（一）本书按主题划分为20个单元，每个单元涉及一个主题。相应地，每单元的“课文”和“练习”都围绕同一个主题选编。这种编排不仅使考生系统地积累了知识，了解了西方人在这些知识领域里的基本思想和观点，而且也使考生积累了相关的词汇。
（二）每单元依次包括“主课文”和“练习”。练习依次包括完形填空、阅读理解（包括Part A和Part B两部分）、翻译和写作部分（包括各类应用文写作和议论文写作），基本上自成一套考题。其中，阅读理解Part B部分包括了大纲要求的四种题型。全书分“中级篇”和“高级篇”，在照顾到主题的同时，使20个单元在难度的安排上做到循序渐进。
（三）本书强调在备考过程中精读的作用和系统的知识积累。在编排上，主课文稍长于考研真题中的文章，以便涵盖足够的语言知识，拓展考生知识面。主课文配有阅读理解练习和参考译文，目的是为了让考生检验自己的理解，准确掌握课文内容。在理解的基础上，考生应记忆并积累一些有用的词汇和语言知识。在阅读主课文的译文之前，建议考生自己先动手翻译一下课文，然后再对照译文检查，在实践中切实提高自己读和译的能力，尤其是理解疑难长句的能力。
（四）“完形填空”材料新颖，难度设计合理。“阅读理解Part A”中的两篇文章在长度上与考研真题“阅读理解Part A”基本相当，文章配有理解练习和翻译练习，还对文章中出现的疑难长句进行了翻译和注解，以帮助考生真正读懂每篇文章的每个句子。阅读理解部分的提问包括考研常考的题型，也包括一小部分考研迄今尚未考到的题型，以便使考生对这些题型有一定的心理准备。“阅读理解Part B”部分包括了大纲列出的四种备选题型，除了题解外，也对其中的疑难长句进行了翻译和注解。“翻译”部分对句子从语言结构和知识上进行了详细分析，对翻译技巧进行了说明。
（五）“写作”分作两部分，第一部分是应用文的写作，第二部分是议论文写作，两部分都涵盖了多种体裁和题材的写作题型。第二部分的议论文在形式上侧重图画和图表作文。就图画和图表作文而言，作文的审题非常重要，不少考生在审题时失之片面甚至跑题。因此，我们每篇作文都添加了审题指导，训练学生的审题思路。同时，为了帮助考生有所积累，每篇作文为学生提供了与写作主题类似的文章常用的一些词语和句子，以便考生从中择取一些记忆。
（六）以上所有练习均配有答案和题解。“课文”的注释、译文和练习的题解附在主课文后；“练习”各部分的答案和题解附在每单元之后，作文提供了参考范文。希望考生认真研读题解，从中学习解题的思路，总结一些解题技巧。
（七）“附录”是总词汇表，列出了本书所有文章的生词。选录单词、词组、词义时参考了大纲，但并未拘泥于大纲。词汇给出音标，这是因为我们认为从声音入手记忆词汇可以记得更牢固。对词汇分三类进行了标识：1）重点词汇和词组，考生必须重点记忆；2）可选择记忆的词汇和词组，在记忆重点词汇和词组的基础上记忆；3）出现于本书，但没必要记忆的词汇和词组。归类的依据当然是其是否常用。

郭庆民，中国人民大学外国语学院教授，长期从事考研英语研究和辅导工作，对考研英语阅读理解部分有深入研究，因出题难度与角度接近真题而深受考生欢迎。

第一部分人文与社会
U1History and Culture历史与文化
TextThe Joy of NoGift Christmas
Reading Comprehension
Notes
课文参考译文（包括“答案与题解”)
练习
Ⅰ. Cloze
Ⅱ. Reading Passages
Part A阅读理解
Part B选择搭配
Ⅲ. Translatio
Ⅳ. Writing（包括“审题指导”)
Part A应用文
Part B英语写作
练习答案与题解
U2Language and Communication语言与交流
TextWhat Does Bilingualism Means to Us?
Reading Comprehension
Notes
课文参考译文（包括“答案与题解”)
练习
Ⅰ. Cloze
Ⅱ. Reading Passages
Part A阅读理解
Part B段落排序
Ⅲ. Translation
Ⅳ. Writing （包括“审题指导”)
Part A应用文
Part B英语写作
练习答案与题解
U3Population and Ethnic Problems人口与民族问题
TextRestricting the Immigration of Highly Skilled Workers Will Hurt America Ability to Innovate
Reading Comprehension
Notes
课文参考译文（包括“答案与题解”)
练习
Ⅰ. Cloze
Ⅱ. Reading Passages
Part A阅读理解
Part B选择搭配
Ⅲ. Translation
Ⅳ. Writing（包括“审题指导”)
Part A应用文
Part B英语写作
练习答案与题解
U4Ethics and Morality伦理与道德
TextThe Ethical Challenges of Connecting Our Brains to Computers
Reading Comprehension
Notes
课文参考译文（包括“答案与题解”)
练习
Ⅰ. Cloze
Ⅱ. Reading Passages
Part A阅读理解
Part B选择搭配
Ⅲ. Translation
..................

★ Passage Two
Analysts predict that by 2020，onefifth of the multitrilliondollar USretail market will have shifted to the web and that Amazon alone will reap twothirds of that bounty（1） Thanks to automation and a killer business model，Amazon is so efficient that it reaps nearly twice the revenue per employee of Walmart，despite the fact that Walmart，too，has a substantial online presence Worldwide，Amazon has installed over 100，000 robots to labor in “perfect symbiosis” with humans in its warehouses and has plans to install many thousands moreWhile its not clear what constitutes perfect symbiosis，the robots are said to save the company $22 million annually，per warehouse
While Amazon continues to open warehouses around the globe and staff them with many thousands of human beings，estimates are that every human on the Amazon payroll—whether full or parttime—displaces two humans at traditional brickandmortar operationsAs Tim Lindner，a veteran IT analyst，confided in a note to industry insiders，eradicating jobs is the explicit goal of any online retailer
And robots can be very precise，especially when it comes to routine tasksSawyer，an industrial robot created by the former Bostonbased Rethink Robotics，offers an impressive illustration of how allembracing a robot arm can beSawyer is the brainchild of Rodney Brooks，the inventor of both Roomba，the robotic vacuum，and PackBot，the robot used to clear bunkers at the World Trade Center after 9/11Unlike Roomba and PackBot，Sawyer looks almost human—it has an animated flatscreen face and wheels where its legs should be（2） Simply grabbing and adjusting its monkeylike arm and guiding it through a series of motions “teaches” Sawyer whatever repeatable procedure one needs it to get done （3） The robot can sense and manipulate objects almost as quickly and as fluidly as a human and demands very little in return： While traditional industrial robots require costly engineers and programmers to write and debug their code，a high school dropout can learn to program Sawyer in less than five minutes All told，Sawyer would work for a “wage” equivalent of less than $4 an hour
Robots loom large in discussions of work and its future，a conversation that can get mired in false assumptionsUntil recently，many economists were pessimistic that automation could permanently displace human workers on a large scalePeople have always shifted away from work better done by machines，but the economic principle of “comparative advantage” predicts that humans will maintain an edge in many fields
1 In Amazons warehouse，thousands of robots .
［A］ have already replaced human employees
［B］ work well in coordination with humans

［C］ accomplish more tasks than human workers
［D］ save Amazon 22 million dollars every year
2 What Tim Lindner means is that .
［A］ robots make humans more productive
［B］ he has confidence in the retail market
［C］ online retailing reduces job opportunities
［D］ online retailing threatens traditional shops
3 Robot Sawyer advantage over traditional robots is that .
［A］ it will never replace human employees
［B］ it can discern objects and manipulate them
［C］ it can accomplish more difficult tasks
［D］ its operation is more costefficient
4The author concludes the text by asserting .
［A］ many economists belief about robots is mistaken
［B］ robots have countless advantages over human work
［C］ humans have to sharpen their skills to beat robots
［D］ discussing robots replacing humans is a worthy topic
5The text mainly discusses .
［A］ Amazons competitive advantage over Walmart
［B］ the problems faced by online retailing businesses
［C］ the possibility of humans being replaced by robots
［D］ the comparative advantage of humans over robots