《新编实用英语综合教程（4）》为《综合教程》第四册，共10个单元，每个单元都由“说”、“听”、“读”和“写”4部分组成，另有一个“趣味阅读”部分。《新编实用英语》系列教材是由教育部高职高专教育英语课程教学指导委员会根据《高职高专教育英语课程教学基本要求（试行）》组织编写的。本套教材认真贯彻了“学一点、会一点、用一点”，“听、说、读、写、译并重”和“边学边用、学用结合”的原则。注重听说技能训练，注重对实用文体阅读能力的培养，在培养应用语言基本功的能力的同时注意培养实际涉外交际能力。
    本套教材还注重“教、学、考”相互照应。学完第二册可参加“高等学校英语应用能力考试”的B级考试，学完第四册可参加A级考试。
《新编实用英语综合教程（4）》四色印刷，版式精美，并配有录音带。

    根据《普通高等专科英语课程教学基本要求》编写的《实用英语》（1995年出版）为高等专科英语教学改革起到了导向与规范作用，取得了开拓性的成果。该教材既重视语言基本技能的训练，又在很大程度上体现了培养实际应用英语能力的目的。1999年，根据国家对高等专科教育、高等职业教育和成人高等教育实行“三教统筹”的精神，编写组对《实用英语》进行了局部的修订，使之更加符合“三教”的要求。加入WTO之后，中国与世界经济进一步接轨，国家对高职高专的英语教学提出了更加重视实用能力培养的要求。因此，高职高专教育英语课程教学指导委员会（以下简称“课委会”）决定重编《实用英语》，以适应新形势对高职高专英语教学改革的紧迫需要。
   《新编实用英语》（New Practical English）是由课委会组织全国各地有丰富教学经验的教师编写的。本教材既坚持了《高职高专教育英语课程教学基本要求（试行）》（以下简称《基本要求》的正确方向，保持和突出了《实用英语》的优点，又反映了全面更新教学内容的实际。所谓全面更新是指在坚持《基本要求》为高职高专培养实用性人才和坚持“以应用为目的，实用为主，够用为度”的大方向的前提下，进一步更新观念、更新内容、更新体系、更新要求。这主要体现在如下几个方面：
1.严格按照《基本要求》编写。《基本要求》中的《交际范围表》所规定的交际主题是我们选材的依据和出发点，而且读、译、听、说、写各项技能的培养与训练都围绕同一交际话题展开。
2.进一步克服忽视听说技能训练的弱点，加大听说技能、特别是实用交际能力的训练，把培养一定的实用口语交际能力作为本教程的重要任务。
3.加强对应用文等实用文体阅读能力的培养，满足在一线工作的业务人员实际的涉外交际需要。
4.将英语应用能力的训练具体体现于实用英语能力的培养之中。应用能力既指应用语言基本功的能力，更指把这些基本功运用到实际涉外交际中的能力。后者也可称作“实用能力”。“应用能力”是“实用能力”的基础，“实用能力”则是“应用能力”的具体体现。
5.认真贯彻“学一点、会一点、用一点”，“听、说、读、写、译并重”和“边学边用、学用结合”的原则。
6.“教、学、考”相互照应。《高等学校英语应用能力考试大纲和样题》所规定的项目和要求都在教材中得到反映和训练。学完《新编实用英语》第二册可以参加“高等学校英语应用能力考试”的B级考试，学完第四册可参加A级考试。

1 ENGLISH STUDIES AND TESTS
Section I Talking Face to Face
Section II Being All Ears
Section III Maintaining a Sharp Eye
Passage I Same Language， Different Meanings
Passage II Guess Whos Not Coming to Dinner?
Section IV Trying Your Hand
Section V Having Some Fun


2 ART OF NEGOTIATIONS
Section I Talking Face to Face
Section II Being All Ears
Section III Maintaining a Sharp Eye
Passage I Art of Negotiation
Passage II Watch That First Step
Section IV Trying Your Hand
Section V Having Some Fun


3 DNA AND CLONING
Section I Talking Face to Face
Section II Being All Ears
Section III Maintaining a Sharp Eye
Passage I To Clone or Not to Clone
Passage II Should We Fear Dolly?
Section IV Trying Your Hand
Section V Having Some Fun


4 THE IT AGE
Section I Talking Face to Face
Section II Being All Ears
Section III Maintaining a Sharp Eye
Passage I Reach Out and TOUCH Someone Online
Passage II The Meaning of Life?
Section IV Trying Your Hand
Section V Having Some Fun


5 INTERNET AND LIFE
Section I Talking Face to Face
Section II Being All Ears
Section III Maintaining a Sharp Eye
Passage I The Internet Made Me
Passage II Buzzword： Globalization
Section IV Trying Your Hand
Section V Having Some Fun


6 STUDYING OVERSEAS
Section I Talking Face to Face
Section II Being All Ears
Section III Maintaining a Sharp Eye
Passage I Return to Home Country： A Thirty Year Perspective from Nigeria
Passage II Returned Scholar-Run Businesses Promote Hi Tech
Section IV Trying Your Hand
Section V Having Some Fun


7 ART IN ENGINEERING
Section I Talking Face to Face
Section II Being All Ears
Section III Maintaining a Sharp Eye
Passage I What Rhymes with Engineers?
Passage II Right or Wrong?
Section IV Trying Your Hand
Section V Having Some Fun


8 ENVIRONMENT
Section I Talking Face to Face
Section II Being All Ears
Section III Maintaining a Sharp Eye
Passage I Shrinking Water Supply Poses Threat to Peace
Passage II Save the Plankton
Section IV Trying Your Hand
Section V Having Some Fun


9 CULTURAL DIFFERENCES AND BUSINESS MANAGEMENT
Section I Talking Face to Face
Section II Being All Ears
Section III Maintaining a Sharp Eye
Passage I Cultural Differences and Doing Business in Europe and Japan
Passage II Dont Cry for New Economy
Section IV Trying Your Hand
Section V Having Some Fun


10 COPYRIGHT & FAKE COMMODITY ISSUES
Section I Talking Face to Face
Section II Being All Ears
Section III Maintaining a Sharp Eye
Passage I Is Piracy as Bad as It Sounds?
Passage II Senator "Fritz" Wants Your Bits
Section IV Trying Your Hand
Section V Having Some Fun
NEW WORDS AND EXPRESSIONS
VOCABULARY
PHRASES

Robert Delamar
Like Malachi， I am struggling to understand what the new world of interconnected bits and bytes means. Id have to agree with him that if anything， its rather odd.
I had firsthand experience of the weirder side of the Internet a few weeks ago.
Into my email inbox arrived a letter：
Dear Robert，
Greetings from the Philippines！ Hi You mite be surprised where did I get your email address， anyway， I have nothing to do here in the office and suddenly it impressed into my mind to type my name in Yahoo search engine. I was surprised to know that I have a same name in the Internet， btw， Im Robert Delamar， 29， Bacolod City， Philippines， working as a Computer instructor in St. Johns Institute. Robert， I tried visiting your website， what is it all about？ （just asking） Till here ... God bless！ Robert Delamar
I couldnt resist， so I sent a reply. It turns out that my alter ego， Robert C. Delamar， is a pretty nice guy. He was as baffled as I was that another person shared his name. A Caucasian fellow living on the other side of the world in Canada.
When I was a kid I wondered what it would be like to be born in a different culture， to be of a different ethnicity. Thanks to the Internet， weeks shy of my twenty-fifth birthday， I found the answer.
Robert Delamar also exists in the Philippines. Asian， not bad looking. Curious about himself and the world. He enjoys writing random emails to strangers in foreign countries when he doesnt have much to do at the office.
Not that different from the Canadian version.
Timothy Leary
Malachi has no concept of what the Internet is， and yet he exists on it. I had no idea that someone else in the world shared my name， now thanks to the Internet I do. These realities fall within the realm of odd or weird tales from the birth of the Internet generation. Yet， the Internet is more than odd or weird， it is often bizarre.