| ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS | 第8-9页 |
| ABSTRACT | 第9页 |
| 摘要 | 第10-13页 |
| CHAPTER Ⅰ INTRODUCTION | 第13-16页 |
| 1.1 The Purpose, Scope and Significance of the Thesis | 第13-14页 |
| 1.2 The Approach Adopted in the Study | 第14-15页 |
| 1.3 Organization of the Thesis | 第15-16页 |
| CHAPTER Ⅱ LITERATURE REVIEW OF THE PRESENT TENSE | 第16-28页 |
| 2.1 A Brief Introduction to the English Tense | 第16-17页 |
| 2.2 Uses of the Present Tense | 第17-21页 |
| 2.2.1 Simple Present Referring to the Present | 第18-20页 |
| 2.2.2 Simple Present Referring to the Past | 第20-21页 |
| 2.2.3 Simple Present Referring to the Future | 第21页 |
| 2.3 Previous Studies on Present Tense | 第21-27页 |
| 2.3.1 Traditional Approach to the Present Tense | 第22-24页 |
| 2.3.2 Cognitive Approach to the Present Tense | 第24页 |
| 2.3.3 Defects of the Previous Studies on Present Tense | 第24-26页 |
| 2.3.4 Implications from the Previous Studies | 第26-27页 |
| 2.4 Summary | 第27-28页 |
| CHAPTER Ⅲ THEORETICAL FOUNDATIONS | 第28-44页 |
| 3.1 Categorization | 第28-33页 |
| 3.1.1 Aristotle’s Classical Approach to Categorization | 第29-31页 |
| 3.1.2 Prototype Approach to Categorization | 第31-33页 |
| 3.2 Prototype Theory | 第33-43页 |
| 3.2.1 Family Resemblance | 第34-38页 |
| 3.2.2 Prototypical Members and Non-prototypical Members | 第38-39页 |
| 3.2.3 Characteristics of Prototypicality | 第39-40页 |
| 3.2.4 Subjectivity of Prototype Theory | 第40-43页 |
| 3.3 Summary | 第43-44页 |
| CHAPTER Ⅳ THE POLYSEMOUS SIMPLE PRESENT TENSE WITHIN PROTOTYPE THEORY | 第44-63页 |
| 4.1 Polysemy | 第44-46页 |
| 4.2 Some Main Points in Time Location | 第46页 |
| 4.3 The Family Resemblance of the Simple Present Tense | 第46-56页 |
| 4.3.1 Simple Present Referring to the Present | 第47-51页 |
| 4.3.2 Simple Present Referring to the Past | 第51-52页 |
| 4.3.3 Simple Present Referring to the Future | 第52-56页 |
| 4.4 Subjectivity in Non-present Uses of the Present Tense | 第56-60页 |
| 4.4.1 To Realize the Speaker’s/Writer’s Perspective | 第58-59页 |
| 4.4.2 To Realize the Speaker’s/Writer’s Affect | 第59-60页 |
| 4.5 Summary | 第60-63页 |
| CHAPTER Ⅴ CONCLUSION | 第63-67页 |
| 5.1 Summary of the Study of Present Tense in the Present Thesis | 第63-65页 |
| 5.2 Significance, Limitations and Issues Worthy of Future Study | 第65-67页 |
| BIBLIOGRAPHY | 第67-70页 |
