Dear Colleagues:

Thank you for your interest in Opening Doors: Understanding College Reading. We are proud to have written it, and we are eager to tell you about the new 4th edition.

The 4th edition is again organized to present, develop, and refine essential comprehension and critical reading and thinking skills. As with previous editions, Part I (Chapters 1-3) focuses on making a successful start in college and developing a college-level vocabulary. Part II (Chapters 4-9) is the comprehension core of the text that presents basic comprehension skills, critical reading, and thinking skills, that students are then asked to practice and use cumulatively throughout the text. Part III (Chapters 10-11) presents study skills and test review skills.

We feel it is important for our students to have a book that looks as serious and professional as the texts in their other courses – and one that contains selections that demand the same skills required by other college texts. To that end, all of the selections come from widely-used, current college textbooks and other materials of the type students are likely to encounter in college. This helps underprepared students understand the real demands of college reading while they are developing the skills to handle that reading. Further, practicing with the "real thing" helps assure transferability to other college courses.

Eight reading selections are new to this edition. Among them are two chapter-length selections: “The Age of Globalization” (History) from Alan Brinkley’s popular text, and “Cultural Diversity: Family Strengths and Challenges” (Marriage and Family) by David Olsen and John DeFrain. Also included are “Think Before You Speak: Public Speaking in a Multicultural World” (Speech), from the most widely-used public speaking text, written by Stephen E. Lucas, “Diabetes: A New Epidemic” (Health) by Paul Insel and Walton Roth, and – appropriately as we head into the 2004 presidential elections –“African Americans: The Struggle for Equality” (American Government) by Thomas E. Patterson.

Finally, Opening Doors offers an array of support materials in print and electronically. In addition to an Annotated Instructor's Edition, we provide an Instructor’s Resource CD-ROM and Online Learning Center website. The website features an Instructor's Manual and Test Bank that includes supplemental materials, answer keys, teaching strategies, pages that can be printed and used to make transparencies, as well as supplementary reading selections (with apparatus) retired from previous editions.

Our students find the Opening Doors CD-ROM to be a worthwhile and stimulating addition, so we will be including it free with the text. Like the book's website, the CD offers a variety of support and practice materials that help students master the skills and concepts presented in the text. These include video and audio of key definitions and comprehension monitoring questions, flashcards of important reading terms, chapter tests, self-grading quizzes for nine reading selections that offer feedback for both correct and incorrect responses, journal writing prompts, related web sites, and much more.

We send you our best wishes for every success, and we sincerely welcome your suggestions for ways that Opening Doors might serve you even better. If you would like to request a copy of the new edition for examination, please call 1-800-338-3987 or send an email to english@mcgraw-hill.com.

Warmest regards,

Joe Cortina and Janet Elder