"Interactions/Mosaic prepares students for university classes by fully integrating every aspect of student life. Based on 28 years of classroom-tested best practices, the new and revised content, fresh modern look, and new online component make this the perfect series for contemporary classrooms." (Publisher's Website)

CONTENTS:

Chapter 1: LANGUAGE AND LEARNING

Reading Selections:
Why Bilinguals Are Smarter, by Yudhijit Bhgattacharjee
Speaking Up in Class, Silently, Using Social Media, by Tripp Gabriel

Reading Skills and Strategies:
Skimming for main ideas
Scanning for specific information: expressions and set phrases
Completing a summary

Critical Thinking Skills:
Comparing ideas about a reading
Debating a topic: The use of social media in schools
Synthesizing Internet content: Taking notes and presenting results
Writing Tip: Writing a summary statement

Vocabulary Building:
Getting meaning from context and word structure
Focusing on words from the Academic Word List
Understanding the use of strong verbs in context
Matching specialized terms to their definitions

Focus on Testing (TOEFL iBT): Analyzing summary statements on reading comprehension tests

Chapter 2: DANGER AND DARING

Reading Selections:
Into Thin Air, by Jon Krakauer
The World We Lost, by Farley Mowat

Reading Skills and Strategies:
Previewing a reading
Making inferences
Identifying the theme

Critical Thinking Skills:
Recapitulating the action of a narrative with a graphic organizer (storyboard)
Analyzing discussion questions
Using a graphic organizer (chain diagram) to sequence events and emotions
Summarizing group opinions
Synthesizing Internet content: Taking notes and presenting results
Writing Tip: Following a structure to write letters

Vocabulary Building:
Identifying more exact or colorful synonyms
Getting the meaning of everyday phrases from context
Recalling vocabulary of fear and anger
Focusing on words from the Academic Word List
Inventing sentences on the spot for vocabulary words

Focus on Testing (TOEFL iBT): Answering schematic-table questions

Chapter 3: GENDER AND RELATIONSHIPS

Reading Selections:
How Women Became the New Breadwinners: A Review of the Book "The Richer Sex," by Matthew DeLuca
Has Facebook Destroyed the Word "Friend"?, by Christopher Parr

Reading Skills and Strategies:
Matching a paragraph to a theme
Understanding metaphors in context
Reading a love poem for meaning
Scanning for effective nouns, adjectives, and verbs

Critical Thinking Skills:
Analyzing a book review
Comparing opinions and interpretations
Determining a point of view in an essay
Synthesizing Internet content: Taking notes and presenting results
Writing Tip: Using your point of view to structure a paragraph

Vocabulary Building:
Getting meaning from context for everyday words and phrases
Focusing on words from the Academic Word List
Identifying everyday expressions and their definitions

Focus on Testing (TOEFL iBT): Answering prose-summary questions

Chapter 4: BEAUTY AND AESTHETICS

Reading Selections:
Taj Mahal, India, by Flavio Conti (translated by Patrick Cregh)
Korea's Makeover from Dull to Hip Changes the Face of Asia, by Gordon Fairclough

Reading Skills and Strategies:
Previewing a reading for its organization
Understanding the importance of a good opening
Previewing a reading to identify the key people

Critical Thinking Skills:
Comparing opinions
Illustrating ideas
Using a graphic organizer (Venn diagram) to draw a comparison
Analyzing facts Evaluating opinions
Structuring an argument: Weakest to strongest point
Synthesizing Internet content: Taking notes and presenting results
Writing Tip: Supporting an argument

Vocabulary Building: Getting meaning from context for specialized terms related to architecture
Getting meaning from structure and context: Identifying synonyms for adjectives Understanding specialized terms relating to personal beauty
Getting meaning from cont ext by choosing synonyms or antonyms
Focusing on words from the Academic Word List

Focus on Testing (TOEFL iBT): Answering vocabulary questions in the context of a reading

Chapter 5: TRANSITIONS

Reading Selections:
Conversations in Malaysia (from Among the Believers: An Islamic Journey), by V.S. Naipaul
Grisha Has Arrived, by Tanya Filanovsky (translated by Ruth Schacter)

Reading Skills and Strategies:
Comparing genres of writing
Finding support for main ideas
Recognizing a flashback
Predicting story events

Critical Thinking Skills:
Paraphrasing
Comparing answers
Interviewing and answering interview questions
Summarizing a story
Role-playing Synthesizing Internet content: Taking notes and presenting results
Writing Tip: Using a flashback

Vocabulary Building:
Identifying differences between standard English and global English
Getting meaning from word structure and context
Recognizing regional vocabulary differences
Selecting adjectives to fit the context
Identifying regional spelling differences
Focusing on words from the Academic Word List

Focus on Testing (TOEFL iBT): Avoiding "traps" in standardized vocabulary tests

Chapter 6: THE MIND

Reading Selections: A Memory for All Seasonings, by Stephen Singular
The Tell-Tale Heart, by Edgar Allan Poe

Reading Skills and Strategies:
Previewing and predicting
Recalling information
Identifying elements in a story
Critical Thinking Skills
Improving study skills: Underlining and marginal glossing
Understanding mnemonic systems
Supporting or challenging a hypothesis
Summarizing from a different point of view
Writing Tip: Illustrating an argument with strong examples

Vocabulary Building: Identifying synonyms
Getting the meaning of words from context
Focusing on words from the Academic Word List

Focus on Testing (TOEFL iBT): Reading for speed and fluency on standardized tests: Skimming and scanning

Chapter 7: WORKING

Reading Selections:
The San Francisco Sculptor Who Created Nicolas Cage's "Dreadful Dragon," by Kristine M. Carber
A Lifetime of Learning to Manage Effectively, by Ralph Z. Sorenson

Reading Skills and Strategies:
Previewing a reading: Predicting
Scanning for specific words
Recalling information
Finding the basis for inferences
Reading for fluency and speed: Concentration

Critical Thinking Skills:
Interviewing and answering interview questions
Applying inferences to a situation
Making comparisons with a chart
Synthesizing Internet content: Taking notes and presenting results Writing Tip: Summarizing by writing a sentence to cover each of the main points

Vocabulary Building:
Forming adjectives from nouns
Understanding idiomatic phrases from the context
Focusing on words from the Academic Word List

Focus on Testing (TOEFL iBT): Understanding grammar-oriented reading questions

Chapter 8: BREAKTHROUGHS

Reading Selections:
Trees for Democracy, by Wangari Maathai
A Revolution in Medicine, by Geoffrey Cowley and Anne Underwood

Reading Skills and Strategies:
Previewing a speech
Finding evidence to disprove false arguments
Previewing: Reading diagrams
Scanning a timeline
Reading for speed and fluency: Viewing words in groups or clusters

Critical Thinking Skills:
Analyzing the author's point of view
Separating fact from opinion
Synthesizing Internet content: Taking notes and presenting results
Expressing opinions and justifying answers
Writing Tip: Clearly separating a summary from an opinion

Vocabulary Building:
Building new words with prefixes and suffixes
Building new words from the same root
Identifying compound words
Understanding idiomatic phrases in context
Focusing on words from the Academic Word List

Focus on Reading (TOEFL iBT): Speaking in front of people during an oral exam, interview, or meeting

Chapter 9: ART AND ENTERTAINMENT

Reading Selections:
What Makes van Gogh So Great, by Peter Simpson
A Scandal in Bohemia, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Reading Skills and Strategies:
Identifying false inferences
Paraphrasing what you read
Preparing for an extensive reading
Predicting the plot

Critical Thinking Skills:
Comparing answers to discussion questions
Using a chart to organize information from a reading
Finding the flaw in a statement by reviewing facts
Interpreting facts and actions in a reading
Giving a short talk on a topic
Researching a topic and reporting to the class
Writing Tip: Writing dialogue using correct punctuation

Vocabulary Building:
Getting the meaning of words and phrases from structure and context
Synonyms
Changing verbs and adjectives into nouns from the same word family
Focusing on words from the Academic Word List

Focus on Testing (TOEFL iBT): Understanding inference questions

Chapter 10: CONFLICT AND RECONCILIATION

Reading Selections:
Contrite Makes Right, by Deborah Tannen
When One Person Reaches Out with Love, by Yevgeny Yevtushenko

Reading Skills and Strategies:
Previewing a reading for its organization
Previewing a poem
Reading for fluency and speed: Not vocalizing while reading

Critical Thinking Skills:
Analyzing causes and effects
Synthesizing information and applying to real-life situations: Using a chart for comparison
Comparing opinions
Interpreting an anecdote
Synthesizing Internet content: Taking notes and presenting results Writing Tip: Writing a strong first sentence

Vocabulary Building:
Getting meaning from word structure and context
Inferring the meaning of idioms and expressions
Focusing on words from the Academic Word List Identifying synonyms

Focus on Testing (TOEFL iBT): Understanding negative questions and sentence-insertion questions