Table of Contents

*--indicates material new to this edition

Improving Your Vocabulary
Four Techniques for Acquiring Words
Using Context Clues
* Using Print and Online Dictionaries
* Practice Selection: Dave Barry Tips for Women: How to Have a Relationship with a Guy
Critical Reading Worksheet
The Main idea, Supporting Ideas, and Writer's Purpose

Part 1. Getting Started: Practicing the Basics
* Josh Sens, The Truth Is Out There Somewhere
* Pamlea Grim, Care in Midair
* Lori Hope, Did I Save Lives or Engage in Racial Profiling?
Luis J. Rodriguez, La Vida Loca ("The Crazy Life"): Two Generations of Gang Members
Rose Del Castillo Guibault, The Conveyor-Belt Ladies
Eddy L. Harris, Mississippi Solo
*Andres Dubus, Digging
Annotating, Paraphrasing, and Summarizing

Part 2. Refining the Basics
Sheldon Campbell, Games Elephants Play
Charles Finney, The Life and Death of a Western Gladiator
Geoffrey Cowley, The Language Explosion
Richard Wolkomir, Making Up for Lost Time: The Rewards of Reading at Last
* Paco Underhill, Shop Like a Man
* Martha Fay, Sedated by Stuff
* Lawrence Shames, The Hunger for More
Making Inferences

Part 3. Tackling More Challenging Prose
* Eric Schlosser, Fast Food Nation: Behind the Counter
* Val Plumwood, Being Prey: Surviving A Crocodile Attack
Elliot West, Wagon Train Children
Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom
* Anwar Accawi, The Telephone
Ellen Alderman and Caroline Kennedy, New Jersey v. T.L.O.: The School Search Cases
David Ferrell, Badwater: The Ultra Marathon
Persuasive Writing and Evaluating Evidence

Part 4. Reading About Issues
* Bill McKibben, The Environmental Issue from Hell
* Jay Weiner, Sports Centered
* Maggie Gallagher, Fatherless Boys Grow Up into Dangerous Men
* Alex Raksin and Bob Sipchen, Lost, Then Found: Helping People Off the Streets
* Nicholas Thompson, Hero Inflation
* Rick Weiss, A Uniquely Human Debate
Patterns of Development and Transitions

Part5. Mastering Difficult Prose
* Scott Anderson, In Country
* Jon Katz, What Hath Goth Wrought?
Arthur Zich, Japanese Americans: Home at Last
Jared Diamond, Easter's End
* Barbara Ehrenreich, Nickel-and-Dimed: On (Not) Getting by in America

Reading Comprehension Progress Chart
Index of Vocabulary Preview Words