本書編寫的宗旨是通過閱讀和練習，繫統提升學生的詞彙和語法知識，提高閱讀能力和詞義辨析能力。全書共有八個單元，每個單元有兩課，每課由課文、練習兩大部分組成，練習分詞彙、語法、閱讀、完型填空四部分，鋻於本書主要是用於準備筆譯綜合能力（3級）的考試，為了便於學員掌握有關內容和提高應試能力，練習的類型基本和考試類型相同。
本書的八個單元，由八大主題組成，分別為：體育與娛樂、旅遊、政治、文化、教育和衛生、商務、工農業、科學。每個單元的兩篇課文都是圍繞相關主題展開，課後的閱讀、完型填空等練習都和主題相關。為了便於學員掌握相關詞彙，書中還列出了相關主題的基本詞彙表。掌握這些基本詞彙，有利於學員從事具體的翻譯活動。

Lesson One
Text A great one goes out in style, his own style
Exercises
Ⅰ.Vocabulary
Ⅱ.Grammar: Nouns
Ⅲ.Cloze Test
Ⅳ.Reading Comprehension
Passage One: You've won nothing yet: Campo laughs off England World Cup hopes
Passage Two: Excerpts from Tessa Jowell's statement to the commons on the government's backing for London's Olympic bid
Passage Three: The football code
Passage Four: Sports and children
Lesson Two
Text Been up, been down.Now? Super.
Exercises
Ⅰ.Vocabulary
Ⅱ.Grammar: Adjectives
Ⅲ.Cloze Test
Ⅳ.Reading Comprehension
Passage One: Fishing in Yellowstone
Passage Two: French cuisine
Passage Three: A short history of Hollywood
Passage Four: Harry Potter and the meaning of life
Unit 2 Tourism
Unit 3 Politics
Unit 4 Culture
Unit 5 Education and Health
Unit 6 Business
Unit 7 Industry and Agriculture
Unit 8 Science
Reference keys to the exercises