本书以美国的传统核心价值观为主线，涵盖美国的主义与问题两大方面的内容。前几个章节为美国的主义，如清教主义、个人主义等，这些主义为美国社会与文化的基础，后几个章节挖掘美国社会的几大问题。因此，教材的安排为先基础，后细节：先对社会与文化有较为全面的了解，再具体、深入地思索其主要的社会问题。
参考答案请在ftp://ftp.tup.tsinghua.edu.cn/上下载。

UNIT 1 Protestantism 1
Part I Background Knowledge 1
Part II Reading Passage (Text A) 4
Part III Supplementary Reading Passage (Text B) 14
UNIT 2 Individualism 19
Part I Background Knowledge 19
Part II Reading Passage (Text A) 22
Part III Supplementary Reading Passage (Text B) 31
UNIT 3 Egalitarianism 38
Part I Background Knowledge 38
Part II Reading Passage (Text A) 43
Part III Supplementary Reading Passage (Text B) 49
UNIT 4 Materialism 52
Part I Background Knowledge 52
Part II Reading Passage (Text A) 55
Part III Supplementary Reading Passage (Text B) 62
UNIT 5 Exceptionalism 66
Part I Background Knowledge 66
Part II Reading Passage (Text A) 68
Part III Supplementary Reading Passage (Text B) 74
UNIT 6 Ra Problems 78
Part I Background Knowledge 78
Part II Reading Passage (Text A) 84
Part III Supplementary Reading Passage (Text B) 90
CONTENTS
v
vi
美国文化
AMERICAN CULTURE
UNIT 7 Gun Problems 93
Part I Background Knowledge 93
Part II Reading Passage (Text A) 96
Part III Supplementary Reading Passage (Text B) 102
UNIT 8 LGBT Issues 105
Part I Background Knowledge 105
Part II Reading Passage (Text A) 110
Part III Supplementary Reading Passage (Text B) 117
Appendix I List of Famous American Presidents 120
Appendix II List of Important Historical Events in American History (in
Chronological Order) 127