which is why English keeps saying under the circumstances: you act from inside the ring, not outside it.
可以想成：中間是一件事，周圍站著一圈事實——當時有誰在、天氣如何、手上有多少錢、上個星期發生過什麼。它們每一個都不是…更多收起
可以想成：中間是一件事，周圍站著一圈事實——當時有誰在、天氣如何、手上有多少錢、上個星期發生過什麼。它們每一個都不是那件事本身，合起來卻決定了事情會怎麼走。這個字指的就是那一圈；也因此英文老是說 under the circumstances——你是站在圈子裡面做決定的，不是站在外面。From the word’s history
From Latin circumstantia 'surrounding condition', from circum 'around' + stare 'to stand' — literally the things that stand around something. English had it by about 1200 for a fact that modifies another fact, and by the mid-14th century for a person's surroundings; the plural sense 'condition of life, material welfare' is recorded from 1704.
來自拉丁文 circumstantia（周圍的狀況），由 circum（周圍）+ stare（站）組成，字面就是「站在四周的那些東西」。約 1200 年英文用它指「會改變另一個事實的事實」，到十四世紀中期擴大為「一個人身處的環境」；複數形指「生活條件、經濟狀況」則有 1704 年的紀錄。知道 circum-（如 circle）和 -stance（站立）這兩塊，這個長字就好記多了。
Etymonline, https://www.etymonline.com/word/circumstance
From the picture
無法選擇的際遇
同一圈條件，但強調你動不了它：人生怎麼開場、遇上什麼事，都不是自己挑的。
circumstance, fate, life situation · noun · C1
The mix of facts and events that shapes someone's life but that they cannot choose or control.
際遇；命運般的處境
家境（舊式說法）
把那一圈條件收窄到錢：一個人日子過得寬不寬裕。
circumstance, financial situation · noun · C1
The conditions someone lives in, especially how much money they have.
家境；生活條件
Also in this word
circumstance, situation · noun · B2
The facts and conditions around an event, which decide what happens or what someone is able to do.
情況；情形
原始詞典資料5 筆記錄
以下是外部詞典記錄的用法，原文照列，我們還沒有寫成教學內容。上面的說明才是我們自己寫的；有些用法可能上面已經講過了。
circumstancenoun/ˈsɜːkəmst(ə)ns/
- 1
Something which is related to, or in some way affects, a fact or event.
- The report should focus on to the current circumstances of the organisation, to help us find a way to grow in the future.
- She went missing in somewhat spooky circumstances.
- 2
An event; a fact; a particular incident, occurrence, or condition (status).
- I have ſeen Two or Three antique Buſts of Alexander in the ſame Air and Poſture, and am apt to think the Sculptor had in his Thoughts the Conqueror's weeping for new Worlds, or ſome other the like Circumſtance of his History.
- Then another circumstance happened, which made a lasting impression on my memory, though I was but a small child.
- 3
archaicEvasive or indirect language; circumlocution.
- Right, you are in the right, and therefore / I holde it meet without more circumſtance at all, / Wee ſhake hands and part; […]
- But he (as louing his owne pride, and purpoſes) / Euades them, with a bumbaſt Circumſtance, / Horribly ſtufft with Epithites of warre,
- 4
Condition in regard to worldly estate; state of property; situation; surroundings.
- She was born into comfortable circumstances.
- When men are eaſy in their circumſtances, they are naturally enemies to innovations: […]
circumstanceverb/ˈsɜːkəmst(ə)ns/
- 1
To place in a particular situation, especially with regard to money or other resources.
- Frank muttered something. Tidings had in some shape reached his ears that his father was not comfortably circumstanced as regarded money.
- While also taxing Ferrein with the same motives, Diderot's account of his doings is much more circumstanced than La Mettrie's, and also much more amusing, thanks to the interpolation of the «bijoux» motif.
資料來源：英文維基詞典 English Wiktionary（CC BY-SA 4.0）。 原文照列，未經改寫。