The ability to give clear explanations is the most important quality of the ideal teacher.
清晰讲解的能力是优秀教师最重要的素质。
explanation of
I’ll try and give you a quick explanation of how the machine works.
我争取给你快速解释一下这机器的工作原理。
COLLOCATIONS
verbs
have an explanation 有解释
Does the hospital have any explanation for why he died?
医院有没有对他的死因作出什么解释?
give an explanation 给出解释
The police gave no explanation for their actions.
警方未对自己的行动作出解释。
provide/offer an explanation 作出解释
This theory may provide an explanation for the origins of the universe.
这一理论或许可以解释宇宙的起源。
ask for/demand an explanation 要求得到解释
When I asked for an explanation, the people at the office said they didn't know.
我要求一个解释,可办公室里的人说他们并不知情。
nFurious parents are demanding an explanation from the school.
wait for an explanation (=expect an explanation) 要求得到解释
nShe continued to stare at him in silence, waiting for an explanation.
find/think of/come up with an explanation 找出/想出理由
Scientists have been unable to find an explanation for this phenomenon.
科学家尚无法解释这一现象。
owe (somebody) an explanation 应(向某人)作出解释
I think you owe me some kind of explanation.
我认为你得向我解释一下。
accept an explanation (=believe that it is true or correct) 接受理由
The court accepted her explanation.
法庭接受了她的理由。
nneed/require an explanation
We think the minister’s decision requires an explanation.
adjectives
a possible explanation 可能的解释
Can anyone think of a possible explanation for why this is happening?
为什么发生这样的情况,有谁能想出合理的解释吗?
the most likely/probable explanation (=one that is probably true) 最有可能的解释
The most likely explanation is that John missed the bus.
最有可能的原因是约翰没有赶上公共汽车。
nThe most probable explanation is that the water was contaminated.
an obvious explanation (=one that is easy to see or notice) 显而易见的理由
There is no obvious explanation for his strange behaviour.
他的奇怪行为没有显而易见的理由。
a reasonable/plausible explanation (=one that is easy to believe) 合理的解释
Pilot error is the most plausible explanation for the crash.
飞行员失误是这次失事最合理的解释。
a satisfactory/adequate explanation (=one that explains something completely) 令人满意的解释
nA bank must offer an adequate explanation of all its charges.
a convincing/credible explanation (=one that you can believe is true) 令人信服的理由
nThe author fails to provide a convincing explanation for the main character’s motives.
a logical/rational explanation (=one that is based on facts) 合乎逻辑/合理的解释
nPhysics finally gave us a rational explanation for the atom’s strange behaviour.
further explanation (=additional reasons) 补充说明
nHe gave no further explanation for leaving, and she did not ask for any.
nphrases
there is no apparent explanation (=used when there is no explanation that you can think of)
There was no apparent explanation for the attack.
Examples from the Corpus
explanation• Unless Guy came up with an acceptableexplanation, the entireCourt would be gossiping about them.• Students can rewrite an explanation for a different audience, such as their younger brothers and sisters.• Does the as-if strategy of pragmatism allow a better explanation?• Our guide gave us a detailedexplanation of the system of government.• Some of these critiques give mono-casual, but most give multi-dimensional, explanations of the links between law and society.• CoachGreen wasn't willing to accept his explanation.• One can go to the thousands of human societies and find ingeniousexplanations for each incidence of masculinity and femininity.• He offered no explanation for his absence at the previous day's meeting.• She offered no explanation as to why she had left so suddenly.• The kind of explanation we come up with must not contradict the laws of physics.• I don't know why he tested positive for drugs. The only explanation I can think of is that the samples got mixed up.• There are several possible explanations for girls' superior high school performance.• Can you give us a quickexplanation of how it works?• This can be ascribed to the absence of any craft-related explanation of the changes.• Each diagram is followed by a simpleexplanation.• What was their explanation for their decision?• Scientists have offered variousexplanations for these changes in climate.• The people who consider themselves to be pentecostals are uncomfortable with explanations of their movement that seem to explain it away.• This work should have been finished a week ago. What's your explanation?
explanation of/for• For instance, while braincells do die and are not replaced, their loss is not an explanation for senility.• It suggests therefore that there is another explanation for such behaviour.• He offered another explanation for why Sen.• The principles of learningtheory provide a prima-facie explanation of the linguistic changes which occur during childhood.• At the same time, it is not alone in the field: there are alternativemysticalexplanations ofmisfortune.• In my view, the above-quoted explanations for the poor showing, although valid, are too superficial.• Either way, there has to be some rationalexplanation of Clinton's conduct.• This can be ascribed to the absence of any craft-related explanation of the changes.
provide/give an explanation• This will involve some such task as giving an explanation of difficulties, requestingclarification, writing an apology, etc.• Recentgenetic studies have provided an explanation for this variation.• Associative learning provides explanations for basic forms of learning.• However, they may provide an explanation of the observedvalue of one very important quantity: the so-called cosmological constant.• The level at which theismprovides an explanation is the very general level of metaphysics.• And they had to provide an explanation if they took any longer than five minutes.• This theory enables one to give an explanation for the existence of the universe, in terms of a goal or purpose.• I want to give an explanation of my own experience described there.
ADJECTIVE | VERB + EXPLANATION | EXPLANATION + VERB | PREPOSITION | PHRASESADJECTIVE➤convincing, credible, good, likely, logical, natural, obvious, plausible, probable, rational令人信服的/可信的/不錯的/很可能的/符合邏輯的/自然的/明顯的/合理的/可能的/理性的解釋◇The most likely explanation is that his plane was delayed.最可能的解釋是他的飛機晚點了。➤implausible, inadequate, unlikely難以叫人相信的/不充分的/不大可能的解釋▸➤acceptable, adequate, reasonable, satisfactory, sufficient可接受的/適當的/合理的/令人滿意的/充分的解釋▸➤further進一步的解釋◇No further explanation is necessary.沒必要再進一步解釋。➤no apparent沒有顯而易見的解釋◇There was no apparent explanation for the attack.這次攻擊事件沒有明顯的理由可作解釋。➤clear, coherent清楚的解釋;條理清楚的闡述▸➤complete, comprehensive, detailed, full完整的/全面的/詳細的/詳盡的解釋▸➤partial不完全的解釋▸➤complex, complicated複雜的解釋▸➤easy, simple容易的/簡單的解釋▸➤innocent, prosaic單純的解釋;平淡無奇的解釋◇There's sure to be a perfectly innocent explanation for all this-though I admit it looks bizarre.雖然我承認這件事看上去有些怪異,但肯定有一個再尋常不過的解釋。➤convenient方便的解釋▸➤accepted, traditional公認的解釋;傳統的解釋◇There is no generally accepted explanation of this practice.對這一習慣做法沒有公認的解釋。➤official官方的解釋▸➤possible可能的解釋▸➤alternative另一種解釋▸➤correct, real, true正確的/真正的/真實的解釋▸➤brief簡短的解釋▸➤lengthy, long冗長的解釋▸➤verbal口頭解釋▸➤general一般的解釋▸➤common通常的解釋◇the common explanations for cancer對癌症的通常解釋➤only, sole唯一的解釋◇It's the only explanation that makes any kind of sense.這是唯一有點兒道理的解釋。➤causal因果解釋◇The causal explanation must be that old age causes poverty, not that poverty causes people to be old.因果解釋一定是年老引起貧困,而不是貧困催人老。➤ad hoc臨時給出的解釋▸➤cultural, historical, political, psychological, scientific, sociological, technical, theoretical文化的/歷史的/政治的/心理的/科學的/社會學的/技術的/理論的解釋VERB + EXPLANATION➤have有解釋◇I had no explanation for her strange mood.我無法解釋她異常的情緒。➤give (sb), offer (sb), provide (sb with)( 為某人 ) 給出解釋; ( 給某人 ) 提供解釋◇He only offered a partial explanation for his lateness.他對自己的遲到只說了個大概的原因。➤go into, launch into開始解釋◇She launched into a detailed explanation of every aspect of her work.她開始詳細地解釋她工作的每一個方面。➤advance, propose, put forward提出解釋◇one explanation advanced by Marxist historians由馬克思主義歷史學家提出的一個解釋➤call for, need, require, want要求解釋;需要解釋;想要解釋◇An explanation is clearly called for.無疑需要一個解釋。➤look for, seek尋求解釋▸➤find, think of找到/想出解釋◇I can think of one possible explanation for her reaction.關於她的反應,我想到了一個可能的解釋。➤ask for, demand要求解釋◇She wrote to the company demanding an explanation.她寫信給公司要求解釋。➤wait for等待解釋▸➤deserve, merit應得到解釋◇I suppose you deserve an explanation.我認為你理應得到一個解釋。➤owe sb欠某人解釋◇I think you owe me an explanation.我想你欠我一個解釋。➤receive收到解釋▸➤accept接受解釋▸➤defy無法解釋◇Her success has been so remarkable as to defy explanation.她的成功是如此驚人,簡直無法解釋。EXPLANATION + VERB➤lie原因在 ( 於 )◇The simplest explanation for his achievements lies in his greater ability and superiority over his contemporaries at college.他之所以取得成就,最簡單的解釋就是他比大學中的同齡人能力更強,表現更優秀。➤emerge, occur to sb解釋顯現;某人想到解釋◇No single clear explanation emerged from the experiments.實驗未能顯現出任一清楚的解釋。◇A more credible explanation now occurred to her.現在她想到了一個更可信的解釋。➤exist解釋存在◇Several possible explanations exist.存在多種可能的解釋。➤suggest sth解釋暗示⋯PREPOSITION➤in explanation作為解釋◇'I've worked with them before, you see,' he added, in explanation.“你知道,我以前和他們一起工作過。”他又解釋說。➤without explanation沒有解釋◇She left suddenly and without explanation.她未作任何解釋就突然離開了。➤explanation about關於⋯的解釋◇He entered into a technical explanation about software and programming.他開始從技術的角度解釋軟件和編程。➤explanation as to關於⋯的解釋◇He provided no explanation as to why he was late.對於為何遲到他未作解釋。➤explanation for就⋯的解釋◇There is probably some perfectly logical explanation for their absence.他們的缺席很可能有某種完全合理的解釋。➤explanation from來自⋯的解釋◇We are still waiting for a full explanation from the teacher concerned.我們仍在等待相關老師給出充分的解釋。PHRASES➤an attempt at explanation試圖解釋◇The men left quickly with no attempt at explanation.這些人並未試圖解釋便很快地離開了。➤by way of explanation作為解釋◇'I had to see you,' he said, by way of explanation.“我必須得見你。”他解釋說。