谈谈多功能的THAT——兼与类似词用法比较

That是学英语者最先认识最先会用的词语之一;可它用法之广是任何词所望尘莫及的。兹概述如下: A.用作指示代词可充当主语、宾语、补语等。其对应词是this。但(1)无论从空间或时间概念来说,this指近不指远,that则指(较)远不指近。这可以说是学英语的“开宗明义第一章”,毋庸赘述。(2)就谈话所指或文章中所指的上下文叙述的事情来说,this一般指下文,有时也可以指上文,而that则只指上文。例如:I said this:There should be no error,no delay,and no waste.John left the car out in cold weather,this/that is why he could not start it.A laser beam doesn′t diverge,that′s why it can drill holes in diamonds. 偶尔,that也指下文,那就含有讽刺意