《新世纪基础英语》以初学英语的读者为对象，按照以学习者为中心的原则编写，突出自主性学习的作用和对语言实际运用能力的培养。全套教材分为学生用书和教师用书两种，各4册，除第一册分18个单元外，其他3册每册12个单元。本套教材的突出特点是：(1)基础性：最基本的语音、语调、语法知识，最基本的词汇，最常用的短语、句型；(2)简单性：课文语言简单、生动、直接、明了；(3)实用性：词汇、语法、句子、课文、练习不仅简单有趣，而且易学易用；(4)时代性：语言新(词汇、短语、句型都具有时代感)、题材新、编排新。

本书是学生用书的第3册，包括爱情、亲情、成长的烦恼、语言与文化、互联网、心理分析、求职、人生的思索、幸福的涵义、科普、时事等主题。

热身练习：让学生阅读课文之前先听课文录音，完成听写填空练习，并进行有关课文主题的讨论，从而激发他们的兴趣，开阔他们的思路，为正式进入课文学习做好准备。课文：每单元含A、B两篇课文，A为主课文，B为辅助课文，每篇课文之后都附有词汇表、专有名词表、常用词组表和详细的注释。对话：在A、B课文之间有一个紧扣单元主题、语言生动、表达地道的对话，并配有对话练习语境，使学生能够根据具体情况自由发挥，学以致用。写作：写作从句子开始，逐步过渡到段落和篇章，并以各种例句、范文和一定的练习来向学生介绍英语的基本写作技巧，使他们了解英语记叙文、描写文、说明文、应用文(含便条、简历、介绍信等)和议论文的基本写作方法。

Unit 1 Love

 Text A A boy with a mission

 Dialogue Romance is usually a mystery

 Text B Hungry for your love

 Guided writing Simple, compound, complex and compound-complex sentences

 Grammar Punctuation I

Unit 2 Growing-up

 Text A When Allie left home

 Dialogue I wish I had a sister like yours

 Text B It's not just how we play that matters

 Guided writing Relations between sentences I-- combination, expansion and transition

 Grammar Punctuation H

Unit 3 Culture and language

 Text A Friendship in different cultures

 Dialogue What do you like to do with your free time?

 Text B Do the English understand English?

 Guided writing Relations between sentences II--parallelism, subordination and contraction

 Grammar Tag questions

Unit 4 Lifestyle

 Text A How to install love

 Dialogue Would you please teach me how to use the computer?

 Text B My resignation

 Guided writing Topic sentences

 Grammar Phrasal verbs

Unit 5 Happiness

 Text A The importance of just being there

 Dialogue Why don't you change your attitude and be happy?

 Text B The terribly, tragically sad man Guided writing Paragraph development by examples

 Grammar Compound words

Unit 6 Communication

 Text A Communicating without body language

 Dialogue I ordered it through internet!

 Text B Internet addiction --fact or fantasy?

 Guided writing Paragraph development by comparison and contrast

 Grammar The word order of adjectives

Unit 7 Psychoanalysis

 Text A Young Hans

 Dialogue Bird-watching on TV or in the mountains?

 Text B Doctor of the mind

 Guided writing Paragraph development by definition and classification

 Grammar Noun clauses

Unit 8 A better world

 Text A I imagine world peace

 Dialogue Earth day

 Text B The butterfly on the redwood

 Guided writing Paragraph development by space and time

 Grammar Adverbial clauses of time, place, concession and comparison

Unit 9 The most precious gift

 Text A The most precious gift

 Dialogue What is the most precious gift?

 Text B Wendy's story

 Guided writing Paragraph development by cause and effect

 Grammar Adverbial clauses of cause, purpose and result

Unit 10 Popular science

 Text A Ants are smarter than we think

 Dialogue Does camel spit at people?

 Text B How plants prepare for winter

 Guided writing Concluding sentences

 Grammar Subordinate clauses

Unit 11 Job and interview

 Text A How to handle different types of interview

 Dialogue I am qualified for the job I apply for

 Text B What to wear for job interviews

 Guided writing Unity and coherence I

 Grammar Appositives and appositive clauses

Unit 12 Opinions

 Text A No gains without pains -- or are there?

 Dialogue Isn't it unfair, sir?

 Text B So-called psychic a simple trickster

 Guided writing Unity and coherence II

 Grammar Parallelism

Appendix Glossary