Abstract: Cohesion Theory is one of the most typical subjects of Discourse Analysis. It’s acknowledged at home and abroad that mastering cohesive devices contributes to understanding the text as a whole, thus promoting students’ ability of reading comprehension. This paper, based on cohesive theory put forward by Halliday and Hasan, focuses on the application of cohesive devices to reading comprehension section in high school entrance exams in Nanjing from 2012 to 2016. By analyzing their roles in understanding the passages and solving test questions, this paper finds that many test questions are set to examine students’ ability of applying cohesive devices to analyzing the texts, which does make the logic of the text clear, help students understand the main idea more efficiently, and indicate problem-solution, thus improving their scores.

Key words: cohesive devices; discourse genre; high school entrance exam; reading comprehension

CONTENTS

Abstract

摘要

1. Introduction1

2. Literature Review.2

2.1 Brief Review of Cohesion Theory 

2.2 Related Studies at Home and Abroad

3. Reference and Text Interpretation3

3.1 Definition and Classification of Reference

3.2 Reference in Discourse Analysis

4. Conjunction and Text Interpretation.6

4.1 Definition and Classification of Conjunction

4.2 Conjunction in Discourse Analysis

5. Reiteration and Text Interpretation.8

5.1 Definition and Classification of Reiteration

5.2 Reiteration in Discourse Analysis

6. Collocation and Text Interpretation9

6.1 Definition and Classification of Collocation

6.2 Collocation in Discourse Analysis

7. Conclusions11

Bibliography.12

Appendix

Acknowledgments18