[内容提要]
     本书共分五部分26章，以英国和美国为主，兼顾加拿大、澳大利亚和新西兰等英语国家的社会和文化知识，内容包括主要英语国家的地理、历史、政治、经济、文学、科技、教育、宗教、大众传媒、社会生活和文化传统等，突出历史、政治和经济。本书内容力求客观、翔实、全面、实用，具有可教性和可比性，以利于教学组织和比较教学。
   本教材是关于主要英语国家社会和文化概况的教科书，旨在帮助英语专业学生和其他英语学习者了解、学习和掌握这些国家的社会和文化知识，提高英语水平，提升跨文化交际意识和能力。
[目录]

Volume One Britain

Chapter One British Geography

Section One General Survey

Section Two Population and Languages

Section Three Major Cities

Section Four Mountains, Lakes and Rivers

Section Five Natural Resources

Section Six Climate and Weather

Chapter Two British History

Section One Early British History

Section Two The Growth of Feudalism

Section Three The Growth of Capitalism

Section Four Britain and Two World Wars

Section Five Britain after World War Ⅱ

Chapter Three Political System

Section One The Constitutional Monarchy

Section Two Constitution

Section Three Parliament

Section Four Cabinet, Prime Minister and Administration

Section Five Political Parties and Election

Section Six The Judicial System

Section Seven Local Governments

Section Eight Mass Organization

Chapter Four National Economy

Section One General Survey

Section Two Industry

Section Three Agriculture

Section Four Foreign Trade

Section Five Work, Money and Tax

Chapter Five Science, Literature and Arts

Section One Science

Section Two Literature

Section Three Arts

Chapter Six Education

Chapter Seven Mass Media and Entertainment

Volume Two America

Chapter One American Geography

Section One Geographic Position

Section Two Mountains, Rivers and Lakes

Section Three Geographical Regions

Section Four Climate

Section Five Population

Section Six Natural Resources

Chapter Two American History

Section One Early American History

Section Two The War of Independence

Section Three The Civil War

Section Four The Rise of American Imperialism

Section Five America and World War Ⅰ

Section Six America and World War Ⅱ

Section Seven America towards the 21th Century

Section Eight America in the 21th Century

Chapter Three Political System

Section One The Constitution

Section Two The President

Section Three The Congress

Section Four Government

Section Five The Judiciary

Section Six The Two-Party System and the Election

Chapter Four National Economy

Section One General Survey

Section Two Industry

Section Three Agriculture

Section Four Transportation

Section Five Foreign Trade

Section Six Banking and Finance

Chapter Five American Education

Chapter Six Science and Culture

Section One Science

Section Two Literature

Section Three Arts

Section Four Religion

Section Five Social Life

Chapter Seven Mass Media and Entertainment

Section One Mass Media

Section Two Sports

Section Three Holidays and Festivals

Volume Three Canada

Chapter One Land and People

Section One Geographical Regions

Section Two Natural Resources

Section Three People

Chapter Two Canadian History

Chapter Three Political System

Section One The Constitution

Section Two Governmrnts

Section Three Prime Ministers

Section Four Political Parties

Section Five Foreign Relations

Section Six The Separatist Issue in Quebec

Chapter Four National Economy

Section One Economic Management and Problems

Section Two Agriculture

Section Three Manufacturing Industry

Section Four Service Industry

Section Five The Canada-US Free Trade Agreement

Chapter Five Society and Culture

Section One Society

Section Two Culture

Section Three Literature

Volume Four Australia

Chapter One Land, People and History

Section One Land

Section Two People

Section Three History

Chapter Two Political System

Section One States and Territories

Section Two Government

Section Three Foreign Relations

Chapter Three National Economy

Section One Mining and Energy

Section Two Trade

Section Three Agriculture and Fisheries

Section Four Manufacturing Industry

Section Five Service

Chapter Four Culture and Social Life

Section One Education

Section Two Culture

Section Three Health Care

Section Four Social Services

Volume Five New Zealand

Chapter One General Survey

Chapter Two Land, People andHistory

Section One Land

Section Two Plants and Animals

Section Three People

Section Four History

Chapter Three Government, Economy and Culture

Section One Government

Section Two Economy

Section Three Education and Culture

Bibliography