Looking through stone pillars at London's St. Paul's Cathedral. Photo: BBC/ Laurence Coss.
今日小常識
Pillars, posts and columns all support buildings or bridges. A pillar is a strong pole that supports part of a building, and is made of stone, wood or concrete. A column is similar, but usually has decorative features. A post is a small pillar made of metal or wood.
柱子、桿子還有圓柱都可以用來支撐樓房和橋梁 。Pillar 是一個非常結實的柱子，用來支撐房屋的一部分，由石頭、木頭或水泥制成。Column 的作用和 pillar 相似，但含有裝飾作用。Post 就是一個小的 pillar 柱子，由金屬或木頭制成。
今日短語
短語 a pillar of society 指的是那些重要的、有價值的并且參與眾多公益活動的社會成員。A pillar of... 還可以和其他社會群體和組織連用。
例句
Jimmy is a pillar of society. He raised millions of dollars to build a new hospital in the city.
Martin's a great guy. He's the head teacher in our school, runs a local charity, and is known and respected by everyone in town. He's a pillar of the community.
Matilda is a pillar of the church: she's always giving her time to organising events and tries hard to make people feel welcome there.
類似表達
短語 from pillar to post 的意思是四處奔走，東奔西跑。
例句
My friend James grew up in a family which moved around all the time. The poor kid was sent from pillar to post and never had time to settle in one place!
