Now retired, McNaughton was the founding teacher of Chinese at Oberlin College, Ohio, established Chinese-language programs at four other colleges and universities in the U.S., and taught at City U. of Hong Kong from 1986 to 1998. The third edition of his reference text for students and teachers has been completely revised with modern simplified forms. The content and organization are now linked to Chinese language proficiency level standards utilized by Chinese universities and employers for prospective students and employees who are nonnative speakers of Chinese. The new edition features some 1,067 characters, including 450 new ones. Pronunciation and core meanings are provided for each character, along with examples of its use in common compounds and a stroke-order diagram showing how to write it correctly. Includes both an alphabetical index and a stroke index. Annotation c2006 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)