1.3 Research Objective and Questions

This research proposes that the purpose of general translation，taking into consideration the linguistic and cultural disparities between English and Chinese，is to realize CCE at certain levels，and conceptual integration plays an important role in achieving contextual equivalence. In order to explore its essence theoretically，the research focuses on the manifestation of contextual equivalence from the cognitive perspective. To achieve such a research objective，this study attempts to answer the followingresearch questions：

（1）What is the mental mechanism that reveals the essence of translating processes in which the cognitive contextual equivalence is realized？

This research views translating as a process of conceptual integration to realize CCE，in which process the concepts of the ST are mapped onto those of the TL and finally integrated into the TT expressions. The translator's mental mechanism in realizing CCE and the operating processes of achieving CIT are also illustrated.

（2）Why can the conceptual-integration-theory-based mental mech-anism be theoretically valid in exploring CCE and how can it be verifiably demonstrated in translating practice？

As a theoretical analytic tool，CIT is systematic and descriptive，so it is believed to demonstrate and interpret the translating process more descriptively and verifiablely. This research，by integrating MST，CIT and CPT，aims to construct a theoretical framework to interpret the translating process in a more descriptive and verifiable way.

（3）How can systematical cognitive patterns be constructed to methodologically interpret and describe the translating mechanism that reveals the essence of CCE？And what contribution will this research offer to enrich the theory of Equivalence in translation studies？

By analyzing different kinds of examples under the theoretical framework，the research tries to find and deduce some empirical rules of translationso asto guide translation practice.