本书旨在提高英语语言能力的同时，通过阅读优秀的文章来拓宽视野，掌握技能，培养分析、综合和评价的思维能力。全书分为三章，每章均有5个单元，每个单元设定了三个学习目标并提供了三篇阅读文章，学习目标包括知识学习重点、语言学习重点和阅读、写作、翻译技巧；三篇文章分别为思考性阅读、应用型阅读及拓展阅读，每篇文章和技能介绍都配有相应的练习题。每个单元的最后还附有和学习、工作、技术相关的小技巧。本书的15个单元有阶段、有层次地覆盖了学习、工作、文化、科学和技术各个方面，题材丰富、内容精练。

Chapter OneAcademic Success
Unit 1 Great Lectures
Part One：Read ＆ Think
Kennedy Inaugural Address
Part Two：Applied Skills
Nine Techniques to Delivering a Speech with Confidence
Part Three：Extended Reading
The Artist as a Booster of the Human Heart:
Tips for Academic Study
Top Ten Study Tips
Unit 2 Learning, a Lifelong Skill
Part One：Read ＆ Think
My MOOC Experience
Part Two：Applied Skills
Lifelong Learning
Part Three：Extended Reading
Grandma Moses
Tips for Academic Study
Concentration Tips
Unit 3 Doing Research
Part One: Read ＆ Think
Darwin and Natural Selection
Part Two：Applied Skills
Research Methodology: An Introduction
Part Three：Extended Reading
Blood, Sweat and Tears: on the Path of Treating Malaria
Tips for Academic Study
When to study
Unit 4 Liberal Education
Part One：Read ＆ Think
The Allegory of the Cave
Part Two：Applied Skills
Who Needs a Liberal Education?
Part Three: Extended Reading
A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings
Tips for Academic Study
Six Reading Myths
Unit 5 Be a Good Writer
Part One：Read ＆ Think
Ernest Hemingway and His Work
Part Two: Applied Skills
The Academic Writing Task
Part Three：Extended Reading
The Old Man and the Sea
Tips for Academic Study
Study Formula SQ3R
Chapter TwoCareer Advancement
Unit 6 Understand People
Part One：Read ＆ Think
Personalities of Albert and Steve
Part Two：Applied Skills
Spirit of the Entrepreneur
Part Three：Extended Reading
Manage Your Boss—8 Ways to “Manage up”
Tips for Academic Study
Top 7 Tips for Understanding Why People Feel the Way They Do
Unit 7 Work with Others
Part One：Read ＆ Think
Importance of Teamwork in Organizations
Part Two：Applied Skills
Five Steps to Building an Organizational Culture
Part Three：Extended Reading
Twelve Cs for Team Building
Tips for Career Advancement
Observer Assessment Form for Group Exercises
Unit 8 Manage Your Work
Part One：Read ＆ Think
The Eisenhower Decision Matrix：How to Distinguish Between Urgent and Important Tasks and Make Real Progress in Your Life
Part Two：Applied Skills
How to Communicate Effectively
Part Three：Extended Reading
Resource Management
Tips for Career Advancement
Self-management
Unit 9 Lead Your Work
Part One：Read ＆ Think
What Is Leadership?
Part Two：Applied Skills
How to Relieve Stress
Part Three：Extended Reading
What Is Motivation
Tips for Career Advancement
How to Become a Leader
Unit 10 Present Your Work
Part One：Read ＆ Think
Public Speaking
Part Two：Applied Skills
How to Make a Good Presentation
Part Three：Extended Reading
Fight Your Shyness
Tips for Career Advancement
The Art of Rhetoric
Chapter ThreeScience ＆ Technology
Unit 11 Brain ＆ Neuroscience
Part One：Read ＆ Think
Right-and Left-handedness in Humans
Part Two：Applied Skills
What Happens in the Brain When You Learn a Language?
Part Three：Extended Reading
A Neuroscientist Reveals How to Think Differently
Tips for Reading Science Report
What Is a Literature Review?
Unit 12 Outer Space
Part One：Read ＆ Think
The Unearthly Landscapes of Mars: The Red Planet Is No Dead Planet
Part Two：Applied Skills
Incredible Technology: How to Find Life on Mars
Part Three：Extended Reading
The Threat from Outer Space
New Technology
3D Printed Car
Unit 13 Computer ＆ the Internet
Part One：Read ＆ Think
The Internet of Things Is Far Bigger Than Anyone Realizes
Part Two：Applied Skills
Tomorrow‘s Cities: How Big Data Is Changing the World
Part Three：Extended Reading
What Cloud Computing Really Means
Tesla Motors
Unit 14 New Energy
Part One：Read ＆ Think
The Future Battery
Part Two：Applied Skills
New Energy Sources and Inventions
Part Three：Extended Reading
You’ll never ‘be-leaf‘ what makes up this battery
Exploring Phosphorene, a Promising New Material
Unit 15 Nanotech and Material Sciences
Part One：Read ＆ Think
How Nanotechnology Works
Part Two：Applied Skills
What You Need to Know about Nano-food
Part Three：Extended Reading
The Future of Nanotechnology
Advanced Technology
VR Technology
References