《現代英語教程（第2版）》是一套專為中國成人高等教育學生編寫的教材。依據《全國成人高等教育英語課程教學基本要求（非英語專業專科用）》和《大學英語課程教學要求》，在大量調查研究和教學實踐的基礎上編寫而成。以博采眾長、兼收並蓄的“綜合法” （Method Synergistics）為理論指導，側重傳統方法。突出“成人、業餘、實用”的特點。
注意語言文化內涵，培養學生語言“得體性”意識。強調語言實踐，突出重點，重視學生的基本功訓練。

宮東風，1965年出生，1989年畢業於河北師範大學，獲學士學位，1990-1992年於北京外國語大學在職研究生班進修英語，主修翻譯和英語語法。現任河北農業大學英語繫二級講師。

Unit 1 The sea
Background Knowledge（背景知識）
Detailed Notes to the Text（課文詳解）
Supplementary Grammar（語法補充材料）
Key to Exercises（參考答案）
Chinese Translation（課文參考譯文）

Unit 2 A Letter to a Teacher
Background Knowledge（背景知識）
Detailed Notes to the Text（課文詳解）
Keyto Exercises（參考答案）
Chinese Translation（課文參考譯文）

Unit 3 Kites
Background Knowledge（背景知識）
Detailed Notes to the Text （課文詳解）
Supplementary Grammar《語法補充材料）
Key to Exercises（參考答案）
Chinese Translation（課文參考譯文）

Unit 4 Late One Evening
Background Knowledge（背景知識）
Detailed Notes to the Text（課文詳解）
Supplementary Grammar（語法補充材料）
Key to Exercises（參考答案）
Chinese Translation（課文參考譯文）

Unit 5 Fire！ Fire！
Background Knowledge（背景知識）
Detailed Notes to the Te）（t（課文詳解）
Key to Exercises（參考答案）
Chinese Translation（課文參考譯文）

Unit 6 Memory
Background Knowledge（背景知識）
Detailed Notes to the Text（課文詳解）
Key to Exercises（參考答案）
Chinese Translation（課文參考譯文）

Unit 7 Oil
Background Knowledge（背景知識）
Detailed Notes to the Texl（課文詳解）
Key to Exercises（參考答案）

Unit 8 Crazy About Animals
Background Knowledge（背景知識）
Detailed Notes to the Texl（課文詳解）
Key to Exercises（參考答案）
Chinese Translation（課文參考譯文）

Unit 9 How to Make Money-And How Not To?
Background Knowledge（背景知識）
Detailed Notes to the TeXt（課文詳解）
Key to Exercises（參考答案）
Chinese Translation（課文參考譯文）

Unit 10 Time to Leave the Nest Yet?
Background Knowledge（背景知識）
Detailed Notes to the Text（課文詳解）
Key to Exercises（參考答案）
Chinese Translation（課文參考譯文）
English Proficiency Tests
Key to English Proficiency Tests

The characteristics of the moon that make it bad for human survival may make it ideal for certain kinds of manufacturing．Operations requiring a vacuum，extreme cold，or sterility are examples．Precision ball bearings，industrial diamonds or pharmaceuticals might be produced onthemoon．
6．The area ofthe moon is———————．
A．about the same as that ofNorth and South America
B．1arger than that ofNorth and South America
C．equal to that ofNorth and South America
D．far smaller than that ofNorth and South America
7．The temperature on the moon can be as high as————————．
A．-150℃ B．+270℃ C．+120℃ D．-30℃
8．According to this passage，the colonization ofthe moon—————．
A．will soon be realized
B．can be done under the lunar surface
C．is being speculated by many scientists
D．sounds entirely impossible
9．To stay alive on the moon，the early settlers must first of all be able to—————．
A．develop commerce
B．get enough food，oxygen and water
C．make discoveries important to science
D．explore the possibilities of industrial development
10．Though the environment on the moon is bad for human survival，it is very good for—————．
A．making such things as industrial diamonds
B．all kinds ofmanufactured goods
C．medical operations
D．commercial development
Passage 3
Questions 11 to 15 are based on the following passage：In Switzerland，six miles west of Geneva，lies a collection of laboratories and buildings，and，most curious of all，a circular mound of earth more than 650 feet in diameter．This clusterhas unique importance．It is Europe’S one and only atomic city dedicated to investigation ofthe atom for peaceful purposes．The strange buildings belong to the European Council for Nuclear Research，morepopularly known，from its French initials，as CERN．The council was born when a handful ofstatesmen and scientific experts met in Paris in 1 950．Their aim was“to establish an organizationproviding for collaboration among European states in nuclear research of a pure scientific andfundamental character．”The CERN agreement was signed in 1 953，and work on the atomic city began in 1 954．Today CERN’S facilities are among the most modem and the most diversified in the world．Impressive as the scientific aspect may be，the real significance of CERN may lie with thethousand people——the scientists，lab workers，and administrative crew drawn from the fourteenmember nations——who populate it．British engineers work side by side with Swiss electricians，Yugoslav nuclear physicists，and Dutch mathematicians．The official languages are French andEnglish，with German an unofficial third．But CERN is no tower of Babel——the language ofscience is universal and all-embracing．
11．The European Council for Nuclear Research was evolved by————．
A．the Officers of the United Nations
B．a group ofEuropean scientists
C．the statesmen and scientists of Switzerland
D．a handful of statesmen and scientific experts
12．CERN was established with the aim ofpromoting————．
A．nuclear research of a fundamental character
B．collaboration among the world’S nuclear scientists
C．pure study in all fields of science
D．bothA andB
13．fERN’S facilities for research are————．
A．limitedbut effecfive
B．among the best in the world
C．rapidly expanding
D．both A and C
14．The selection says that CERN is not a tower ofBabel because————．
A．work iS the common denominator of all the staff
B．the language of science is universal
C．CERN has adopted only two official languages
D．all the workers are drawn from one country
15．The real significance ofCERN may lie in its staffbecause they————．
A．work in international harmony
B．come from all over the world
C．are investigating all phases ofhuman conduct
D．are eliminating the problems of individual nationalism
Passage 4
Questions 16 to 20 are based on the following passage： Adam Smith，writing in the 1770s，was the first person to see the importance of the division of labour and to explain part of its advantages．He gives as an example of the process by which pins were made in England．
“One man draws out the wire，another strengthens it，a third cuts it，a fourth points it，afifth grinds it at the top to prepare it to receive the head．To make the head requires two orthree distinct operations．To put it on is a separate operation；to polish the pins is another．It is even a仃ade by itself to put them into the paper．And the important business of making pins is．in this manner，divided into about eighteen distinct operations，which in some factories are allperformed by different people，though in others the same man will sometimes perform two orthree ofthem．” Ten men，Smith said，in this way，turned out twelve pounds of pins a day or about 4．800pins apiece．But if all of them had worked separately and independently without division oflabour，they certainly could not，each of them，have made twenty pins in a day and perhaps noteven one． There can be no doubt that division of labour，provided that it is not taken too far，is anefficient way of organising work．Fewer people can make more pins．Adam Smith saw this buthe also took it for granted that division of labour is in itself responsible for economic growthand development and that it accounts for the difference between expanding economies andthose that stand still．But division of labour adds nothing new；it only enables people toproduce more of what they already have．

《現代英語教程》是一套專門為中國成人高等教育學生編寫的英語教材。教材的編寫遵照“綜合法”（Method Synergistics）的教學理論，采用博采眾長，兼收並蓄的原則，強調基本功的訓練，要求學生精練、勤練、苦練，順利通過英語學習的入門關，幫助非英語專業成人本科學生通過申請學士學位所必需的英語統一考試。
《現代英語教程》是在國家教育部、北京市教育委員會有關領導的支持和推動下，以及兄弟院校同仁們的鼓勵下問世的。1999年起在北京市成人高校試用，2000年國家教育部在全國推廣使用。學校使用後反應教學效果顯著，學生實際應用英語的能力得到普遍提高，因而受到廣大師生們的好評。《現代英語教程》先後被評為教育部“全國成人高等教育規劃教材”（2001年），“普通高等教育‘十五’國家級規劃教材”（2003年），“普通高等教育‘十一五’國家級規劃教材”（2006年）。
“成人，業餘，終身化”是本套教材的最大特點。因而，貫穿始終的編寫原則是要培養學生的自學能力，幫助學生掌握學好英語的方法。學生不僅要正確理解，還要善於應用；不僅要會聽說，還要會讀寫。
為適應我國成人高等教育發展的需要，在獲得了各方面好評和認可的情況下，根據收集到的反饋意見和有關專家的建議及教學目標要求，我們對該套教材進行了進一步修訂。在保持教材原有優點的同時，新版大幅度地豐富了內容，增加了信息量和練習；語法項目安排更加完整、繫統都增加了聽力練習。部分課文內容進行了更新，特別是第三至六級，跨度更趨循序漸進。教師用書增加了背景知識及課文詳解，這樣會更利於學生能力的訓練，也更便於教師們使用。原教材主體為一、二、三級。為使教材更加科學、合理，同時也根據社會需求，這次，我們將《現代英語教程》（第二版）修訂改編成六級，其中一至三級供專科學生使用，四至六級供專升本學生使用。《現代英語教程》（第二版）配有多媒體光盤，從而構成了一套名副其實的含紙介教材，錄音帶和光盤的全新立體化教材。