Author(s)

Jing Li

Corresponding Author

Jing Li

Abstract

Theme specifies and changes the framework for interpretation of the following clause or clauses and signals the boundaries of sections in the text. The paper, based on Halliday’s theories on the theme structures, devotes great attention to passage reading from 2014 to 2019 CET-4 with the main purpose of studying the application characteristics of thematic structures in the passage reading, thereby, helping readers grasp the language layouts of passages and promoting reading efficiency. The analysis indicates that the simple themes, thematic equatives, interpersonal themes, thematised comment and existential there are adopted in clauses of the abstracted passages, among which pronouns and conjunctions are commonly distributed in examination-oriented passages.

Keywords

Theme; Thematic Structures; Passage Reading; CET-4