与考研命题人的思路一样，编者着眼于《经济学家》、《新闻周刊》、《时代周刊》、《纽约时报》、《泰晤士报》、《英国卫报》这六本国外的优秀杂志，从近几年刊载的文章中各精选出五十篇。根据考开真题的题材类型将这些文章分为社会类、文教类、经济类、科技类和健康类五部分。

江涛，原北京外国语大学青年教师，全国四六级教学权威专家。英国、挪威、荷兰等多国留学背景。迄今执教十余年，受邀中国各大省、市100多所知名高校，演讲千余场，以其极具感染力的幽默激情、坦诚务实、一针见血的风格广受学员赞誉； 由江涛老师主持的中央人民广播电台经济之声“英语之夜-710分新四级辅导”栏目在全国范围内好评如潮。收到考生听众来信数万封。被誉为四级备考期间“夜空中的灯塔”；２００７年，江涛老师将继续受邀前往中央人民广播电台主持两档节目。包括早间的“奥运全民说英语”节目和晚间的“超级蜘蛛网记考研单词”节目，《４０天攻克四级７１０分新题型》系列教材０６年秋季销售量突破４０万册。

社会类
Passage One Successful Women Put the Brakes on Social Mobility
Passage Two The Knives Are Out
Passage Three Tourism Threatens Antarctica
Passage Four Mandatory Water Meters a Step Closer
Passage Five Guns and Gangs
Passage Six Women Climb Career Ladder Faster--but Are Paid Less for Doing Same Job
Passage Seven DNA Database 'Puts Innocent under Suspicion'
Passage Eight Counting the Benefits of Flexible Packages
Passage Nine Women Must Set Their Sights Higher
Passage Ten Building a Better World
文教类
Passage One ANation Ripe for a Literary Revolution
Passage Two How We Can Liberate Every Child in the World
Passage Three Schools Get a Dressing-down for Cashing in with Costly Uniforms
Passage Four We Must Value Education for Itself, Not Just to Get a Job
Passage Five Universities Target Foreign Students
Passage Six Big Increase in Funding for Schools Does Little to Improve Performance
Passage Seven Careful Parents Cost Children's Lives
Passage Eight Parents Will Move or Lie to Get a Good School
Passage Nine Boarding Helps Children Escape Pushy Families, Claims Top Head
Passage Ten "Foster Boarding" Gives Deprived Children Best Chance to Excel
经济类
Passage One Mexico and Indonesia Will Overtake British Economy
Passage Two IMF to Call Talks on Global Strains
Passage Three Beware the Financial Hurricane Season
Passage Four How Market Towns Will Be Saved by the Internet
Passage Five US Imbalances Tip towards a Soft Landing
Passage Six Goldilocks Economy Could Foil the Bears
Passage Seven Comfort at an Economy Price
Passage Eight We Should Appreciate Financial Engineering
Passage Nine Investors'Confidence Slumps as Growth Grinds to a Halt in Japan
Passage Ten Exports Pick up the Slack in me US Economy
科技类
Passage One A Real Invisibility Cloak?Wizard!
Passage Two Water Has Been Flowingon Marswithin Past Five Years，Nasa Says
Passage Three DNA Tests Find a World of Variety
Passage Four Space Probe Suggests Einstein Was Spot on，Relafively
Passage Five Breakthrough in Search for Baldness Cure
Passage Six
Passage Six How Red Wine 'Magic Ingredient' Aims to Beat Diseases of Ageing
Passage Seven Cheap Gene Scans Raise Spectre of "the Worried Well".
Passage Eight Junk Medicine: Acne Treatment
Passage Nine Stem Cell "Insurance Scheme" Exploits Families, Say Scientists
Passage Ten Obesity: The Big Fat Lie?