An imaginative man could see the red flag that she constantly carried, waving it wildly, beseechingly—and, alas, to little spectacular avail.

一个富有想象力的人可以看到她经常举着的红旗， 疯狂地、恳求地挥舞着它——可惜， 收效甚微。

He spent a lot of time alone in his house and in his office trying to work on legislation, to little avail.

他花了很多时间独自在家里和办公室里尝试立法，但收效甚微。

The central bank is fresh out of foreign reserves, having spent most of them propping up the lira, also to little avail: last month the currency plummeted to an all-time low against the dollar.

央行刚刚耗尽了外汇储备，其中大部分都用于支撑里拉，但也收效甚微：上个月里拉兑美元汇率暴跌至历史低点。