本书是《现代大学英语》系列教材中与精读教材配合使用的整套四册阅读的第二册，入选的每篇文章都经过了精心筛选。无论是从类型、题材的多样性，还是文章的趣味性、可读性而言，这些材料都称得上是精品。此外，本书还对每一篇文章的难点部分作了详细的注释，尤其是对一些阅读欣赏的微妙之处加以点睛阐释，相信读者读后会有不同一般的感受。本书可供英语专业一年级学生和相当水平的英语自学者作为精读课本的配套阅读教材使用。

本教材是北京外国语大学英语系的专家们根据当代语言教学的研究成果和多年的教学经验，精心编写的供高等院校英语专业本料学生使用的“现代大学英语”系列中的阅读教材。本教材有以下特点：

遵循“以精带泛，精泛并举”的原则，与精读教材紧密结合，互为补充。

选篇经典，语言地道，题材和体裁丰富多样，兼具学习性和欣赏性。

主题耐人寻味，激发学生思考，启发学生心智。

注释恰到好处，皆为点睛之笔，帮助学生理解。

 1. I’ll Never Understand My Wife (by Steven James)

 2. A New Millennium (by J. M. DeGross) 

 3. Assumed Identities (by Timothy David) 

 4. The Ambitious Violet (by Kahlil Gibran)

 5. Attitude Is Everything (by Brian Cavanaugh)

 6. A Broom of One’s Own (by Jean Raffia)

 7. Behind the Words (by Harold Longman)

 8. The Chaser (by John Collier)

 9. My Friend, Albert Einstein (by Banesh Hoffmann)

10. Breakthroughs (by Richard Heinberg)

11. Chez Moi (by Isabel Huggan)

12. Technology in Reverse (by Robert J. Samuelson)

13. The First Day (by George and Helen Papashvily)

14. A Computer with a Human Brain

15. A Nightly Visitor (by Martha Marino)

16. Count on Crows (by Ian Frazier)

17. Just So Much and No More... (by Donella Meadows)

18. The Thing You Want (by Jack Trammell)

19. A Clean, Well-Lighted Place (by Ernest Hemingway)

20. In the Middle of the Night (by Philippa Pearce)

21. Terrafied (by Arthur Torte)

22. Focusing on Friends (by Steve Tesich)

23. Night of the Hunt Ball (by James Herriot)

24. The Face Is Familiar, But-- (by Max Shulman)

25. The Great Idea of Mr. Budd (by Dorothy L. Sayers)

26. The Other Side of Freedom (by Vicki Robin)

27. Just Lather, That’s All (by Hemando Tellez)

28. Doctor Mum (by Hugh Lunn)

29. The Companionship of a Poem (by Billy Collins)

30. Uncle Harold (by Russel Baker)

31. Trurrs Machine (by Stanislaw Lern)

32. Big Shot (by Margaret Weymouth Jackson)

33. Tricki and His Mistress--from All Creatures Great and Small (by James Herriot)

34. Lamb to theSlaughter (by Roald Dalai)

35. Mr. Know-All (by William S. Maugham)

36. Halfway to Hell (by John Collier)

37. The Lottery Ticket (by Anton Chekhov)

38. The Man Called Dead (by Pearl S. Buck)

39. The Jewels (by Guy De Maupassant)

40. The Income-Tax Man (by Mark Twain)

41. Forty Years On (by Norah Lofts)

42. Four Generations (by Joyce Maynard)

43. Shaving (by Leslie Norris) 

44. University Days (by James Thurber)

45. The Thief (by Jnnichiro Tanizaki)

46. My Oedipus Complex (by Frank O’Connor)

47. Shot Actress--Full Story (by H. E. Bates)

48. The Story of an Hour (by Kate Chopin)

49. The Upper Berth (by F. Marion Crawford)

50. The Monkey’s Paw (by W. W. Jacobs)

51. The Doll’s House (by Katherine Mansfield)