《英美散文选读》第一册中的选篇涵盖了教育、美国社会与历史、环保与可持续发展、阅读与写作、人生百态等题目，比较偏重对语言基础的培养和基本阅读、写作技能的训练。每篇课文后“Understanding the writer's techniques”部分就有意识地使学生把注意力从对简单的背单词和句子分析理解转移到作者的谋篇布局和写作手法等更高的技术层面上来。由于这种类型的问题主观性较强，读者见仁见智，难以有统一答案，所以留给任课教师更大的自由去判断，也留给学生自主探索的余地。
Unit One Education and Discipline
Unit Two The Marks of an Educated Man
Unit Three In Defense of Elitism
Unit Four Grant and Lee: A Study in Contrasts
Unit Five Some American Types
Unit Six Boredom:The Most Prevalent American Disease
Unit Seven Simplicity
Unit Eight The Future of Reading
Unit Nine Utopian Techniques
Unit Ten My Wood
Unit Eleven Selected Snobberies
Unit Twelve What to Li'n for in Music
Unit Thirteen The Epoch of the Secular City
Unit Fourteen How Much Is "Enough"?
Unit Fifteen Beauty
Unit Sixteen On Genius and Originality