本书精选了八十余篇近期英美国家权威报刊的文章，分为政坛风云、名人轶事、科技之光、文化聚焦、人生启航、经济动向、社会掠影、卫生与健康和缤纷话题等九个部分，为读者提供内容新颖、题材广泛、语言现代的读物，以使读者开阔视野，提高语言技能，增强思维能力，获取大量的新知识、新信息。为提高阅读效果，本书为每篇文章配备了练习，并在书后附有答案。此外，为帮助读者洞悉世界最新动态，书中还附加了“趣味阅读”。

本书可以作为高等院校的本科生和研究生教材，也适用于具有同等水平的自学者使用。

一、政坛风云

1. Transcript of Debate between Bush and Kerry

2. An Interview with Bill Clinton

3. What Happens to the Losing Team?

4. The Shoe Bomber's World

5. The Necessity of Travel

6. 10 Questions for Jimmy Carter

7. Ask How

8. The Nanking 'Incident' Flap

二、名人轶事

9. The Merry Divorcees of Windsor

10. What We'll Do for Dad on His 91st Birthday

11. Too Hip for the Holidays

12. "I've Got a Problem"

13. Hillary in Her Own Words

14. "I Had to Ask Myself whether I would Stay Married"

15. Presidents of Leadership, Strength and Accomplishment (1)

16. Presidents of Leadership, Strength and Accomplishment (2)

三、科技之光

17. Cloning, Continued 

18. Race to Find New Cures

19. Could Robots Take Over the World?

20. Driving by Wire

21. Earth Simulator

22. Europe Roasts. Is It Global Warming?

23. Antarctica is Getting Warmer

24. How Long will the Oil Age Last?

25. Murder of the Bounty: The Sea's Empty

26. Brace Yourself! Here Comes EinStein's Year

27. Blogs, a New Medium

四、文化聚集

28. A Subway, Not a Shelter

29. You are the Shopper and the Cashier

30. Credit Card

31. In London, a Very British Bid for the 2012 Games

32. London Overview

33. Arthur Miller: Death of a Legend

34. The Art of Betting $100 Million

35. Negro Spirituals Endure

36. Liberal Bible Thumping

五、人生启航

37. A Start in Life

38. Nature vs. Nurture

39. Care for the Depressed Kids

40. When Little Kids Take Big Tests

41. Degrees of Stress

42. Student Rankings? Computers Flunk, and College Plans are in Chaos

43. Where Have You gone, Joe DiMaggio?

六、经济动向

44. What does Alan Greenspan Want?

45. Alan Greenspan's Crystal Ball

46. Capitalism and Its Troubles

47. It Pays to Be a Good Listener

48. How to Be a Good Leader

49. Compromise Needed

50. Tougher Year Lies Ahead for OPEC

七、社会掠影

51. Class in America

52. The Attributes of Class

53. The American Ideal

54. Reaching the New Mainstream

55. Choosing a Job is Not Just about the Money

56. Food for Thought

57. Working in the Public Interest for 40 Years

58. The Stock-Option Culture

59. Does Divorce Hurt Kids?

60. Marriage and Politics

61. When Children Feel Rejected

62. The Rules for Modern Weddings

63. Happy Marriage Rewards

八、卫生与健康

64. Stroke of Luck

65. The Facts about Cholesterol

66. Women, Take Heart: Protect Yourself from Heart Disease

67. How Come We Can't Cure the Cold?

68. Up in Smoke

69. Of Brains and Breast Milk

70. Should We all Be Vegetarians?

71. The Obesity Epidemic

72. Food Nourished and Civilizes Us

73. The Diet of Our Ancestors

74. Diagnose and Strengthen Your Health with Aculife

九、缤纷话题

75. When M. D. s Mess Up

76. A Doctor's Duty

77. A Sick Health-Care System

78. Skyscrapers, Going Up and Up

79. Giving the Decaying Brooklyn Waterfront a Makeover

80. Force of Nature

81. Dammed If You Do

82. Why did She Do it?

83. Why Women Have to Work