本书由10个教学单元组成，每个单元对应美国历史演进的不同阶段；编者在每个历史阶段中精心挑选出2—4个文化关键词并——给予较为详细的阐释；同时，每个文化关键词阐释后辅以3～5篇相关文章或选段；这些文章形式多样，有历史文献、名人演讲、歌曲、名家小说，以及学术论著和评论选段等；其內容覆盖领域广泛，所表达的內容和思想有相当的深度，能很好地帮助学生透过历史的表象了解各时段的文化核心，拓宽学生的文化视野，促进学生对芙国历史文化发展脉络理解的深入。此外，本书每篇文章后还设计了数个有一定难度的问题供学生在课堂上讨论；这些问题不仅可以帮助教师检验学生对文章內容的理解，而且还可锻炼学生的思辨、陈述的表达能力。
本书编写新颖，将历史与文化知识相融合并用时代关键词的形式加以梳理，读者可通过每单元前的关键词把握该单元的主题。
Unit One Colonial Period
Key Words
Text One The Mayflower Compact
Text Two Leah and Rachel, Or, the Two Fruitful Sisters: Virginia and Mary-land
Text Three What Is an American?
Text Four Poor Richard's Almanac
Unit Two Revolutionary Period
Key Words
Text One The Declaration of Independence
Text Two The Crisis
Text Three The Spirit of Liberty
Unit Three The Westward Expansion
Key Words
Text One Who Is There to Mourn for Logan?
Text Two The Significance of the Frontier on the National Character
Text Three Self-reliance
Text Four Where I Lived and What I Lived for
Text Five Woman in the Nineteenth Century
Unit Four The Civil War
Key Words
Text One The Life of Olaudah Equiano
Text Two Negro Slavery
Text Three Abraham Lincoln's First Inaugural Address
Unit Five Reconstruction and the Rise of Industrialization
Key Words
Text One The Gilded Age: A Tale of Today
Text Two The American
Unit Six World War I
Key Words
Text One The New Nationalism
Text Two Sister Carrie
Unit Seven Post-World War I and the Great Depression
Key Words
Text One The Great Gatsby
Text Two A Farewell to Arms
Text Three Brother, Can You Spare Me a Dime?
Unit Eight World War II
Key Words
Text One Quarantine Speech
Text Two The Indispensable Opposition
Unit Nine Post-World War II
Key Words
Text One Howl
Text Two Opinion in the Case of Brown vs. Board of Education of, Topeka
Text Three Where Do We Go from Here?
Text Four The Feminine Mystique
Unit Ten Contemporary
Key Words
Text One Addresses before the Congress Following the Moon Landing
Text Two September 11: Before and After
Bibliography
Appendix
新书资讯
