This textbook includes altogether 15 lessons, each with 5 passages, except for the review lessons Lesson 8 and Lesson 15, each of which has 7 passages. Developed on the basis of the first edition, this book, taking learners’ reading habits into consideration, has each of its lessons divided into four styles of reading, i.e. reading in detail, reading through, skimming through and scanning, to train the learners’ reading skills. The passages are authentic language data taken from newspapers, magazines or the Internet. The content is up-to-date and practical and the exercises are designed diversely. Having finished this book, the learners may find their ability of reading articles of various writing styles and language registers quickly improved and meanwhile have a close look at the real and vigorous modern China.

Chinese teacher in Renmin University of China