本书是省级规划教材，21世纪研究生公共英语系列教程之一。本《教程》文章多选自近几年来国外权威刊物，其中不乏经典之作，具有鲜明的时代性、较强的学术性、浓厚的趣味性和一定的实用性。选材重视语言的规范，同时又兼顾到热门话题。通过提供涉猎广泛、文体不一的阅读材料，拓宽学习者的阅读视野，启迪新思维。
为方便读者学习，课文中的生词均以英汉对照标出，相关文章也提供了一定的背景知识材料或难句解释。为帮助学生进一步加深理解课文、掌握词汇的用法及提高翻译水平，编者设计了阅读理解题、词汇题以及英、汉互译题。在每单元A篇后增设了与该篇文章相关的谚语、名言和名句，以提高学习者的文化底蕴。
前言
Unit One
Text A Pursuing Happiness
Text B The Benefits of Exercise
Unit Two
Text A Jobs for the Future
Text B Offbeat Ways to Make a Living
Unit Three
Text A Can This Marriage Be Saved?
Text B Can This Marriage Be Saved?
Unit Four
Text A Laur Bush:A Second Look at the First Lady
Text B Hillary Rodham Clinton
Unit Five
Text A Speech by President Jiang Zemin At George Bush Presidential Library 24 October 2002
Text B I Have a Dream
Unit Six
Text A Mystery and Superstition
Text B Life in Antiquity
Unit Seven
Text A An Overnight Infirmary Is a Campus Luxury
Text B College Expels Student Who Advocated Corporal Punishment
Unit Eight
Text A IQ Intelligence:The Surprising Truth
Text B Letting the Steam Out of Self-Esteem
Unit Nine
Text A How We Believe:The Search for God in an Age of Science
Text B Shaping the Next- Gen Network
Keys
附：材料来源
