本教材是基于中国文化的英语阅读类教材，适用于大学英语提高阶段选修课、中国文化英语通识课和研究生公共英语阅读课，涵盖英语语言学习和中国文化学习，旨在帮助学生通过使用英语这一工具，多角度了解中国文化内涵的博大精深，学会用恰当的英语语言表达自己的理解和观点，增强学生实际运用英语、传播中国文化的能力。
本教材共有12个单元，每个单元均有Text A、Text B两篇课文，共24篇文章，每篇文章各有侧重，难度和长度均不相等，并附有练习，可以自成一体。

Unit 1 Overview: East Meets West
Text A Chinese and Western Civilization Contrasted
Part I Understanding the Text
Part II Building Your Vocabulary
Part III Critical Thinking Skills
Part IV Cultural Note
Text B Place of Philosophy in Chinese Civilization
Part I Understanding the Text
Part II Building Your Vocabulary
Part III Cultural Note
Unit 2 Geography
Text A Geographical Inequalities
Part I Understanding the Text
Part II Building Your Vocabulary
Part III Critical Thinking Skills
Part IV Cultural Note
Text B A Clear and Present Danger: The Chinese Exclusion Act
Part I Understanding the Text
Part II Building Your Vocabulary
Part III Cultural Note
Unit 3 History
Text A China Turns Inward
Part I Understanding the Text
Part II Building Your Vocabulary
Part III Critical Thinking Skills
Part IV Cultural Note
Text B Conceit and Military Weakness During the Song Dynasty
Part I Understanding the Text
Part II Building Your Vocabulary
Part III Cultural Note
Unit 4 Arts
Text A Peony Dreams
Part I Understanding the Text
Part IT Building Your Vocabulary
Part III Critical Thinking Skills
Part IV Cultural Note
Text B The Three Perfections: Painting, Poetry and Calligraphy Classification of Chinese Traditional Paintings
Part I Understanding the Text
Part II Building Your Vocabulary
Part III Cultural Note
Unit 5 Literature
Text A Four Schools of Fiction in the Ching Dynasty and Their Later Development
Part I Understanding the Text
Part II Building Your Vocabulary
Part III Critical Thinking Skills
Part IV Cultural Notes
Text B Will Mo Yan's Nobel Prize Finally Mean Better Sales Abroad?
Part I Understanding the Text
Part II Building Your Vocabulary
Part III Cultural Note
Unit 6 Way of Living
Text A The Cult of "Face"
Part I Understanding the Text
Part II Building Your Vocabulary
Part III Critical Thinking Skills
Part IV Cultural Note
Text B The Chinese Theory of Leisure
Part I Understanding the Text
Part II Building Your Vocabulary
Part III Cultural Note
Unit 7 Science and Technoloqy
Text A Influences of the Chinese Religious Systems on Medicine
Part I Understanding the Text
Part II Building Your Vocabulary
Part III Critical Thinking Skills
Part IV Cultural Note
Text B Environment
Part I Understanding the Text
Part II Building Your Vocabulary
Part III Cultural Note
Unit 8 Education
Text A Intellectual Freedom and Chinese Education
Part I Understanding the Text
Part II Building Your Vocabulary
Part III Critical Thinking Skills
Part IV Cultural Note
Text B Yenching University: A Dream that Came True
Part I Understanding the Text
Part II Building Your Vocabulary
Part III Cultural Note
Unit 9 Language
Text A The Second Great Reform of Chinese Writing
Part I Understanding the Text
Part II Building Your Vocabulary
Part III Critical Thinking Skills
Part IV Cultural Note
Text B Confucius Says ...
Part I Understanding the Text
Part II Building Your Vocabulary
Part III Cultural Note
Unit 10 Recreation
Text A On Going About and Seeing Things
Part I Understanding the Text
Part II Building Your Vocabulary
Part III Critical Thinking Skills
Part IV Cultural Note
Text B Thinking Rocks, Living Stones: Reflections on Chinese Lithophilia
Part I Understanding the Text
Part II Building Your Vocabulary
Part III Cultural Note
Unit 11 Population
Text A Making a Selfish Generation by Fiat
Part I Understanding the Text
Part II Building Your Vocabulary
Part III Critical Thinking Skills
Part IV Cultural Note