cut the abuse of natural resources

[ostap77]

"The government's hope to cut the abuse of natural resourses."

In class we couldn't agree on whether "cut" means to stop or reduce. I suggested if it meant to stop it would have been "cut back or down on" and every proper government's hope is to eliminate the abuse of natural resources not just reduce it. What would your interpretation?

[5jj]

Your guess is as good as mine.

[Barb_D]

The goverment's--not a proper way to form a plural.

Either
The government's hope [noun] is [verb needed] to...
The governments hope [verb] to ...

[JMurray]

"The government's hope to cut the abuse of natural resourses."
In class we couldn't agree on whether "cut" means to stop or reduce. I suggested if it meant to stop it would have been "cut back or down on" and every proper goverment's hope is to eliminate the abuse of natural resources not just reduce it. What would your interpretation?

ostap.
It is a little ambiguous but I would assume they meant to "reduce" rather than "stop", probably because I assume they realise that the complete elimination of abuse is unrealistic. And when a government cuts funding to a cause, it generally reduces it. They would "cut off" funding to stop it entirely. But this probably has regional variations.
Your own suggestions of "cut back" or "cut down on", also mean to reduce rather than to stop or eliminate.

not a teacher

[nyota]

Also:

1. The idea behind these forms is to cut out fraud. >>> stop
2. A catalytic converter will cut out 90% of carbon monoxide emissions. >>> eliminate
3. The US has threatened to cut off economic and military aid. >>> stop the supply
4. Cut down on fatty foods if you want to lose weight. >>> reduce the amount
5. You need to cut the amount of fat and sugar in your diet. >>> reduce
6. Richer countries must do more to cut back carbon emissions. >>> reduce the amount of
7. Scientists are warning that unless carbon emissions are cut, we could be heading for an environmental catastrophe. >>> reduced
8. You'll need sunglasses that will cut out harmful UV rays from the sun. >>> prevent them from reaching your eyes


Source: Longman - cut