poll, crop, prune, shear, trim
这五个词共同的意思是“修剪”,它们的区别是:
crop指剪去顶部,目的在于加以区分或惩罚; shear指剪匀、剪平(如修剪草坪)以改善其品质; poll指剪枝,目的在于使其生长良好; trim指剪掉多余物以改善其外在形态; prune则既可指剪去外表的多余物,又可指删去内容的无用部分,从形式到内容全面提高其品质。例如:
They will be shearing the meadow next week.他们将在下星期修剪草地。
We polled many trees the day before yesterday.前天,我们给树剪了枝。
Trim off the loose threads.剪掉松开的线头。
They were pruning roses.他们正在修剪玫瑰。
You should prune the speech down; it's too long.你的演讲应该删掉一些,它太长了。