本书为“超越概念——高等院校英语专业系列教材”之《精读》教材，全套共4册，每册含16个单元，供大学本科一至二年级及水平相当的学习者使用。本书课文素材以美国原版教材为主，报纸、杂志及网络文章为辅。选材在突出时代感的同时兼顾经典语篇的分析与欣赏；课文内容重点介绍以美国为代表的英语国家的文化内涵与价值，关注当今人类面临的各种挑战与热点；课文编排架构照顾选文作者的代表性与写作风格的多样性，注重题材与体裁的合理搭配。

本册为第一册的教师用书。

Unit 1 In Search of...Something

Unit 2 Letter from Ground Zero

Unit 3 A Promise in a Lunch Pail

Unit 4 Watching the Full Moon Rise over the Northeast Corridor

Unit 5 Computer Games Anonymous

Unit 6 Three Kinds of Discipline

Unit 7 Television：Destroying Childhood

Unit 8 Let's Tell the Story of All America's Cultures

Unit 9 The Ugly Truth About Beauty

Unit 10 Don't Become a Scientist！

Unit 11 Thanksgiving's No Turkey

Unit 12 A Fable for Tomorrow

Unit 13 Dear Mom Clear My Calendar

Unit 14 Homeless

Unit 15 A Whisper of AIDS

Unit 16 The Pleasures of the Text