| Abstract | 第1-4页 |
| Chinese Abstract | 第4-7页 |
| Chapter Ⅰ Introduction | 第7-21页 |
| ·Functions of passive voice | 第7-20页 |
| ·Passive voice as stylistic variable | 第7-10页 |
| ·Passive voice as textual variable | 第10-16页 |
| ·Passive voice as pragmatic variable | 第16-19页 |
| ·Passive voice as rhetorical variable | 第19-20页 |
| ·The purpose and significance of the study | 第20页 |
| ·Research method and structure of the thesis | 第20-21页 |
| ·Corpora and program in the study | 第20页 |
| ·The structure of the thesis | 第20-21页 |
| Chapter Ⅱ Literature review | 第21-42页 |
| ·Definition of the passive voice | 第21-24页 |
| ·Definition of the passive voice | 第21-22页 |
| ·Passive auxiliaries: be and get, become | 第22-24页 |
| ·Historical views on the passive voice | 第24-32页 |
| ·Descriptive approaches | 第25-31页 |
| ·Functional approaches | 第31-32页 |
| ·Types of passive voice in English | 第32-42页 |
| ·Granger's classification of the passive voice | 第32-35页 |
| ·Quirke's passive gradient and his classification of passive | 第35-36页 |
| ·Notional passive | 第36-37页 |
| ·Passive by infinitives | 第37-38页 |
| ·Passive by adjective | 第38-39页 |
| ·Passive by gerund | 第39-40页 |
| ·The passive voice defined in this study | 第40-42页 |
| Chapter Ⅲ Data presentation and analyses | 第42-60页 |
| ·Introduction to the two corpora | 第42页 |
| ·Data collection and processing | 第42-43页 |
| ·Distribution of passive voice constructions in the two corpora | 第43-51页 |
| ·Distribution of passive voice across the two corpora | 第43页 |
| ·Distribution of be-Ven in the two corpora | 第43-46页 |
| ·Distribution of become-Ven in the two corpora | 第46页 |
| ·Distribution of get-Ven in the two corpora | 第46-47页 |
| ·Distribution of passive voice in some special cases | 第47-50页 |
| ·The preferred patterns by students in the two corpora | 第50-51页 |
| ·Incorrect utilization of passive voice by Chinese students | 第51-60页 |
| ·The processing of data | 第51页 |
| ·Distribution of incorrect utilization of passive voice in ST3 | 第51-52页 |
| ·Incorrect utilization of passive voice by Chinese students | 第52-60页 |
| Chapter Ⅳ Conclusions | 第60-63页 |
| ·Major findings | 第60页 |
| ·Pedagogical implication | 第60-61页 |
| ·Recommendation for further research | 第61-63页 |
| Published paper during degree study | 第63-64页 |
| Acknowledgements | 第64-65页 |
| References | 第65-66页 |
| Appendices | 第66-79页 |
