为了丰富大学生和英语爱好者英语学习内容，提高他们的语言文化综合素质，编者编写了这册(文化篇)作为《大学英语阅读教程》系列之二。希望通过本书能提高学习者的英语阅读理解能力，同时也帮助他们扩大文化视野，提高文化意识。本册内容涉及文学、艺术，不同国家和民族的生活、习俗、信仰、价值观以及对日常事物的看法和情感。书中共分30个单元，每个单元有两篇课文，每篇课文后都有注释和练习，有利于读者理解课文，巩固所学知识。

Unit 1 Greek Mythology

 TEXT A The Nature of Greek Gods and Goddesses

 TEXT B The Nature of Greek Heroes

Unit 2 Greek Mythology

 TEXT A The Sphinx of Greek Mythology

 TEXT B Oedipus Tyrannus

Unit 3 Shakespeare

 TEXT A Shakespeare' s Tragedies

 TEXT B Shakespeare's Characters

Unit 4 The Success of Literafure

 TEXT A Joanne Kathleen Rowling and Her Harry Potter

 TEXT B The Ug/y Duckling

Unit 5 Benjamin Franklin

 TEXT A Benjamin Franklin's Aulobiography (1)

 TEXT B Ben/amin Franklin's Autobiography (2)

Unit 6 The English Language

 TEXT A English Vocabulary

 TEXT B Shakespeare' s Language

Unit 7 Nonverbal Communication

 TEXT A Your Actions Speak Louder

 TEXT B Watch What You Soy

Unit 8 Movies

 TEXT A The Early Movie Theaters

 TEXT B Why Hollywood is Girl Crazy?

Unit 9 TV

 TEXT A Television Programming Time Periods

 TEXT B Americans Captivated by “Realily Television”

Unit 10 Chivalry

 TEXT A Chivalry

 TEXT B Cervantes and Don Quixote

Unit 11 Music

 TEXT A Music as a Political Tool

 TEXT B Hitting the High Notes

Unit 12 Tower, Tower, Tower

 TEXT A The Leaning Tower Straightens Up

 TEXT B Eiffel Tower, Symbol of Paris

Unit 13 Ancient Architecture

 TEXT A Chinese Architecture

 TEXT B Egyptian Temples

Unit 14 Beethoven and Michelangelo

 TEXT A Ludwig van Beethoven

 TEXT B Michelangelo

Unit 15 Enjoy Art

 TEXT A The Elements of Art

 TEXT B The Enjoyment of Art

Unit 16 Wedding Ceremonies

 TEXT A Weddings, Old and New

 TEXT B Theme Weddings

Unit 17 Small Town Life

 TEXT A Small-Town America-- an Endangered Species?

 TEXT B Main Street by Sinclair Lewis

Unit 18 Customs of India

 TEXT A Some Customs of India

 TEXT B Socializing in India

Unit 19 Funeral Customs

 TEXT A Funeral Rites and Customs

 TEXT B Symbolism of Decoration and Funeral Customs

Unit 20 Wedding Ceremonies

 TEXT A Can Marriage Be Universally Defined?

 TEXT B Wedding Ceremonies and Customs in America

Unit 21 Greek Tradition

 TEXT A Ancient Greece

 TEXT B Traditional Greek Religion

Unit 22 American Cullure

 TEXT A The Diversity in American Culture

 TEXT B American Dress

Unit 23 The Ameican Charader

 TEXT A The American Character (1)

 TEXT B The American Character (2)

Unit 24 Women of 1he 1920s and Women Today

 TEXT A Roaring 20s Revisited at New York Women' s Museum

 TEXT B On Top of the World

Unit 25 American Class Sltudure -- the Upper Class

 TEXT A Class Strudure in the U.S. -- the Upper Class

 TEXT B Money Is the Only Home

Unit 26 American Class Structure -- the Middle and Lower Classes

 TEXT A Class Strudure in the U.S. -- the Middle and Lower Classes

 TEXT B Bricklayer' s Boy

Unit 27 RerKjion

 TEXT A Religion and People' s Life

 TEXT B Buddha and His Four Noble Truths

Unit 28 The Bible

 TEXT A Translations of the Bib/e

 TEXT B Rise of Christianity

Unit 29 Conformity and Groupthink

 TEXT A Conformity and Groupthink

 TEXT B The Rewards of Living a Solitary Life

Unit 30 Teachings of Great Masters of 1he East and the West

 TEXT A Nature

 TEXT B The Great Learning

附录一 Key to the Exercise

附录二 Glossary