本系列教材是以《教学指南》为准则，在参考国内外多种英语快速阅读教材的基础上，根据编者多年从事大学英语快速阅读教学的经验，以及我国非英语专业本科生目前整体英语水平和实际英语能力编写而成。
教材共分五册，旨在帮助学生进行系统的、有针对性的快速阅读训练，掌握基本阅读技能，培养良好的阅读习惯，提高阅读效率。选材方面，我们力求所选文章兼备时代性、信息性、趣味性以及可读性，语言难度适中，其体裁和题材体现多样性，话题涵盖中西文化、教育、生活、媒体、历史、科技、哲学、文学等。练习方面，我们主要以现行大学英语四六级考试中长篇阅读题型为主，又适当增加其他形式的题型：既有选择填空、对错判断和填空等基本题型，又有匹配、简短回答、摘要以及翻译等练习。目的是使学生在学习完本套教材后提高快速阅读部分的应试能力，同时又增强他们的信息搜索能力。每册书后附有本册练习的答案供师生参考。
本书共分八个单元，每个单元由Text A、Text B和Text C三篇文章组成。Text A和Text B供课堂使用，Text c供学生课外阅读。

Unit 1 COLLEGE EDUCATION
Passage 1 Universities Branch Out
Passage 2 What Good Is a College Education Anyway?
Passage 3 Colleges Taking Another Look at the Value of Merit-based Aid
Unit 2 SCIENCE AND SUPERSTITION
Passage 1 Bermuda Triangle. Behind the Intrigue
Passage 2 Are You Superstitious?
Passage 3 What Is Science? What Is Pseudoscience?
Unit 3 OLD AND YOUNG
Passage 1 The New Old and the Conserva-teen
Passage 2 The Secrets of Long Life Revealed?
Passage 3 Reverse Ageism
Unit 4 SPORTS AND HEALTH
Passage 1 The Truth about Sports and Weight Loss
Passage 2 Health Benefits of Exercise
Passage 3 The Role of Exercise in My Life
Unit 5 HAPPINESS
Passage 1 How to Find Happiness in a Nine to Five Job
Passage 2 Finding Happiness: How to Appreciate the Little Things in Life -- Small Ways to Find Joy in the Everyday Experience
Passage 3 Three Treasure Boxes -- The Pursuit of Happiness
Unit 6 ECOLOGY
Passage 1 We Can't Wish Away Climate Change
Passage 2 Going Green Without Going Broke
Passage 3 Overpopulation Is the Main Threat to the Planet
Unit 7 TECHNOLOGY AND PROGRESS
Passage 1 Does Technology Improve Quality of Our Lives?
Passage 2 Technology and Our Dependence upon It
Passage 3 Caught in the Web -- Undesirable Effect of the Internet Technology
Unit 8 HUMANITY AND NATURE
Passage 1 A Grassroots Remedy
Passage 2 The Nature of Human Body Chinese Explanation of Body Clock
Passage 3 An Unlikely Way to Save a Species: Serve It for Dinner
APPENDIX
Keys and Answers