《21世紀大學英語讀寫教程4（全新版）/“十二五”普通高等教育本科國家級規劃教材》對主課文和輔助課文的生詞和詞組采取了不同的處理方式。主課文的生詞和詞組都列于課文后的生詞和詞組（New Words and Expressions）表中，并且根據《大學英語課程教學要求》標明級別，注解則主要采用中英對照的形式。輔助課文后的詞匯表中列出了《大學英語課程教學要求》中作為“一般要求”的生詞和詞組，其余生詞和詞組則都用中文直接在課文中標注。
Unit 1 The American Dream
Part 1 Video Starter
Part 2 Text A Harsh Reality of the American Dream
Part 3 Text B Is the American Dream Still Possible?
Part 4 Writing
Part 5 Additional Theme-Related Activities
Unit 2 Silent Struggle
Part 1 Video Starter
Part 2 Text A An Immigrant's Silent Struggle
Part 3 Text B Hispanic, USA: The Conveyor-Belt Ladies
Part 4 Writing
Part 5 Additional Theme-Related Activities
Unit 3 Arctic and Antarctic
Part 1 Video Starter
Part 2 Text A The Race to Own the Arctic
Part 3 Text B The Volcano at the End of the Earth
Part 4 Writing
Part 5 Additional Theme-Related Activities
Unit 4 True Love
Part 1 Video Starter
Part 2 Text A My Only True Love
Part 3 Text B A Painful Decision
Part 4 Writing
Part 5 Additional Theme-Related Activities
Unit 5 Different Perspectives
Part 1 Video Starter
Part 2 Text A The Heart of the Games: My Favorite Olympic Moments
Part 3 Text B Life Lessons
Part 4 Writing
Part 5 Additional Theme-Related Activities
Unit 6 Music in Space
Part 1 Video Starter
Part 2 Text A Back Down to Earth
Part 3 Text B Glass: Capturing the Dance of Light
Part 4 Writing
Part 5 Additional Theme-Related Activities
Unit 7 Coming from Within
Part 1 Video Starter
Part 2 Text A The Progress Paradox
Part 3 Text B How to Get Lucky
Part 4 Writing
Part 5 Additional Theme-Related Activities
Unit 8 Living to Learn
Part 1 Video Starter
Part 2 Text A Blueprint for a "Learning Society"
Part 3 Text B 7 New Skills Every Worker Needs
Part 4 Writing
Part 5 Additional Theme-Related Activities
Glossary
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