该丛书由外教社从美国**出版机构麦格劳一希尔（McGraw Hill）公司引进，语言地道，知识面广，信息量大，是一套既注重培养英语阅读能力，又致力开阔他们视野的拓展型丛书。整套书编写理念先进，编排设计科学，难度逐级递升，既适合外国语学校及外语特色学校初二至高三年级的学生使用，也适合普通中学同等水平的学生使用。

丛书包含社会科学、自然科学和数学三个系列。社会科学和自然科学各10册，数学有5个分册。只要坚持每天阅读，你的阅读能力一定会有明显提高。我们期盼你在趣味盎然的阅读环境中培养阅读能力、遨游知识天地，学习地道英语。

本书为自然科学系列**分册，适合外国语学校及外语特色学校高中三年级学生使用。

The teenagers hiked single file along the narrow North Country trail, one counselor leading the way and another bringing up the rear. They were spaced about three minutes apart so that each person could experience the feeling of being alone in the wilderness.
Roberta welcomed the cool shade of the spruce trees and balsam firs of the vast boreal forest and the soft carpet of needles on the moist trail. She kept her eyes open, hoping to see signs of life. She especially hoped to see a moose, but she really didn't want to encounter a bear, even though she knew k would probably be more afraid of her than she would be of it. At first all she saw were mushrooms -- evidence of the pelting rain that had fallen earfier in the week.
Roberta passed through a moist sunken area. She felt the squishy sphagnum moss (泥炭藓) beneath her feet, its fight green color a pleasant contrast to the darker green of the conifers. Suddenly she noticed a spot of bright color beside a fallen, moss-covered tree, and she stooped to look more closely. The orange creature slithered (滑行) away, and Roberta continued on, smiling, the image of the tiny salamander before her eyes. Roberta rounded a corner and came upon a sparkling stream —and something large moving among the trees. "Hi, Roberta," her friends called to her softly, still too entranced by the magic of their time alone in the wilderness to feel like shouting. 阅读既是理解和吸收语言文化信息的重要手段之一，又是语言文化信息的*便捷的输入源。我国教育部新制定的全日制义务教育和普通**中学《英语课程标准》对学生的阅读技能从三级到九级提出了明确的要求。在目前国内外的各种英语测试中，阅读理解所占的比重越来越大。为此，我们特向你**“中学英语拓展阅读丛书”(Timed Readings Plus)。本丛书含有以下3个子系列：社会科学(Social studies)、自然科学(Science)及数学(Mathematics)，由上海外语教育出版社从美国McGraw Hill Glencoe公司引进出版。社会科学和自然科学各有10个分册，社会科学每册有24课，自然科学每册有25课，每课两篇阅读材料；数学有5个分册，每册有15课，每课两篇阅读材料。本丛书语言地道，知识面广，信息量大，能有效训练学生的阅读理解能力，提高他们的阅读速度。每课的**篇阅读材料篇幅长400单词左右，侧重训练学生的快速阅读能力；阅读理解题则主要检查学生是否能在快速阅读后掌握阅读材料中的事实和材料所传达的思想。每课中的第二篇阅读材料较短，着重训练学生的阅读技巧，如：从上下文中猜测生词的含义，找出作者的观点，得出**思想，排列事件顺序，推断作者的论点等。因此，我们认为它是一套训练学生阅读速度及阅读理解能力并能同时开拓他们视野的拓展型丛书，适合外国语学校初二及以上年级学生和非外国语学校高中学生课内、外使用。
怎样使用本系列丛书呢？我们有以下的一些阅读策略供大家参考。
1．阅读时，要集中注意力。
2．用一分钟阅读标题，并思考以下问题：我是否了解这一话题？我从这个话题中能学到什么？这个话题引起了我怎样的思考？
3．**阅读文章**句和*后一句，因为**句和*后一句往往是作者提出自己观点和总结全文观点的关键句子。
4．快速阅读全文以获得材料所传达给你的信息。如遇到含有姓名、日期或数字等的内容，你应该放慢速度，以便记住这些内容。
怎样才是一个快速阅读者？

致学生
致老师
1 A Arctic and Alpine Tundra
1 B A Wilderness Encounter
2 A What Is Quicksand?
2 B Surviving Quicksand
3 A How We Hear
3 B Getting a Hearing Aid
4 A The Classification of Living Things
4 B Plants That Eat Insects
5 A How Sunlight Affects Health
5 B Cave Life
6 A Every Drop Counts
6 B Effects of the World' s Water Situation
7 A The Endless Struggle Between Predators and Their Prey
7 B Attack—and Counterattack!
8 A Simple and Complex Carbohydrates
8 B Sensible Dieting
9 A Heat Energy at Home
9 B A Hot Air Balloon
10 A The Life Cycle of a Frog
10 B It's a Frog! No, It's a Toad!
11 A Symbiosis
11 B An Alga, a Fungus, and Two Brothers
12 A Estuaries and Their Habitats
12 B A Protected Beach
13 A Snow Travel in the Arctic
13 B Learning to Snowshoe
14 A What Is the World Wide Web?
14 B The Inventor of the World Wide Web
15 A A Hall of Gems and Minerals
15 B Mining for Diamonds
16 A Microbes and Germs
16 B Growing Bread Mold
17 A The Many Faces of Primatologists
17 B Among the Gorillas
18 A The Physics of the Plastic Flying Disc
18 B Training a Dog to Catch a Flying Disc
19 A World Population Growth and Its Effects
19 B Megacities
20 A The Relationship of Mathematics to Astronomy and Physics
20 B The Scientific Method
21 A Weather Forecasting Tools
21 B Making a Hygrometer
22 A The Machine Age in the United States
22 B Machines in the Home
23 A The History of Space Exploration
23 B Tracking Space Missions
24 A The Invention of Television
24 B The Future of Television
25 A Learning About the Ocean
25 B The Future of the Ocean
附录
Answer Key
Reading Rate
Comprehension Score
Comprehension Skills Profile
……

邀游知识天地 学习地道英语
你听说过环境建筑学吗?你知道转基因技术基于怎样的原理吗?我们每天点击的互联网是在哪种巧合下诞生的?欧洲中世纪城堡中**的生活是怎样的?中国古代的造纸术分哪几个步骤?你一定想知道这些问题的答案吧。翻开这套“中学英语拓展阅读丛书”，你就走进了一个五彩斑斓的奇妙世界。
该丛书由外教社从美国**出版机构麦格劳一希尔（McGraw Hm）公司引进，语言地道，知识面广，信息量大，是一套既注重培养学生英语阅读能力，又致力开阔他们视野的拓展型丛书。整套书编写理念先进，编排设计科学，难度逐级递升，既适合外国语学校及外语特色学校初二至高三年级的学生使用，也适合普通中学同等水平的学生使用。
我们期盼你在趣味盎然的阅读环境中培养阅读能力，遨游知识天地，学习地道英语。