本书为“超越概念——高等院校英语专业系列教材”之泛读教材,供大学本科一、二年级学生及同等水平学习者使用。泛读教材共四册,每册分16个单元,供任课教师每周处理一个单元。
本书的编写以《普通高中英语课程标准》对各种技能、知识和词汇量的要求为起点,以教育部颁布的《高等学校英语专业英语教学大纲》对各个级别的阅读量、难度和速度的要求为依据。其独特设计充分体现了泛读课程自身的特点,注重体裁和题材的多样化和视角的多元性,同时兼顾题材的系统性,旨在开阔学生的视野,增强其阅读能力和分析能力。

UNIT ONE
Thinking Starters
Text A: Speech at Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Text B: Just Be Yourself
Reading Skills: Comparison and Contrast (I)
Readings and Self-testing
UNIT TWO
Thinking Starters
Text A: War
Text B: A Glimpse of Heaven
Reading Skills: Comparison and Contrast (II)
Readings and Self-testing
UNIT THREE
Thinking Starters
Text A: School Violence Is Exaggerated by the Media
Text B: The History of Gun Control
Reading Skills: Long and Difficult Sentences (I)
Readings and Self-testing
UNIT FOUR
Thinking Starters
Text A: Speech at Kean College
Text B: The Anthropology of Manners
Reading Skills: Long and Difficult Sentences (II)
Readings and Self-testing
UNIT FIVE
Thinking Starters
Text A: I'm Still Me!--Steve's Story
Text B: Sex, Lies and Conversation
Reading Skills: Fact and Opinion (I)
Readings and Self-testing
#NIT SIX
Thinking Starters
Text A: The Case for a Sovereign Quebec
Text B: Violence in the Media
Reading Skills: Fact and Opinion (II)
Readings and Self-testing
UNIT SEVEN
Thinking Starters
Text A: Diplomacy in the Age of Terror
Text B: The Age of Nonpolarity
Reading Skills: Making Inference (I)
Readings and Self-testing
UNIT EIGHT
Thinking Starters
Text A: The Inheritance of Tools
Text B: The Inheritance of Tools (continued)
Reading Skills: Making Inference (11)
Readings and Self-testing
UNITNINE
Thinking Starters
Text A: Two Kinds
Text B: Two Kinds (continued)
Reading Skills: Cause and Effect (I)
Readings and Self-testing
UNITTEN
Thinking Starters
Text A: Why Men Become Men
Text B: A Proposal I Never Thought I'd Consider
Reading Skills: Cause and Effect (II)
Readings and Self-testing
ELEVEN
Thinking Starters
Text A: Cyberspace: If You Don't Love It, Leave It
Text B: The Longest Day
Reading Skills: Critical Reading (I)
Readings and Self-testing
UNIT TWELVE
Thinking Starters
Text A: A Little Theory
Text B: The Most Important Book I Read: The Stranger by Albert Camus
Reading Skills: Critical Reading (11)
Readings and Self-testing
UNIT THIRTEEN
Thinking Starters
Text A: Access to Cheap Drugs Can Slow the AIDS Epidemic in Africa
Text B: The Global AIDS Epidemic Is a Serious Problem
Reading Skills: Reading for Main Ideas
Readings and Self-testing
UNIT FOURTEEN
Thinking Starters
Text A: Working for a Constitution: James Madison
Text B: To Move Toward Independence: Thomas Jefferson
Reading Skills: Reading for Thesis Statement
Readings and Self-testing
UNIT FIFTEEN
Thinking Starters
Text A: Sixty Feet Deep
Text B: Green Acres
Reading Skills: Understanding Text Structure and Organization (I)
Readings and Self-testing
UNIT SIXTEEN
Thinking Starters
Text A: The Genes That Jump
Text B: Understanding Eskimo Science
Reading Skills: Understanding Text Structure and Organization (11)
Readings and Self-testing