Abstract: Probe-recognition paradigm, anaphor reading time paradigm and moving windows technique were employed to explore the effects of narrative time shifts on L2 learners' reading comprehension processes. English narrative texts were used as stimulus materials in the experiments in which Chinese EFL learners' memory retrieval accuracy and speed for prior information during text comprehension were the main index. The results demonstrate that when a time shift is encountered, L2 learners are less able and slower to accurately retrieve prior information from memory. The results of this study help to test the universality of the strong iconicity assumption and event-indexing model.