| Acknowledgements | 第1-5页 |
| 内容摘要 | 第5-6页 |
| Abstract | 第6-10页 |
| 1. Introduction | 第10-13页 |
| ·Research background | 第10-11页 |
| ·Research significance and objectives | 第11-12页 |
| ·Thesis layout | 第12-13页 |
| 2. Literature Review and Theoretical Framework | 第13-35页 |
| ·Previous researches on weaseling | 第13-14页 |
| ·Domestic researches | 第13页 |
| ·Foreign researches | 第13-14页 |
| ·A general account of weaseling | 第14-24页 |
| ·A working definition of weaseling | 第14-17页 |
| ·Linguistic means of weaseling | 第17-22页 |
| ·Weaseling, vagueness, ambiguity, and euphemism | 第22-24页 |
| ·A working definition of political discourse | 第24-26页 |
| ·Theoretical framework | 第26-35页 |
| ·Adaptation Theory | 第26-30页 |
| ·Relevance Theory | 第30-31页 |
| ·Adaptation-Relevance Model | 第31-35页 |
| 3. Research Methodology | 第35-38页 |
| ·Research questions | 第35页 |
| ·Data | 第35-36页 |
| ·Data source | 第35页 |
| ·Data selection | 第35-36页 |
| ·Research methodology and procedure | 第36-38页 |
| 4. An Adaptation-Relevance Account of Weaseling in Political Discourse | 第38-56页 |
| ·Weaseling as a result of choice-making | 第38-40页 |
| ·Relevance as the prerequisite of choice-making | 第40-41页 |
| ·Weaseling: an integrated process between linguistic forms and contextual correlates | 第41-53页 |
| ·Adaptation to the social world | 第41-47页 |
| ·Adaptation to the mental world | 第47-51页 |
| ·Adaptation to the physical world | 第51-53页 |
| ·Major findings | 第53-56页 |
| ·The production of Weaseling | 第54-55页 |
| ·The identification and interpretation of Weaseling | 第55-56页 |
| 5. Conclusion | 第56-58页 |
| Bibliography | 第58-61页 |
| Appendix 1 Examples of Entry Layout in Watson's Dictionary of Weasel Words | 第61-62页 |
| Appendix 2 Excerpts of data selected from Watson's Dictionary of Weasel Words | 第62-78页 |
