Each thematic unit contains a full textbook chapter along with 6-8 pieces centered on a unifying topic. Each piece relates to the text chapter and builds on previous readings to expand students' understanding of the theme and their relation to it.

Encourages students to view reading and learning as an on-going process rather than a one-time activity.

Each chapter contains instruction, examples, and at least four practice readings with authentic tasks.

Outlines a new reading and study cycle -- Plan»Do»Review -- that asks students to:

• Develop a plan.
• Actively implement their plan.
• Review what they've done.
• Develop a new plan and continue the cycle.

Emphasizes such tasks as identifying the author's purpose, understanding vocabulary in context, differentiating among different levels of information, and making valid inferences.

Features four thematic units that (in both content and tasks) contain typical college expository prose.

• Themes include: Staying Healthy in America; Confronting Violence in Society; Doing Philosophy in Everyday Life; Working in a Global Economy.
• Includes a variety of accompanying questions: some require recall of specific information, others are more process-oriented.

Provides abundant practice material: a minimum of four exercises at the end of each strategy/skill chapter and a variety of practice exercises within each chapter.

Features a chapter on Integrating Text and Graphic Information that encourages students not only to understand the information in the graphic, but also to integrate it into the information they have gathered from the words.