这些动词都表示“落下、下降”之意。
descend : 通常指沿斜线或斜坡下降。
- The plane began to descend.
飞机开始降落。 - The results, ranked in descending order (= from the highest to the lowest) are as follows:
结果按递减顺序排列如下。 - The path descended steeply into the valley.
这条路很陡，一直通到山谷。 - Jane descended the stairs.
简走下了楼梯。
drop : 指物体从一定高度落下。
- She dropped her keys.
她把钥匙掉了。 - I'm always dropping things.
我总是掉东西。 - Amanda dropped her sunglasses in/into the fountain.
阿曼达把太阳镜掉进喷水池里了。 - The book dropped from/off the shelf.
书从书架上掉了下来。 - Don't drop it!/Don't let it drop!
别让那东西掉下来！
fall与drop同义，指突然或猛烈地降落，但fall也可指任何下落，同高度或形式无关。
- The snow had been falling steadily all day.
雪持续下了一整天。 - It was October and the leaves had started to fall.
十月了，树叶开始掉落。 - She fell into bed, completely exhausted.
她筋疲力尽，倒在床上。 - A bomb fell on the church and destroyed it.
一颗炸弹落在教堂上，把教堂炸毁了。 - A huge meteor fell to Earth in the middle of the desert.
一颗巨大的流星陨落到地球上，落在沙漠中央。 - He begged for mercy as the blows fell on him (= as he was being hit).
他挨打时求饶了。
sink : 指在空气或水中垂直下降、下沉。
- The sun glowed red as it sank slowly below the horizon.
太阳缓缓沉到地平线下，发出红色的余辉。 - Student numbers have sunk considerably this year.
今年的学生人数大幅减少。 - We sank (= drank) a bottle of wine each last night.
昨天晚上，我们每人喝了一瓶葡萄酒。 - The wounded soldier sank (= fell) to the ground.
受伤的士兵跌倒在地。 - She sank back in her chair and closed her eyes.
她跌坐在椅子上，闭上了眼睛。 - He sank into deep despair (= became very unhappy) when he lost his job.
丢掉工作后，他极其绝望。