| Acknowledgements | 第1-4页 |
| Abstract in English | 第4-7页 |
| Abstract in Chinese | 第7-12页 |
| Chapter One Introduction | 第12-15页 |
| ·General description of the thesis | 第12页 |
| ·Need for the thesis | 第12-14页 |
| ·Overall structure of the thesis | 第14-15页 |
| Chapter Two Literature Review | 第15-28页 |
| ·Key terms in the study | 第15-18页 |
| ·Definitions and classifications of humor | 第15-17页 |
| ·The anthropological definition and the four-level classification of culture | 第17-18页 |
| ·Theoretical framework for the study | 第18-23页 |
| ·Cultural presupposition | 第18-20页 |
| ·G. Leech’s stylistic outlook of deviation | 第20-23页 |
| ·Previous studies in this area | 第23-28页 |
| ·Three traditional theories of humor | 第23-25页 |
| ·Modern linguistic research on humor | 第25-27页 |
| ·Summary | 第27-28页 |
| Chapter Three Cultural Presupposition in Humor Generation | 第28-46页 |
| ·Humor generated by deviation from cultural presupposition on the linguistic level | 第28-36页 |
| ·Phonological deviation | 第28-31页 |
| ·Semantic deviation | 第31-33页 |
| ·Syntactic deviation | 第33-34页 |
| ·Register deviation | 第34-35页 |
| ·Deviation from conversational principles | 第35-36页 |
| ·Humor generated by deviation from cultural presupposition on the ideological level | 第36-40页 |
| ·Deviation from religious culture | 第37-38页 |
| ·Deviation from normal thinking pattern | 第38-40页 |
| ·Deviation from value | 第40页 |
| ·Humor generated by deviation from cultural presupposition on the social level | 第40-43页 |
| ·Political humor | 第40-42页 |
| ·Deviation from customs | 第42-43页 |
| ·Humor generated by deviation from cultural presupposition on the techno-economic level | 第43-44页 |
| ·Summary: A model for humor generation | 第44-46页 |
| Chapter Four Cultural Presupposition in Humor Appreciation.. | 第46-67页 |
| ·Humor in social life | 第46-47页 |
| ·Universal humor and culture-specific humor | 第47-48页 |
| ·Divergent cultural presupposition and humor appreciation | 第48-63页 |
| ·Linguistic system | 第48-54页 |
| ·Social system | 第54-60页 |
| ·Ideological system | 第60-63页 |
| ·Convergent cultural presupposition and humor appreciation.. | 第63-65页 |
| ·Convergent cognitive and psychological mechanisms | 第63-64页 |
| ·Similar techniques employed in creating humor | 第64-65页 |
| ·Summary: A model for humor appreciation | 第65-67页 |
| Chapter Five Conclusion | 第67-71页 |
| ·Major findings | 第67-68页 |
| ·Implications of this study | 第68-69页 |
| ·Limitations of this study | 第69-70页 |
| ·Suggestions for further research | 第70-71页 |
| References | 第71-76页 |
| Appendix: Published articles during M. A. study | 第76页 |
