本册文章以说明文为主，兼顾其他体裁文章。在选材过程中，我们一方面注意题材的广泛性，另一方面注意文章内容的健康性、知识性和趣味性。文章生词量不超过3%，本册阅读词汇量超过27000。本教材适合我国高等院校非英语专业大学一年级和二年级大学英语可使用，也可作为英语阅读强化班的教材，同时适合水平相当的英语自学者。

前言

Unit 1

 Passage 1 How Olympic Torches Work

 Passage 2 Introduction to How the Euro Works

 Passage 3 The American Education System

Unit 2

 Passage 1 The Spreading Bird Flu Threat Reaches Europe

 Passage 2 Aspirin：One of the Most Widely Used Drugs in the World

 Passage 3 Population

Unit 3

 Passage 1 How Human Networking Works

 Passage 2 The World in a Glass：Six Drinks That Changed History

 Passage 3 I Will Never Get Back My Innocence

Unit 4

 Passage 1 Chinese Businessmen Learn Western Table Etiquette

 Passage 2 A Brief History of Oxford

 Passage 3 Computers Change the Learning Style of US High School Students

Unit 5

 Passage 1 How to Get a Great Idea

 Passage 2 We're Raising Children，Not Flowers

 Passage 3 Conflict in Black and White

Unit 6

 Passage 1 Friendship

 Passage 2 Better Known as Mark Twain

 Passage 3 Birds in Danger：Man in Danger

Unit 7

 Passage 1 The Winner's Guide to Success

 Passage 2 Two Kinds of Learning

 Passage 3 Creative Justice

Unit 8

 Passage 1 Happy Marriage

 Passage 2 The Future of Journalism

 Passage 3 Happiness and Wealth

Key to Exercises