本书以内容为主线整个教程设计了8个主题，涉及教育、技术、家庭、伦理等学生感兴趣的内容。每个话题有几篇相关的文章，要求学生在阅读这些文章后，发表感想。技术的介绍和练习的安排都围绕这些主题和内容进行。书中还针对中国学生作文词汇贫乏，句子单调的通病，从词的选择到句子的构造进行详细的分析和比较，并列出一些相关的固定表达法，帮助学生选择更合适的词和更地道的句子结构来写作。另外，在词汇、结构和修辞等诸多层面上，技巧的介绍和练习的编写也十分注重分析各种形式的中式英语，提供具体的解决方法。该书可供各大专院校作为教材使用，也可供从事相关工作的人员作为参考用书使用。

Chapter 1 The Effect of Modern Technology
Goals
Topic
Stress and Technology
Link
The Highs of Low Technology
Overload: More Time Is Less Time
Response
About the theme
About the rhetoric
Organization
Unity
Topic Sentence (TS)
Supporting Sentence (SS)
Writing Strategy
Coherence
Transitional Words
Language Awareness
Common Errors
Formality
Tasks
Revision
Revise
Edit
Evaluation
Chapter 2 Goodness and Courtesy
Goals
Topic
Unwritten Rules
Link
The Rules of Polite Behavior
Accountability
On Behalf of Common Courtesy
可怕的秩序
欧洲评选最佳游客
Response
About the theme
About the rhetoric
Organization
Introduction
Thesis Statement
Writing Strategy
Anecdotes
Language Awareness
Word Variety
Tasks
Revision
Revise
Edit
Evaluation
Chapter 3 Freedom and Discipline
Goals
Topic
The Fifth Freedom
Link
Young Students Need Discipline Along With Kindness
Response
About the theme
Aboutthe rhetoric
Organization
Body Paragraphs
Writing Strategy
Examples
Langunge Awareness
Reduction of Verbs
Tasks
Revision
Revise
Evaluation
Chapter4 Success and Failure
Goals
Topic
Turning Failure into Success
Link
Real Failure Comes from Not Trying
What Winners Know
Response
About the theme
About the rhetoric
Organization
Conclusion
Language Awareness
Parallelism
Dashes
Tasks
Revision
Revise
Edit
Evaluation
Chapter 5 Marriage and Family
Goals
Topic
The Art of Flying Solo
Link
Divorce Declining, But So Is Marriage
Driving the Divorce Rate: Who's Teaching the Women?
“高收入职业女性独身多”原因揭秘
Response
About the theme
About the rhetoric
Organization
Cause Analysis
Patterns for Cause Analysis
Writing Strategy
Statistics
Quotations
Language Awareness
Subordination
Tasks
Revision
Revise
Edit
Evaluation
Chapter 6 Chinese Versus Americans
Goals
Topic
Learning, Chinese-Style
Link
"Bad" Student in China Now Genius in U.S.
East Meets West: Facts and Innovation of Education in China
American Values and Assumptions
Response
About the theme
About the rhetoric
Organization
Comparison and Contrast
Subject-to-Subject
Point-by-Point
Informativeness and Persuasiveness
Language Awareness
Specific Words
Forceful Verbs
Tasks
Revision
Revise
Edit
Evaluation
Chapter 7 Modern Dilemma
Goals
Topic
To Lie or Not to Lie--The Doctor's Dilemma
Link
Euthanasia: For and Against
Response
About the theme
About the rhetoric
Organization
A Pro/Con Essay
Writing Strategy
Rhetorical Questions
Language Awareness
Variety in Sentence Beginning
Impersonal Subjects
Tasks
Revision
Revise
Edit
Evaluation
Chapter 8 Career Education
Goals
Topic
Career Education vs. General Education
Link
What Is College for?
No Ivory Tower: College Students Focus on Careers
College Pressure
Response
About the theme
About the rhetoric
Organization
Argumentation
Writing Strategy
Reason and Emotion
Analogy
Language Awareness
Variety in Sentence Structure
Variety in Sentence Length
Tasks
Revision
Revise
Edit
Evaluation
Key to Practices