VOA慢速英语:The Mystery of the Disappearing "That"

短语讲解：

1. In today's Everyday Grammar, we will explore why and when English speakers leave out the word that from a sentence.

leave out 遗漏; 省略; 未顾及; 忽略
例句：You can leave out the parts of the story that are not interesting.
你可以把故事中无趣的部分省略。

2. Sometimes, it can be used to indicate an object or a person, as in the sentence "That man is very nice!"

be used to 习惯于，适用于
例句：Petroleum can be used to produce various chemical products.
石油可用于生产多种化学产品。

3. So, in a conversation, you are more likely to hear "I think learning English is fun" than "I think that learning English is fun."

be likely to 可能
例句：They would not be likely to alight on the surface of the sea.
它们大概不会降落于海面上。

4. This explanation tells you why Humphrey Bogart, in the famous film Casablanca, said, "I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship" instead of "I think that this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship."

instead of（用…） 代替…， （是…）而不是…
例句：A spirit lamp burns spirits instead of oil.
酒精灯里点的不是油而是酒精。