| ABSTRACT | 第1-7页 |
| 摘要 | 第7-10页 |
| List of Tables | 第10-11页 |
| List of Figures | 第11-12页 |
| Chapter One INTRODUCTION | 第12-16页 |
| ·Research background | 第12-13页 |
| ·Significance of this study | 第13-14页 |
| ·Research questions | 第14页 |
| ·Organization of this thesis | 第14-16页 |
| Chapter Two LITERATURE REVIEW | 第16-33页 |
| ·Synonymy and near-synonymy | 第16-19页 |
| ·Definition of synonymy | 第16-17页 |
| ·Classifications of synonymy | 第17-19页 |
| ·Semantic prosody | 第19-22页 |
| ·Definition of semantic prosody | 第19-21页 |
| ·Classifications of semantic prosody | 第21-22页 |
| ·Functions of semantic prosody | 第22页 |
| ·Collocation | 第22-25页 |
| ·Definition of collocation | 第23-24页 |
| ·Significance of collocation study | 第24-25页 |
| ·Corpus-based studies of semantic prosody | 第25-29页 |
| ·Corpus methodology for the study of semantic prosody abroad | 第25-27页 |
| ·Corpus methodology for the study of semantic prosody in China | 第27-29页 |
| ·Studies on English near-synonym discrimination | 第29-33页 |
| Chapter Three RESEARCH METHODOLOGY | 第33-38页 |
| ·Research instruments | 第33-35页 |
| ·Corpora | 第33-35页 |
| ·COCA | 第33-34页 |
| ·WECCL | 第34-35页 |
| ·Near-synonyms chosen in this study | 第35-36页 |
| ·Procedures of data analysis | 第36-37页 |
| ·Summary | 第37-38页 |
| Chapter Four RESULTS AND DISCUSSION | 第38-59页 |
| ·Semantic prosody of rather | 第38-47页 |
| ·Semantic prosody of rather in COCA | 第38-42页 |
| ·Semantic prosody of rather in WECCL | 第42-45页 |
| ·The comparison of rather between COCA and WECCL | 第45-47页 |
| ·Semantic prosody of quite | 第47-55页 |
| ·Semantic prosody of quite in COCA | 第47-50页 |
| ·Semantic prosody of quite in WECCL | 第50-53页 |
| ·The comparison of quite between COCA and WECCL | 第53-55页 |
| ·The comparison between rather and quite in COCA | 第55-57页 |
| ·Results and interpretation | 第57页 |
| ·Summary | 第57-59页 |
| Chapter Five CONCLUSION | 第59-63页 |
| ·Major findings | 第59-60页 |
| ·Implications | 第60-61页 |
| ·Limitations | 第61-62页 |
| ·Suggestions | 第62-63页 |
| Bibliography | 第63-66页 |
| Appendix Ⅰ The significant collocates of rather and the MI score in WECCL | 第66-68页 |
| Appendix Ⅱ The significant collocates of quite and the MI score in WECCL | 第68-71页 |
| Appendix Ⅲ The collocates of rather and the MI score in COCA | 第71-75页 |
| Appendix Ⅳ The collocates of quite and the MI score in COCA | 第75-80页 |
| Article Published During M.A. Study | 第80-82页 |
| Acknowledgements | 第82页 |
