说明文（Expository Essay）
说明文是阐述或解释某一事物的发生、发展、结果、特征、性质、状态、功能等的文体，主要用于介绍某些操作程序，解释抽象概念，说明客观事物的特点，或阐明自然现象等，能提供事物的What, Why, How方面的知识，使读者明白事理。除了一般课堂作文外，多用于研究报告及实验结果的文章。
说明可分为两种：
（I） 事物说明文：指说明的事物是具有形体的东西。
（II） 事理说明文：指说明抽象的概念，或介绍事物的本质属性，或陈述事情的原因等。
说明文与其它文体的分别：
（I） 说明与记叙：说明偏重于知识性、科学性，大多是为了解释说明某些客观事物，帮助读者了解客观世界；叙述则偏重于具体地反映事物的情况和变化过程，使人有所感知和感动。
（II）说明与描写：说明要求以平实简洁的语言，将事物的状态、性质、功能、成因、过程等告诉读者；描写是对事物作生动的描绘，使读者有深刻的感受。
（III）说明与议论：说明是为了让读者了解情况、明白事理、知道真伪，一般不确立什么论点；议论是对事物或问题进行推断、论证、发表评论、提出作者的论点及主张。
说明的方法：
（I）定义说明法：对某种事物的本质特征或概念作准确而简要的说明。
（i）简短定义 Short Definition：先陈述要解释的定义，再说明它所属的组别，最后说明它与其它组别不同之处。
“Pardon” is an action of a court or ruler forgiving a person for an illegal act and giving freedom from punishment.
“Excuse”is the reason, whether true or untrue, given when asking to be forgiven for absence, wrong behavior, a fault, etc.
( Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English )
（ii）延伸定义 Extended Definition：有别于简短定义只用一两句来解释，延伸定义本身便可成一篇文章，而通常要下定义的语句较为复杂或抽象，而解释的方法包括：
（1） 提供例子说明；
（2） 列出其显著的特点和特征；
（3） 提出历史发展的实证；
（4） 以比较及对比方式来解释；
（5） 先分明别类，再逐一说明每类之差异；
Example:
One-upmanship
One-upmanship is the art of impressing other people. You are “one up” on someone if you have said something impressive, something that makes the other person feel inferior. At the beginning of this year, I met three new students who all knew the art of one-upmanship. One said that his brother was a lieutenant in the Marine Corps. The other told me that he had been at a school that had its own fully equipped television studio. The third had just come from an exclusive prep school in New England. To play the game, I should have thought of an answer that would put me “one up” in turn. To the first, I should have replied that my uncle is the adjutant to the Commanding General of the Corps. To the second, I should have said that our school has an electronically operated language lab. To the third, I should have said that my father is a professor at Harvard. Unfortunately, none of those things is true.
分析如下：
本文向读者说明一个单词 － One-upmanship，并运用了简短定义法，对 One-upmanship 下了扼要定义，跟着以举例方法延伸这词的解释，用作者见到的 three new students 如何运用 one-upmanship的例子来说明，以及他欲反败为胜的方法，将抽象的定义演绎成具体生动的事例。
（II） 分类说明法：将事物按照一定的标准和范围，系统地分成若干点或若干方面来说明，可以从不同角度或准则，对说明对象进行多次分类。一般用于内容较复杂、涉及面较广的事物进行说明，通常不少于三类，不多于六类。
在一篇短文中，首段是introduction，之后的段落是每种分类的说明，可依时间、空间次序来决定类别陈述的先后，而最后一段是总结或建议。
Example:
Part-time Jobs
There are many part-time jobs for college students who need money to help pay their bills. For students who enjoy talking to customers, sales jobs are ideal. Some people like to find their own customers, so they choose door-to-door sales of products ranging from beauty aids and encyclopedias to vacuum cleaners. Other people prefer working in department stores, where customer finds them. Students who like being around people, but do not want to persuade them to buy anything, might prefer clerking in a grocery or discount store. Those who enjoy providing service to the public might prefer office jobs as secretaries, file clerks, or bookkeepers. And those who like to keep their surroundings clean and neat might find that being dishwashers, stockroom persons, or janitors fills their need for both money and job satisfaction.
分析如下：
本文虽未列小段，但读完后对大学生的兼职工作已有大致了解，因为采用了分类说明法。兼职工作分为：door-to-door sales; sales in department stores; clerking in a grocery or discount store; office jobs; keeping clean and neat jobs。
（III） 比较说明法：运用同类事物或不同类事物与要作说明的事物进行比较，以突出其特征，所以，在说明较为复杂的或不为人所熟悉的事物时，用比较的方法可以把难于理解的事物说得清楚易懂。
常用于：
（i） 显示某一事物的优异之处：；
（ii） 说明两类似事物的不同之处；
（iii） 说明两不同事物的共同之处；
（iv） 说明两者的相同及相异之处。
写段落要点：
首段：陈述比较事物的相同及差异的地方。
主要内容：详细说明比较事物的异同，可以 subject-by-subject，先用一段落说明一事物，跟着一段说明另一事物，如此类推；亦可以用 point-by-point，就某一方面比较两事物的异或同，在同一段落中出现，下一段则比较两者的其它方面，如此类推。
总结：要留意总结中必须提及两种比较事物，及重申文章的主题。
（V） 举例说明法：一般有两种情形：一是列举举例，说明事物或事理所包括的范围；二是典型举例，例子具有化表性，能充分说明要讲的问题。说明文中的举例与议论文中的举例有所不同，前者是为了印证所要说明的情况属实，使人有所知；后者是为了印证观点的正确，使人有所信。
Exercises:
Choose one of the titles and write a composition of about 120 words.
1. True Love (using extended definition)
2. Varieties of Friendship (using classification)
3. American movies and Chinese movies (using comparison)
4. Greed (using examples)
Cloze Exercise (3)
写作填充练习 Please complete the following cloze exercise:
(word list: 56 words)
Hawaii
Hawaii, the youngest state of theUnited States, is different______ many ways form the mainland states. Its geography and people ______unique.Hawaiiis a______ of a great chain ______ volcanic islands which stretch ______the Pacific Ocean. Just______are the Hawaiian people? ______ are a mixture of ______ original Hawaiians who probably ______from Samoalong, long______, and many immigrants ______ arrived later. When the ______ pineapple plantations were being ______inHawaiiin the 1900's,______ were not enough people ______ on the islands to ______ all the work. So more came: the Chinese, Japanese, ______ the Portuguese were the ______ groups. Some returned home ______ working for a few ______; many stayed and added ______ the mixture of cultures ______ languages.
For many years, ______ customs were looked down ______ or ignored. Now there ______ new pride in the ______ ways. Children are learning ______ Hawaiian language and the ______ songs and dances. At ______University of Hawaii there______ a great deal of ______ in the history of ______ islands and the culture ______ the past.
Visitors to ______ islands want to see ______ island paradise as it ______ to be. A popular ______to visit is the Polynesian Cultural Center.______ numbers of tourists from ______ Mainland and the Orient ______in Hawaii daily. Signs______modern tourism are everywhere. Honolulu______ its suburbs, a quiet ______ of about 250,000 about thirty ______ ago, is now a ______ area of 800,000 residents ______ tourists.
As you drive ______the island of Oahu,______ can still find deserted ______ of beach with the ______ waves. But now some ______ these beaches are closed ______ the public, and more ______ more tourist resorts are ______ built in areas that ______unspoiled. Hawaiians worry about what will happen to the old way of life.
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