本书共4个单元,每单元3课,共12课。每课选文前有阅读技巧介绍,后跟A和B两篇课文,课文后列出生词表、注释、作者及文章背景介绍等,并且针对阅读技巧和课文编写了大量的实用性的练习题目。 本次修订在调研众多使用院校意见的基础上,删除一些过时、不适于教学的篇章,同时从英美*期刊、报纸、杂志等选取一些时新的语料素材进行替换。所选文章主题契合当今研究生主要的大类专业,如经管、法律、科技、人文、医学、农林等,以适应多种专业的需求。同时对课后练习进行整体规划,增加基础级与提**之间的逻辑性、延续性,方便教师进行延续性教学。

Unit 1 Language
Section Ⅰ READING SKILLS: Developing Your Reading Efficiency
As a graduate student, you are pressed for time. Your course work, which includes reading textbook chapters, completing assignments, studying for exams, and writing papers, competes with part-time jobs and social, recreational, and housekeeping tasks. Each demands your valuable time. At times, university life may seem like a balancing or juggling act in which you are trying to do many things all at once and do all of them well. You are probably wondering if you will be able to keep up and how to get everything done. One of the best ways to handle the demands and pressures of university life is to become more efficient—to get more done in less time.
Many students think that the only way to become more efficient is to read faster. They believe that slow reading is poor reading. This is, however, not the case. Reading efficiency means more than saving time by reading rapidly. Reading effectively includes understanding the ideas the writer is trying to send and organizing those ideas logically to remember them. Your reading efficiency will increase as you develop techniques that improve your comprehension and retention. These in turn will enable you to use your time most economically.

Analyzing Your Reading Efficiency
Are you an efficient reader? Here are some questions that will help you assess your reading efficiency. Answer “Yes” or “No” to the questions provided.
1.Do you set goals and time limits for yourself at the beginning of each reading-study session?
2.Do you have any particular questions in mind when you begin to read an assignment?
3.Do you try to understand the author’s ideas instead of comprehending the literal meaning of each word?
4.Do you pay attention to the paragraphs and how they are organized?
5.While reading, do you try to predict or anticipate what the writer will say next?

Unit 1 Language READING SKILLS:Developing Your Reading Efficiency TEXT A Words Have the Power to Change Our Lives TEXT B Can Poetry Save Your Life? WRITING: Well-organized Essay Writing Unit 2 Cultural Varieties READING SKILLS:Developing Your Reading Flexibility TEXT A Lefties, You Should Feel Very Special TEXT B There’s More to Life than Being Happy WRITING: Paragraph Unit 3 Life and Health ( Ⅰ ) READING SKILLS:Reading Rate TEXT A Anxiety: Challenge by Another Name TEXT B Self-reliance WRITING: Summary Unit 4 Work and Employment READING SKILLS:Skimming: Reading for Main Ideas TEXT A Thank God It’s Monday TEXT B Why Should We Hire You? WRITING: Resume Unit 5 Science and Technology READING SKILLS:Scanning: Rapidly Locating Information TEXT A If a Time Traveler Saw a Smartphone TEXT B Science and Technology WRITING: Application Letter Unit 6 Life and Health ( Ⅱ ) READING SKILLS:Techniques for Reading Faster TEXT A Are Engineered Food Evils? TEXT B The Messy Truth about Weight Loss WRITING: Graphs Unit 7 Environment and Energy READING SKILLS:What Is Active Reading? TEXT A Renewable Energy Has More Economic Benefits than You Know TEXT B Climate Change’s Giant Impact on the Economy: 4 Key Issues WRITING: Exposition Unit 8 Culture and Education READING SKILLS:Prereading TEXT A How Loneliness Is Tearing America Apart TEXT B What Straight-A Students Get Wrong WRITING: Exemplification Unit 9 Economics and Management ( Ⅰ ) READING SKILLS:Making Predictions and Connections TEXT A Toward a Happier Office with Data-driven Nudges TEXT B Many Restaurants and Cafes Refuse to Accept Cash WRITING: Cause and Effect Unit 10 Economics and Management ( Ⅱ ) READING SKILLS: Improving Your Concentration TEXT A Gender Pay Gap Persists Despite Rise in Reporting TEXT B Why Women’s Voices Are Scarce in Economics WRITING: Compariso