Contents摘要 IAbstract: II1. Introduction 11.1The Background of the Study 11.2The Significance of the Study 12. Literature Review 12.1Studies on Business Correspondence 22.2Studies on Passive Voice 33. The features of Business English Correspondence 33.1Textual Features 43.2 Lexical Features 43.3 Sentence Features 64. Introduction to Passive Voice in Business English 74.1The Definition of the Passive Voice 74.2The Application of Passive Voice in Business Letters 84.3The Advantages of Passive Voice in Business Letters 115.The Pragmatic Function of the Passive Voice in Business Correspondence 115.1The Objectivity of Discourse 125.2The Politeness of Discourse 126.Conclusion 14Bibliography 16