Comes with MyEnglishLab online component.

"Level 2 of Academic Connections has a systematic step-by-step approach that helps students develop their academic and test-taking skills.

Academic Connections includes a range of authentic tasks including: - listening to lectures
- note-taking
- participating in debates
- preparing oral and written reports
- writing essays" (Publisher's Website)

CONTENTS:

1. Biology: Experiments and the common cold - Main ideas and Supporting details
- Reading: Finding main ideas, skimming; Finding specific information: scanning
- Listening: Getting the gist: understanding a speaker's main ideas; Listening for supporting details
- Writing: Writing a paragraph; Recognizing a part of a paragraph
- Integrated Writing: Writing a paragraph about a biological experiment

2. Marketing: New Ways to Spread the Message - Organizational Structure
- Reading: Recognizing organisation of written texts; Recognizing purpose of texts; Understanding relationships within a reading text
- Listening: Recognizing relationships among parts of a lecture; Organisational structure and note-taking
- Speaking: Expressing relationships between ideas
- Integrated Speaking: Designing and presenting a stealth or viral marketing campaign

3. Astronomy: Collisions from Space - Coherence and Cohesion
- Reading: Recognizing reference in cohesion
- Listening: Recognizing logical connectives in lectures; Listing ideas
- Writing: Writing cohesive texts
- Integrated Writing: Writing a paragraph about the usefulness of research into Near-Earth Objects (NEOs)

4. Acting: Imagination
- Summarizing
- Reading: Recognizing summary statements and conclusions
- Listening: Recognizing digressions and asides; Distinguishing major from minor points
- Speaking: Preparing spoken summaries
- Integrated Speaking: Summarizing how an actor might use imagination when preparing for a role

5. Psychology: Emotions - Synthesizing Information
- Reading: Recognizing abstract ideas and concrete examples
- Listening: Recognizing relationships between ideas from two spoken sources
- Writing: Writing summary statements in paragraphs; Synthesizing information in writing
- Integrated Writing: Writing a paragraph about where emotional responses come from

6. Sociology: The Effects of Prosperity - Fact and Opinion
- Reading: Distinguishing between facts and opinions
- Listening: Identifying and evaluating information presented to support a position; Recognizing a speaker's degree of certainty
- Speaking: Discussing opinions and supporting ideas; Supporting opinions
- Integrated Writing: Discussing an issue of prosperity versus happiness

7. Literature: Chinua Achebe - Purpose
- Reading: Recognizing multiple purposes in texts
- Listening: Recognizing a speaker's attitude
- Writing: Writing introductions and conclusions in essays; Considering your audience
- Integrated Writing: Writing an academic essay about Marriage Is a Private Affair

8. Earth Science: The Water Cycle - Inference
- Reading: Inferring meaning from context
- Listening: Inferring the speaker's purpose
- Speaking: Using intonation to convey meaning; Persuading your audience;
- Integrated Writing: Giving a persuasive talk about human intervention in the water cycle

Level: Intermediate