《博雅英语》1-4册是大学英语立体化网络化系列教材，真正融合听说读写译，体现并引领全国大学英语教材改革的发展方向。 本次修订除了替换个别文章，保持经典阅读的理念不变，更重要的是本套教材更立体，更多维，通过几年的教材使用，拓展了更多的主题相关的音频、视频、课件、慕课，使得这套教材内容更丰富，形式更多样，更加有利于教师的课堂教学。

古希腊、古罗马倡导的博雅教育（Liberal Education），旨在传授广博的知识，培养独立完善的人格和优雅的气质，使人不仅获得专业技能，而且陶冶品学才识，成为完全的人。与之相辉映，中华文化传统如《论语》之 “子曰：君子不器”，以及《大学》之“大学之道，在明明德，在亲民，在止于至善”，也强调人应该有完善的人格，不能像器具一样，只满足某一种用途。
《博雅英语》作为北京大学教材建设委员会设立的大学英语教材改革项目，正是要达到这样的目的，将大学英语课程的工具性和人文性有机统一，使之作为高等学校人文教育的一部分，体现高等教育区别于基础教育的特点，以教材的思想性带动语言学习，不仅增强学生的英语综合应用能力和自主学习能力，而且发展学生的跨文化交际能力和批判性思维能力。
《博雅英语》力图达到经典与时代的结合、西方文化与中华文化的互动、人文素养与科学精神的交融，彰显教育的根本——立德树人、使学生在批判性的英语学习中，吸收优秀的文化、观念和正确的价值观，培养跨文化国际视野和中国情怀，树立文化自觉和文化自信，未来成为中外文化交流及“讲好中国故事，传播好中国声音，阐释好中国特色”的重要力量。

Unit 1 LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE…1
Part One \tLead-in…2
\tSection 1 Listening The Chinese Language…2
\tSection 2 Watching The Hours…2
Part Two \tReading and Writing…2
\tText A The Mark on the Wall…3
Part Three Reading and Speaking…8
\tText B In Theory: the Death of Literature…8
Part Four Cross Cultural Communication…13
\tPassage A  甲骨文的发现…13
\tPassage B  Formal and Substantive Universals of Languages …14
Unit 2 HISTORY AND CIVILIZATION…17
Part One \tLead-in…18
\tSection 1 Listening Cultural Diversity and Assimilation in America: a Failure?…18
\tSection 2 Watching Ancient Egypt…18
Part Two \tReading and Writing…18
\tText A On History…19
Part Three Reading and Speaking…25
\tText B Chinese and Western Civilization Contrasted…25
Part Four \tCross Cultural Communication…29
\tPassage A 丝绸之路与文化交流…29
\tPassage B The Process of Civilisation…31
Unit 3 PHILOSOPHY AND LIFE…33
Part One \tLead-in…34
\tSection 1 Listening Problems of Philosophy…34
\tSection 2 Watching Zeno Paradox…34
Part Two \tReading and Writing…34
\tText A What Philosophy Is For…35
Part Three Reading and Speaking…41
\tText B Meaning in Life…41
Part Four Cross Cultural Communication…45
\tPassage A  中国哲学的线索…45
\tPassage B  What Is Enlightenment?…46
Unit 4 MUSIC AND THE SOCIAL WORLD…50
Part One \tLead-in…51
\tSection 1 Listening Preference for Familiar or Unfamiliar Sounds? …51
\tSection 2 Watching Arches in Music and Architecture…51
Part Two \tReading and Writing…52
\tText A Why Premieres?…52
Part Three Reading and Speaking…59
\tText B Music and the Social World…59
Part Four Cross Cultural Communication…63
\tPassage A 中国古代音乐的文化内涵…63
\tPassage B The Musical Legacies of Antiquity…64
Unit 5 DEMOCRACY AND LAW…68
Part One \tLead-in…69
\tSection 1 Listening Rawls and His Theory of Justice…69
\tSection 2 Watching Introduction to Political Philosophy…69
Part Two \tReading and Writing…70
\tText A Two Principles of Justice…70
Part Three Reading and Speaking…76
\tText B Equality, Liberty and Democracy…77
Part Four Cross Cultural Communication…81
\tPassage A “仁”和“礼”…81
\tPassage B On Liberty…82
Unit 6 ECONOMY AND SOCIETY…86
Part One \tLead-in…87
\tSection 1 Listening  Why Should We Study Past Economic Thinkers…87
\tSection 2 Watching A Beautiful Mind: The Nash Equilibrium…87
Part Two \tReading and Writing…87
\tText A Individuals in Foreign Trade…88
Part Three Reading and Speaking…93
\tText B How Did Economists Get It So Wrong?…94
Part Four Cross Cultural Communication…99
\tPassage A 孙子兵法…99
\tPassage B The Merchant of Venice…101
Unit 7 NATURE AND HUMAN SOCIETY…108
Part One \tLead-in…109
\tSection 1 Listening English Lake District: Landscape and the Wild…109
\tSection 2 Watching Beethoven and His Pastoral Symphony…109
Part Two \tReading and Writing…109
\tText A Preface to Animal Liberation…110
Part Three Reading and Speaking…116
\tText B We Have No Duty to Animals…116
Part Four Cross Cultural Communication…119
\tPassage A 醉翁亭记…119
\tPassage B Lines Composed a Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey, on Revisiting the Banks of the Wye During a Tour…120
Unit 8 TECHNOLOGY AND ETHICS…125
Part One \tLead-in…126
\tSection 1 Listening Epidemic Disease: Is the Internet
Our Key to Survival?…126
\tSection 2 Watching The Truman Show: The Interview…126
Part Two \tReading and Writing…127
\tText A Has Big Data Made Anonymity Impossible?…127
Part Three Reading and Speaking…132
\tText B From Privacy to Accountability …133
Part Four Cross Cultural Communication…137
\tPassage A 《劝学篇》序…137
\tPassage B Precursors of Modern Science…138