| Acknowledgements | 第1-7页 |
| Abstract | 第7-9页 |
| 内容摘要 | 第9-10页 |
| Chapter One Introduction | 第10-14页 |
| ·The background of the study | 第10-12页 |
| ·The research objectives | 第12-13页 |
| ·The organization of the thesis | 第13-14页 |
| Chapter Two An Overview of Related Studies | 第14-19页 |
| ·Definitions of questions | 第14-15页 |
| ·Various approaches to study questions | 第15-19页 |
| ·Functionalist approach to question | 第15-16页 |
| ·Formalist approach to question | 第16-17页 |
| ·Syntactic and pragmatic approaches to question | 第17-19页 |
| Chapter Three Theoretic Framework for the Study | 第19-22页 |
| ·Polarity | 第19-20页 |
| ·Linguistic meaning and speaker meaning | 第20-21页 |
| ·Epistemic bias as an illocutionary effect | 第21-22页 |
| Chapter Four Exploration of Epistemic Biases of Polar and Bipolar Questions | 第22-43页 |
| ·Types of polar and bipolar questions in English and Chinese | 第22-26页 |
| ·Polar and bipolar questions in English | 第22-24页 |
| ·Polar and bipolar questions in Chinese | 第24-26页 |
| ·Bias related to PIs (polarity items) | 第26-33页 |
| ·Selection of PIs | 第26-30页 |
| ·The exclusive bias condition | 第30-32页 |
| ·Biasing effects and scalar implicatures from numerals | 第32-33页 |
| ·Enriched composition | 第33-41页 |
| ·Any or some | 第34-37页 |
| ·Interaction among tiers constituting the conceptual structure | 第37-41页 |
| ·Summary | 第41-43页 |
| Chapter Five Conclusion | 第43-47页 |
| ·Findings and significance | 第43-46页 |
| ·Limitations and suggestions | 第46-47页 |
| References | 第47-49页 |
