本教材遵循英语阅读和理解能力的训练规律，选择了涉及教育、传记、历史、互联网、文学、心理学、电影、语言学等多个主题的文章，分为8个单元。每一单元内文章分为A、B两篇，其中A篇主要为学科知识或思辨性文本，B篇主要涉及相关学科知识领域或思辨性材料中的可操作性技能训练，以帮助学生汲取知识，提升阅读技能。本教材以课文阅读为基础，设计了综合练习和能力应用练习。
本教材结构清晰、目标明确，融知识性、趣味性、经典性、时效性于一体，方便教学，有利自学，突出应用性、实用性，可供英语专业及大学英语四级后学生使用。

Unit 1 Education
Part One Guided Reading
Text A How Brexit Could Damage Both EU Students and U.K. Universities
Part Two Activated Reading
Part Three Extended Reading
Text B Britain Turns to Chinese Textbooks to Improve Its Math Scores
Unit 2 Biography
Part One Guided Reading
Text A Caught
Part Two Activated Reading
Part Three Extended Reading
Text B The Youth of a Champion
Unit 3 History
Part One Guided Reading
Text A Brown Windsor Soup and High Tea:The World of the Victorians
Part Two Activated Reading
Part Three Extended Reading
Text B Does It Help to Know History
Unit 4 Internet
Part One Guided Reading
Text A The Waking Dream
Part Two Activated Reading
Part Three Extended Reading
Text B How Well Online Dating Works,According to Someone Who Has Been Stud
ying It for Years
Unit 5 Literature
Part One Guided Reading
Text A Day Three--Evening/Moscombe,near Tavistock,Devon
Part Two Activated Reading
Part Three Extended Reading
Text B Chapter 1 From A Thousand Splendid Suns
Unit 6 Psychology
Part One Guided Reading
Text A Why Do Adult Siblings Stop Speaking? The Psychology Behind the Not-So-Rare
Phenomenon
Part Two Activated Reading
Part Three Extended Reading
Text B Happiness Revisited
Unit 7 Film
Part One Guided Reading
Text A Thinking Outside the Birdcage:Cast and Casting
Part Two Activated Reading
Part Three Extended Reading
Text B Excerpt From Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them: The Original Screen
play
Unit 8 Linguistics
Part One Guided Reading
Text A I'm the Person Who Writes the Dictionary--This Is What My Job Is Like
Part Two Activated Reading
Part Three Extended Reading
Text B A Klingon Hamlet