| Acknowledgements | 第1-5页 |
| 摘要 | 第5-6页 |
| Abstract | 第6-10页 |
| List of Figures and Tables | 第10-11页 |
| Chapter 1 Introduction | 第11-16页 |
| ·Background of the Study | 第11-12页 |
| ·Purpose and Significance of the Study | 第12-14页 |
| ·Structure of the Thesis | 第14-16页 |
| Chapter 2 Literature Review | 第16-30页 |
| ·Studies of Hedges by Western Scholars | 第16-24页 |
| ·Definition | 第16-17页 |
| ·Categorization | 第17-22页 |
| ·Empirical Studies | 第22-24页 |
| ·Studies of Hedges at Home | 第24-28页 |
| ·Theoretical Studies | 第24-27页 |
| ·Application of Studies | 第27页 |
| ·Study of Hedges in Different Discourse Contexts | 第27-28页 |
| ·Contrastive and Cross-linguistic Study of Hedges at Home and abroad | 第28-29页 |
| ·Summary | 第29-30页 |
| Chapter 3 Research Design | 第30-35页 |
| ·Research Questions | 第30页 |
| ·Data Sources and Data Collection Criteria | 第30-34页 |
| ·Sources of Data | 第30-31页 |
| ·Criteria for Selecting Data | 第31-32页 |
| ·Identification of Hedges | 第32-34页 |
| ·Method of Analysis | 第34-35页 |
| Chapter 4 Results and Discussion | 第35-57页 |
| ·Frequency and Distribution of Hedges in the Three Corpora | 第35-37页 |
| ·Similarities | 第37-38页 |
| ·Differences | 第38-45页 |
| ·Differences in Overall Frequency of Hedges | 第38-39页 |
| ·Differences in Distribution of Different Types of Hedges | 第39-40页 |
| ·Differences in Variety and Preference of Hedges | 第40-45页 |
| ·Analysis of the Use of Hedges in Economic News Reports | 第45-52页 |
| ·Analysis of the Similarities and Differences in the Use of Hedges | 第52-57页 |
| ·Reasons for Similarities in the Use of Hedges | 第52-53页 |
| ·Reasons for Differences in the Use of Hedges | 第53-57页 |
| Chapter 5 Conclusion | 第57-61页 |
| ·Major Findings | 第57-59页 |
| ·Implications of the Study | 第59页 |
| ·Limitations and Suggestions for Future Research | 第59-61页 |
| Bibliography | 第61-64页 |
| Appendix | 第64-65页 |
