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—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”系列中的第一本，供广大学生和英语自学者提高英语阅读能力、同时学习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，变化是生活的一部分；第二，某些变化比其它变化发生得快。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、生物、经济学、地球科学、考古学、数学及地理等学科。这样编写的目的是保证学习者对不同学科的兴趣都能得到满足。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。
相信本系的出版不仅能提高广大读者的英语阅读能力，更能帮助大家开阔视野，扩大知识面。

出版说明
To the Teacher
Steps for the Reader
Vocabulary Words and Definitions 6-12
Concept Ⅰ:Change Is a Part of Life
The Earl Was Busy
Do You Ever Wear a Mask?
Trash or Treasures
A Sky Full of Fish
Busy as a Beaver
Old and New Ways to Add
The squirrel and the Acorn
Pet from the Stone Age
A Horse No Bigger Than a Cat
The Smallest Bird
Room to Grow
The Frog That Changes Color
Let's Trade
A Thread 100 Miles Long
A Land Almost Like Home
Walking,Talking Ads
Can You Vote?
Old Ways and New Pots
The Tree That Was Always Different
Living Up High
The Leaf That Tells a Story
The Fish on the Mountain
A River of Ice
The river That Dug a Canyon
Volcano in a Field
How Cities Began
A Bag of Bugs
Are You a Little Doll?
Please Pass the Pepper
Send a Message
When Schools Were Different
Gold from Making Pants
A Stone for a Sheep
The Year the Barn Burned Down
The Time of the Falling Leaves
Look for a Sign
A Leg Walking Right
How the Rabbit Got Its Shape
Concept Ⅱ:Some Changes Are Fast,Some Changes Are Slow
……