retrieve a situation British English to make a situation satisfactory again after there has been a serious mistake or problem:
The general made one last desperate effort to retrieve the situation.

-Longman

今天在朗文英英字典看到retrive a situation的定义时觉得可以用它来翻译“力挽狂澜”或是“扭转乾坤”。

力挽狂澜：比喻尽力挽回险恶的局面。-《现代汉语词典》

那么“回天乏术”则可以翻译成"unable to retrieve the situation".

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