1.形容词exciting和excited都表示激动、兴奋的意思。

excited表示“兴奋的”，指人、物对......感到兴奋；

exciting表示“令人兴奋的；使人激动的”，指人、事、物本身让人兴奋、激动。一般情况下作表语时，通常人做主语，用v-ed；物做主语，用v-ing.同样的道理，其他类似的词：

surprising/surprised；

interesting/interested；

amusing / amused;

boring/bored;

astonishing/astonished;

tiring/tired;

terrifying/terrified；

worrying/worried;

satisfying/satisfied等也是这样区分的。它们作表语比较好区分。

例句：

The children were excited about opening their presents.

孩子们对打开礼物感到兴奋不已。

I'm really excited at the prospect of working abroad.

我对有希望到国外工作着实很激动。

Don't get too excited by the sight of your name in print.

不要一看到你的名字出现在出版物中就过分激动。

He was very excited to be asked to play for Wales.

入选威尔士队使他非常兴奋。

I'm very excited about the possibility of playing for England's first team

想到可能为英格兰首屈一指的球队效力，我非常兴奋。

The new restaurant is nothing to get excited about.

这家新餐馆没什么值得特别激动的地方。

An excited crowd of people gathered around her.

一群激动的人聚集在她周围。

Excited voices were shouting that the road was blocked by soldiers.

有人气愤地喊道马路被士兵封锁了。（提喻的修饰手法）

This is one of the most exciting developments in biology in recent years.

这是近年来生物学上令人振奋的发展之一。

If the interview goes well it could be the passport to an exciting new career.

面试顺利的话，将获得令人兴奋的新工作。《柯林斯高阶英汉双解学习词典》

This piece of equipment is an exciting new development.

这台设备是一项振奋人心的最新研究成果。

We need an exciting trip to add some spice to our lives.

我们需要一次新奇的旅行来调剂一下生活。

It promises to be an exciting few days.

那可望是兴奋刺激的几天。

The need to produce the most exciting newspaper story obsesses most journalists.

大多数记者梦寐以求的就是要写出最撼动人心的新闻报道来。

其他的类似对应的形容词作定语也是具有上述规则。

He told us an exciting story yesterday.他昨天给我们讲了一个使人激动的故事。

It's nothing to get excited about.这没什么可值得激动的。

I've got an exciting piece of work.我得到了一份令人兴奋的工作。

She got a very exciting job.她有一份很带刺激性的工作。

2.exciting的基本意思是“使人兴奋〔激动〕的”,具有主动意义,一般只修饰无生命的事物。在句中可用作定语或表语。难点就是它们作表语时的选择。

I like the exciting rhythm of African drum music.我喜欢非洲鼓乐的令人兴奋的节奏。

So exciting was the game that I forgot all about the coming finals.

比赛是如此令人兴奋，以致我把即将来临的期末考忘得一干二净。

That was the most exciting film of the year.那是一年中最令人兴奋的一部影片。

excited作定语时，本来是指“心情激动的”，an excited talk 心情激动的谈话

excited本来是描述人的感受的，在这里把它转移到了谈话上了；

an excited look/expression心情激动的表情

an excited man心情激动的人

an excited voice心情激动的语调（发音）

像这些-ed修饰的短语是描述其逻辑主语本身的某种感受的；如果你硬要说：an exciting voice令人心情激动的语调，含义是这语调让（令）别人心情激动的。其他短语也可以类似分析。如：

She took a deep breath to calm herself, but her voice still sounded excited.

她深吸了一口气，让自己平静下来，但她的声音听起来仍然很激动。

The excited expression on his face suggested that the news was good.

他脸上心情激动（兴奋）的表情暗示这是一个好消息。

They came in with flushed excited looks on their faces.

他们走了进来，脸上带着害羞而又激动的神色。