explanation、definition、description、exposition与interpretation这些名词都含有“解释”或“说明”之意。
explanation : 普通用词，指使人明白未知或不清楚的事。
- Could you give me a quick explanation of how it works?
你能给我简要说明一下它的工作原理吗？ - What was her explanation for why she was late?
她是如何解释她迟到的原因的？ - The judge didn't believe his explanation that he had stolen the money in order to give it to charity.
他辩解说偷钱是为了捐给慈善机构，但是法官并不相信。 - He said, by way of explanation, that he hadn't seen the traffic light change to red.
他解释说他没有看到红灯亮了。
definition : 主要指对某一词、短语或专门术语的含义作解释、下定义。
- The legal definition of what is and what is not pornography is very unsatisfactory.
法律对什么是色情、什么不是色情的解释令人很不满意。
description : 指对某一事物的重要方面进行详细叙述，常含教育与启迪意味。
- She has given the police a very detailed/full description of the robber.
她向警察详细描述了抢劫者的相貌。 - A girl answering (= matching) the description of the missing teenager was spotted in Glasgow.
有人在格拉斯哥发现一个女孩，相貌特征符合对失踪少女的描述。 - Your paper contains too much description, and not enough discussion of the issues.
你的文章描述性内容太多，而对问题的讨论不够。
exposition : 通常指对论点、假设、理论等的重点作详尽的阐述。
- It purports to be an exposition of Catholic social teaching.
它旨在详细阐述天主教的社会教义。
interpretation : 多指对文字上较难的段落，或难于理解，令人迷惑的问题作出解释或说明。
- The dispute is based on two widely differing interpretations of the law.
争论是源于对法律的两种截然不同的解释。 - The rules are vague and open to interpretation.
规则很含糊，可作各种诠释。 - It is difficult for many people to accept a literal interpretation of the Bible.
很多人觉得难以接受对圣经的字面诠释。
