本教材选材范围广，知识性强，信息量大，趣味性浓。题材涉及幽默探源、自然灾害、品牌意识、动物奇趣、性别差异、环境问题、垃圾食品、星际迷航、绿色殉葬、恐怖主义、智商与种族、自闭症等。既有传统文学大师的华彩乐章，又有跨国公司和Bill Gates 的真知灼见；既有风俗介绍，又有励志进取的文章。该书选材注重原汁原味，并试图给四、六级应试和研究生入学考试的学生提供试前的最好阅读训练素材。全书共分15个单元，每单元由课前讨论课文、注释、课后练习和补充阅读等部分组成。
书评
大学英语选修课系列教材（非英语专业本科用）根据国家教育部最新《大学英语课程教学要求》编写。该系列教材适应我国大学英语教学改革的最新要求，应用最新的英语教学理念，吸收最新的英语教学成果，旁征博引，兼收并蓄，是一套宽口径的大学英语选修课（也可作必修课）系列教材。该套教材可供非英语专业高年级本科生或研究生，尤其是备考英语四、六级和研究生的广大学子使用，并且已经过清华大学，北京化工大学，北京工业大学、北京航空航天大学等参编院校试用，得到广大师生的致好评。
Unit 1
Text How to Measure What You Learned in College
Supplementary Reading
Passage 1 Six Ways to Be Happy with Your College Choice
Passage 2 Funding in American Higher Education
Unit 2
Text A Worldwide Gender Gap
Supplementary Reading
Passage 1 Womens Position in the 17th Century
Passage 2 Gaining Ground on the Wage Front
Unit 3
Text What Animals Really Think:Food,Warmth, Sleep?
Their Thoughts May Be Much Deeper Than That
Supplementary Reading
Passage 1 How Did Dogs Become Adept at Playing to Humans?
Passage 2 Death of a Tiger
Unit 4
Text Tide of Grief
Supplementary Reading
Passage 1 Tide of Grief(continued)
Passage 2 In the Wake of the Tsunami
Unit 5
Text Fighting “Big Fat”
Supplementary Reading
Passage 1 Its Not the Carbs, Stupid
Passage 2 A Gene That Says,“No More”
Unit 6
Text Artful Aging
Supplementary Reading
Passage 1 Four Rules for Living a Long Healthy Life
Passage 2 The Power of Positive Thinking
Unit 7
Text Merchants of Death
Supplementary Reading
Passage 1 Humans Were Born to Run, Fossil Study Suggests
Passage 2 A Job or a Cigarette?
Unit 8
Text Testing the Science of Intelligence
Supplementary Reading
Passage 1 In Defiance of Darwin
Passage 2 ColorCoordinated “Truths”
Unit 9
Text Scientists Try to Find out Whats So Funny about Humor
Supplementary Reading
Passage 1 Searching for the Divine
Passage 2 Spiders Watch Their Diets Too,Study Says
Unit 10
Text Whats in a Name?
Supplementary Reading
Passage 1 Developing a Company Image and Brand
Passage 2 Brand Management:Define Your Identity, Then Stick to It
Unit 11
Text Is a Large Asteroid Headed for Impact with the Earth in 2880?
Supplementary Reading
Passage 1 Prehistoric Asteroid“Killed Everything”
Passage 2 “DinosaurKiller”Asteroid Crater Imaged for First Time
Unit 12
Text Green Burials:Thinking Outside the Box
Supplementary Reading
Passage 1 Home Funerals: An Old Tradition Returns
Passage 2 Waste Leads to Worry in Indonesia
Unit 13
Text When Does Autism Start?
Supplementary Reading
Passage 1 When Does Autism Start?(continued)
passage 2 Lost and Found: One Womans Remarkable Transformation
Unit 14
Text Border Net Has Become a Noose
Supplementary Reading
Passage 1 Back to Our Regularly Scheduled Programming
Passage 2 Turning a Corner
Unit 15
Text Is It Apocalypse Now?
Supplementary Reading
Passage 1 Is It Apocalypse Now?(continued)
Passage 2 The End Is Not at Hand
