本书共分五部分26章，以英国和美国为主，兼顾加拿大、澳大利亚和新西兰等英语国家的社会和文化知识，内容包括主要英语国家的地理、历史、政治、经济、文学、科技、教育、宗教、大众传媒、社会生活和文化传统等，突出历史、政治和经济。本书内容力求客观、翔实、全面、实用，具有可教性和可比性，以利于教学组织和比较教学。

本教材是关于主要英语国家社会和文化概况的教科书，旨在帮助英语专业学生和其他英语学习者了解、学习和掌握这些国家的社会和文化知识，提高英语水平，提升跨文化交际意识和能力。

Volume One Britain

Chapter One British Geography

  Section One General Survey

  Section Two Population and Languages

  Section Three Major Cities

  Section Four Mountains, Lakes and Rivers

  Section Five Natural Resources

  Section Six Climate and Weather

Chapter Two British History

  Section One Early British History

  Section Two The Growth of Feudalism

  Section Three The Growth of Capitalism

  Section Four Britain and Two World Wars

  Section Five Britain after World War Ⅱ

Chapter Three Political System

  Section One The Constitutional Monarchy

  Section Two Constitution

  Section Three Parliament

  Section Four Cabinet, Prime Minister and Administration

  Section Five Political Parties and Election

  Section Six The Judicial System

  Section Seven Local Governments

  Section Eight Mass Organization

Chapter Four National Economy

  Section One General Survey

  Section Two Industry

  Section Three Agriculture

  Section Four Foreign Trade

  Section Five Work, Money and Tax

Chapter Five Science, Literature and Arts

  Section One Science

  Section Two Literature

  Section Three Arts

Chapter Six Education

Chapter Seven Mass Media and Entertainment

Volume Two America

Chapter One American Geography

  Section One Geographic Position

  Section Two Mountains, Rivers and Lakes

  Section Three Geographical Regions

  Section Four Climate

  Section Five Population

  Section Six Natural Resources

Chapter Two American History

  Section One Early American History

  Section Two The War of Independence

  Section Three The Civil War

  Section Four The Rise of American Imperialism

  Section Five America and World War Ⅰ

  Section Six America and World War Ⅱ

  Section Seven America towards the 21th Century

  Section Eight America in the 21th Century

Chapter Three Political System

  Section One The Constitution

  Section Two The President

  Section Three The Congress

  Section Four Government

  Section Five The Judiciary

  Section Six The Two-Party System and the Election

Chapter Four National Economy

  Section One General Survey

  Section Two Industry 

  Section Three Agriculture

  Section Four Transportation

  Section Five Foreign Trade

  Section Six Banking and Finance

Chapter Five American Education

Chapter Six Science and Culture

  Section One Science

  Section Two Literature

  Section Three Arts

  Section Four Religion

  Section Five Social Life

Chapter Seven Mass Media and Entertainment

  Section One Mass Media

  Section Two Sports

  Section Three Holidays and Festivals

Volume Three Canada

Chapter One Land and People

  Section One Geographical Regions

  Section Two Natural Resources

  Section Three People

Chapter Two Canadian History

Chapter Three Political System

  Section One The Constitution

  Section Two Governmrnts

  Section Three Prime Ministers

  Section Four Political Parties

  Section Five Foreign Relations

  Section Six The Separatist Issue in Quebec

Chapter Four National Economy

  Section One Economic Management and Problems

  Section Two Agriculture

  Section Three Manufacturing Industry

  Section Four Service Industry

  Section Five The Canada-US Free Trade Agreement

Chapter Five Society and Culture

  Section One Society

  Section Two Culture

  Section Three Literature

Volume Four Australia

Chapter One Land, People and History

  Section One Land

  Section Two People

  Section Three History

Chapter Two Political System

  Section One States and Territories

  Section Two Government

  Section Three Foreign Relations

Chapter Three National Economy

  Section One Mining and Energy

  Section Two Trade

  Section Three Agriculture and Fisheries

  Section Four Manufacturing Industry

  Section Five Service

Chapter Four Culture and Social Life

  Section One Education

  Section Two Culture

  Section Three Health Care

  Section Four Social Services

Volume Five New Zealand

Chapter One General Survey

Chapter Two Land, People andHistory

  Section One Land

  Section Two Plants and Animals

  Section Three People

  Section Four History

Chapter Three Government, Economy and Culture

  Section One Government

  Section Two Economy

  Section Three Education and Culture

Bibliography