Question

英语语法问题，请大神解答！

But even more important, it was the farthest that scientists had been able to
look into the past, for what they were seeing were the patterns and structures
that existed 15 billion years ago.

it was the farthest that scientists 。。。。。。是强调结构吗？ the farthest是什么成分呢？这句如何翻译？

Answer 1

我认为这个是一个强调句，the farthest 是省略了一些东西。补全了就是the farthest thing,表示最遥远的事情。整句就是：但更重要的是，更早的时候科学家已经能够在过去中寻找15亿年前存在的模式和结构。大概是这个意思。

Answer 2

翻译：这是科学家们已经能够追溯到的最遥远的过去

追问

你好，我想问的是句子的结构。