This book offers two kinds of reading material. First there are short stories and cross-cultural anecdotes on practical topics commonly of concern to immigrants and other nonactive students of English, along with exercises to improve reading skills and increase vocabulary acquisition. Second, there is a large selection of unsimplified "realia" of the type most adults encounter daily--personal papers and forms, advertisements, emergency medical information, and so on. Part One includes stories on cross-cultural topics followed by vocabulary and reading skills exercises; Part Two provides writing guidelines to help students write their own stories and letters; Part Three presents realia, scanning and comprehension exercises, and related writing or speaking activities; and Part Four consists of a multiple-choice question-and-answer game to stimulate discussion about North American culture.