本书为“超越概念——高等院校英语专业系列教材”之泛读教材，供大学本科一、二年级学生及同等水平学习者使用。泛读教材共四册，每册分16个单元，供任课教师每周处理一个单元。

本书的编写以《普通高中英语课程标准》对各种技能、知识和词汇量的要求为起点，以教育部颁布的《高等学校英语专业英语教学大纲》对各个级别的阅读量、难度和速度的要求为依据。其独特设计充分体现了泛读课程自身的特点，注重体裁和题材的多样化和视角的多元性，同时兼顾题材的系统性，旨在开阔学生的视野，增强其阅读能力和分析能力。

UNIT ONE

 Thinking Starters

 Text A: Speech at Worcester Polytechnic Institute

 Text B: Just Be Yourself

 Reading Skills: Comparison and Contrast (Ⅰ)

 Readings and Self-testing

UNIT TWO

 Thinking Starters

 Text A: War

 Text B: A Glimpse of Heaven

 Reading Skills: Comparison and Contrast (Ⅱ)

 Readings and Self-testing

UNIT THREE

 Thinking Starters

 Text A: School Violence Is Exaggerated by the Media

 Text B: The History of Gun Control

 Reading Skills: Long and Difficult Sentences (Ⅰ)

 Readings and Self-testing

UNIT FOUR

 Thinking Starters

 Text A: Speech at Kean College

 Text B: The Anthropology of Manners

 Reading Skills: Long and Difficult Sentences (Ⅱ)

 Readings and Self-testing

UNIT FIVE

 Thinking Starters

 Text A: I'm Still Me!--Steve's Story

 Text B: Sex, Lies and Conversation

 Reading Skills: Fact and Opinion (Ⅰ)

 Readings and Self-testing

 #NIT SIX

 Thinking Starters

 Text A: The Case for a Sovereign Quebec

 Text B: Violence in the Media

 Reading Skills: Fact and Opinion (Ⅱ)

 Readings and Self-testing

UNIT SEVEN

 Thinking Starters

 Text A: Diplomacy in the Age of Terror

 Text B: The Age of Nonpolarity

 Reading Skills: Making Inference (Ⅰ)

 Readings and Self-testing

UNIT EIGHT

 Thinking Starters

 Text A: The Inheritance of Tools

 Text B: The Inheritance of Tools (continued)

 Reading Skills: Making Inference (Ⅱ)

 Readings and Self-testing

UNITNINE

 Thinking Starters

 Text A: Two Kinds

 Text B: Two Kinds (continued)

 Reading Skills: Cause and Effect (Ⅰ)

 Readings and Self-testing

UNITTEN

 Thinking Starters

 Text A: Why Men Become Men

 Text B: A Proposal I Never Thought I'd Consider

 Reading Skills: Cause and Effect (Ⅱ)

 Readings and Self-testing

 ELEVEN

 Thinking Starters

 Text A: Cyberspace: If You Don't Love It, Leave It

 Text B: The Longest Day

 Reading Skills: Critical Reading (Ⅰ)

 Readings and Self-testing

UNIT TWELVE

 Thinking Starters

 Text A: A Little Theory

 Text B: The Most Important Book I Read: The Stranger by Albert Camus

 Reading Skills: Critical Reading (Ⅱ)

 Readings and Self-testing

UNIT THIRTEEN

 Thinking Starters

 Text A: Access to Cheap Drugs Can Slow the AIDS Epidemic in Africa

 Text B: The Global AIDS Epidemic Is a Serious Problem

 Reading Skills: Reading for Main Ideas

 Readings and Self-testing

UNIT FOURTEEN

 Thinking Starters

 Text A: Working for a Constitution: James Madison

 Text B: To Move Toward Independence: Thomas Jefferson

 Reading Skills: Reading for Thesis Statement

 Readings and Self-testing

UNIT FIFTEEN

 Thinking Starters

 Text A: Sixty Feet Deep

 Text B: Green Acres

 Reading Skills: Understanding Text Structure and Organization (Ⅰ)

 Readings and Self-testing

UNIT SIXTEEN

 Thinking Starters

 Text A: The Genes That Jump

 Text B: Understanding Eskimo Science

 Reading Skills: Understanding Text Structure and Organization (Ⅱ)

 Readings and Self-testing