对于中国广大英语学习者来说，学好英语的一条重要途径便是进行大量的阅读。而阅读材料的好坏则直接影响到学习者的学习效果。为此，上海外语教育出版社从美国最大的教育出版集团之一麦格劳-希尔出版公司引进出版了这套英语新概念阅读系列。
本书系英语新概念阅读系列中的第四本，供广大学生和英语自学者提高英语阅读能力、同时学民和了解多方面学科知识使用。
本书中所有阅读文章都围绕四个基本概念展开：第一，有些事物并非如其看起来的那样；第二，人们对事物的看法因时间不同而产生变化；第三，不同群体会以不同方式看待同一想法或主意；第四，相似的事物在世界各地以不同的速度发生着变化。书中的阅读文章均采用围绕反映这些概念的大量不同学科的材料编写，涉及历史、艺术、生物学、经济学、地球科学、空间学、政治学、工程学、人类学以及地理等学科。这样编写的目的是保证学习者对不同学科的兴趣都胡得到满足。同时书中还收录了若干民间文学故事或传说。每篇阅读文章中的较难词汇及其解释以及部分专有名词按文章顺序列在本书第6-12页。每篇阅读文章后都配有精心设计的阅读理解练习，供读者检查阅读效果用。

出版说明
To the TReacher
Steps for the Reader
Vocabulary Words and Definitions
ConceptI:Different Patterns of Life Are Found in the World
Soldiers in Stirrups
A Different Kind of Beauty
The Traveling Alphabet
Hunters of the Insect World
A Spider Without a Web
Birds that See with Their Ears
One Way of Doing Business
Business Between Countries
Animals Mean Wealth
A Changing Language
Thousands of Sounds
English Can Be Strange
Artists Who Didn't Draw People
Paintngs from the Earth,
They Carved Totem Poles
Artists of the Western Desert
The Mayor Who Wore a Turban
Celebuating Sunlight
The Mummies of Osiris
A Shortcut Between Two Oceans
The Longest Wall in the World
Naming Children
They Don't Watch Clocks
Hall of Apricot Forests
Medea
Concept II:Different Communities Need and Use Different Ways to Reach the Same Goal
Math Machines
New Art
A Bottle of Peas
Who Takes Care of the Young?
Animal Games
Fly Home the Land
The Outback
Fewer Farmers but More Food
They Read Dots
They Speak with Their Hands
They Read Pictures
A Noisy Dance
Harps,Flutes,and Drums
A Different Kind of Play
……
ConceptIII:Communities Establish Patterns of Behavior