本书是为提高大专院校英语专业和涉外专业学生及从事外事、国际问题研究、报刊翻译等方面的读者阅读与理解英语报刊和英语新闻的能力所编写的。全书共分22个单元，每个单元的Text A选编主要来自英文报刊2007年至2008年的热点新闻，世界政治、经济、文化、环境生态、教育、卫生、科技等诸多方面的新闻，体现当今世界和平、合作与发展的主题。

课文尽量按照由浅入深的难度顺序编排。为方便阅读，每页课文下附有注释，主要引用百科全书与历史、文学等著作的论述以及高科技、计算机、信息产业发展等领域的新闻词汇等。课文后还附有背景知识、新闻链接、语言与文化、阅读理解练习、主题讨论、报刊常用词汇练习和参考答案等。适合大学英语及涉外专业学生选修，也可供准备参加英语等级考试和研究生、托福、雅思、商务BEC等考试的学生以及英语爱好者选读。

全书共5个板块，分为22单元，每单元由Text A和Text B构成。所选文章主要是英文报刊2007年至2008年的热点新闻，世界政治、经济、文化、环境生态、教育、卫生、科技等诸多方面的情况介绍，体现当今世界和平、合作与发展的主题。

本书适合大学英语及涉外专业学生选修，也可供参加英语等级考试和研究生入学、托福、雅思、商务BEC等考试的学生及英语爱好者选读。

PART 1 Hot News

Unit 1

 Text A In Sleek Cars and "I Love China" T-shirts,a New People's Army Pours Out to Help Victims of the Quake

 Text B Newspapers in the West

Unit 2

 Text A You and Me Against the World When Twins Team Up,Shared Mettle Can Lead to an Olympic Medal

 Text B The Organization of a Newspaper Story Types in the English Press Anthology

Unit 3

 Text A

Report 1 China Launches Spacewalk Mission

Report 2 China Launches Three-man Crew into Space

Report 3 As China's First Spacewalk Unfolds,Anchors Keep Their Cool

 Text B Story Types in the English Press Anthology

Unit 4

 Text A

Report 1 Oil Price Bounces Back on Rate Cut Hopes

Report 2 Oil Below $ 34 as Brown Warns on Volatility

 Text B Story Types in the English Press Anthology

Unit 5

 Text A Obama Acceptance Speech (Transcript)

 Text B Story Types in the English Press Anthology

PART 2 Education

Unit 6

 Text A Chris Woodhead's Part in a Doomed Actof Education Reform

 Text B The New York Times

Unit 7

 Text A Safe at School?

 Text B The Washington Post

Unit 8

 Text A Building a Nation of Polyglots, Starting with the Very Young

 Text B Los Angeles Times

Unit 9

 Text A When More Is Worse

 Text B The Christian Science Monitor

PART 3 Science, Culture and Hygience

Unit 10

 Text A The Real Space Race Is in Asia

 Text B The Wall Street Journal

Unit 11

 Text A Hoping to Draw Market Share with Touch Screens

 Text B International Herald Tribune

Unit 12

 Text A The Bard--As They Like it

 Text B The Guardian

Unit 13

 Text A Let's Talk about the Sex

 Text B The Daily Telegraph

Unit 14

 Text A

Report 1 Eat Your Germs

Report 2 Eating Bugs

 Text B Time

Unit 15

 Text A

Report 1 Smoking Riskier for Women's Hearts

Report 2 The Heart of a Woman

Report 3 Smoke Ring

 Text B U.S. News & World Report Newsweek Reader's Digest

PART 4 Politics & Economy

Unit 16

 Text A Edwards Admits He Had an Affair

 Text B The Economist

The Spectator

New Statesman

Far Eastern Economic Review

Unit 17

 Text A A Working Mother's First Job Is to Be Our Scapegoat

 Text B News Agency

Unit 18

 Text A Rebuilding New Orleans

 Text B Associated Press United Press International

Unit 19

 Text A Reinventing Rice to Feed the World

 Text B Reuters

Unit 20

 Text A Asian Banks Still Strong But Face Tough Road head

 Text B Tass

PART 5 Environment and Ecology

Unit 21

 Text A Sound and Fury

 Text B Proposed Gas Drilling Upstate Raises Concerns About Water Supply

Unit 22

 Text A Concern for Climate Change Defines Energy Nominee

 Text B Cruising the Amazon

Reference Key to the Exercises

References