| Acknowledgements | 第1-6页 |
| Abstract | 第6-8页 |
| 摘要 | 第8-11页 |
| Chapter Ⅰ Introduction | 第11-13页 |
| ·General Development of the Fuzzy Semantics | 第11页 |
| ·The Objective of Current Study | 第11-13页 |
| Chapter Ⅱ Hedges | 第13-21页 |
| ·The Definition of Hedges | 第13-14页 |
| ·The Categorizations of Hedges | 第14-18页 |
| ·Semantic Categorization | 第14-16页 |
| ·Grammatical Categorization | 第16页 |
| ·Pragmatic Categorization | 第16-18页 |
| ·The Features of Hedges | 第18-21页 |
| ·Cancelability | 第19页 |
| ·Markedness | 第19页 |
| ·Indefiniteness | 第19-20页 |
| ·Indirectness | 第20-21页 |
| Chapter Ⅲ Literature Review | 第21-31页 |
| ·Research on Hedges in Foreign Country | 第21-27页 |
| ·L.A.Zadeh's Study of Hedges | 第21-22页 |
| ·G Lakoff's Study of Hedges | 第22-25页 |
| ·The Others' Studies of Hedges | 第25-27页 |
| ·Research on Hedges in China | 第27-31页 |
| ·Wu Tieping's Study of Hedges | 第27-28页 |
| ·The Others' Studies of Hedges | 第28-31页 |
| Chapter Ⅳ Hedges in Journalistic English | 第31-43页 |
| ·News | 第31-34页 |
| ·The Definition of News | 第31页 |
| ·The Characteristic of American Mass Media | 第31-32页 |
| ·The Structure of American Mass Media | 第32-33页 |
| ·The reflection of American Culture in American Mass Media | 第33-34页 |
| ·The Significance of the Application of Hedges in News Reports | 第34-38页 |
| ·Reduce the Negative Influence | 第34-35页 |
| ·Provide Protection to Journalists and the News Source | 第35-36页 |
| ·Handle the Randomicity of Newsbreak | 第36-37页 |
| ·Strengthen the Rationality of News Forecast | 第37-38页 |
| ·Reasons for the Existence of Hedges in News | 第38-43页 |
| ·Requirements of the Specialties of News | 第38-39页 |
| ·Avoiding Absoluteness | 第39-40页 |
| ·Protecting Reporters and the People Concerned | 第40-41页 |
| ·Conforming With Readers' Ways of Understanding | 第41-43页 |
| Chapter Ⅴ the Pragmatic Functions of Hedges in News | 第43-55页 |
| ·Based on Cooperative Principle and Politeness Principle | 第43-50页 |
| ·Cooperative Principle | 第44-48页 |
| ·Politeness Principle | 第48-50页 |
| ·Based on Conversational Implicature | 第50-55页 |
| ·Conversational Implicature | 第52-53页 |
| ·Hedges under the Model of Conversational Implicature | 第53-55页 |
| Chapter Ⅵ Conclusion | 第55-59页 |
| ·Summary of Major Findings | 第55-56页 |
| ·Limitations of the Present Study | 第56-57页 |
| ·Suggestions for Further Research | 第57-59页 |
| Bibliography | 第59-61页 |
