Paraphrasing and summarising
exercises
DONE BY : JIE RUI, YE MIN, YU XI
1. A3 Paraphrasing exercises
1.1
Exercise (1)
In this short excerpt from David Crystal’s English as a
Global Language, take note of the way that power relationships rather than the
number of speakers influenced Latin language use.
“Latin became an international language throughout the Roman
Empire, but this was not because the Romans were more numerous than the peoples
they subjugated. They were simply more powerful.”
Paraphrased sentence:
Inferring from David
Crystal’s English as a Global Language, Latin had become an international language
among the continents Romans had conquered not because of the higher amount of
Romans ruling over the land; it is rather because the Romans hold greater power
then.
1.2
Exercise (2)
As you paraphrase the following paragraph, present the
“expected” general features of the nuclear reactors from Declan Butler’s
“Nuclear power’s new dawn,” taken from Nature, 20 May, 2004 (Vol. 429, p. 238).
“These new reactors would all operate at high temperatures, improving their
efficiency. And they would include simplified safety features that do not rely
on sophisticated backup experienced operators — all are, in principle,
‘meltdown proof’ and can cool themselves down in the event of an accident with
minimal, if any, human intervention. . . . Experts agree that reactors will
need to be a lot cheaper to run. And to sway a nuclear‐ averse public, the next
generation of reactors will need to produce much less radioactive waste at
terrorist‐proof facilities.”
Paraphrased sentence:
According to Nature (2004)
(Vol.429, p.238), Declan Butler’s nuclear reactors may offer a greater performance
as they operate at a higher temperature. In additional, requirement for skilled
operators is eliminated as the reactors are expected to be able to cool down
automatically, or with minimal human interference, in emergency situations.
Lastly, the nuclear reactors can be expected to be cheaper and generate lesser
radioactive wastes.
2. B2 Examples of Summarized Texts
Example ii. Title: What do you think an appropriate title is
for this paragraph?
Original Text: “Overall, the first two quarters have been
profitable for the company. Nineteen of twenty departments report cutting costs
at least twenty percent, and sales from fifteen departments have risen five
percent, or about $5 million. Despite these positive developments, most
department heads believe that they will not be able to maintain these levels
for the remainder of the year.”
Summary: While the
first half of the year has been profitable, the next six months are not
expected to be as lucrative.
Appropriate title:
Financial performance of
ABC Company
3. B3 Summarising Practice
3.1
Exercise (1)
Title: Social problems in a diverse society “In any one
nation, there are both very wealthy and very poor individuals and families.
When sociologists conduct research on these disparities, they frequently analyse
secondary data that originally were collected by the World Bank and the United
Nations. These data focus on quality‐of‐life indicators such as wealth; income;
life expectancy; health; sanitation; the treatment of women; and education for
high‐ income, middle‐income and low income nations.”
Source: Kendall, D. (2004). Social problems in a diverse
society (3rd ed.). Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
Summary:
All countries in the world are facing
income inequality issue.
3.2
Exercise (2)
2. Title: English as a global language “Why a language
becomes a global language has little to do with the number of people who speak
it. It is much more to do with who those speakers are. Latin became an
international language throughout the Roman Empire, but this was not because
the Romans were more numerous than the peoples they subjugated. They were
simply more powerful. And later, when Roman military power declined, Latin
remained for a millennium as the international language of education, thanks to
a different sort of power – the ecclesiastical power of Roman Catholicism.”
Source: Crystal, D. (1997). English as a global language.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Summary:
Latin has become an international language
to date as a reason of the influential power of Roman’s religious.
4. Reporting
4.1
C1 Reporting
Verbs
When incorporating information from an outside source,
select verbs to convey your attitude towards the quotation and/or the author’s
attitude towards the subject. The verbs in the list below can be classified
according to their levels of certainty as certain, neutral or tentative. Some
of them need to be followed by a “that (or noun) clause.” Here is one example:
He implied that this work is not useful.
Look at the list of
reporting verbs. Do you know which verbs on the list below demonstrate
certainty? Circle the verbs that should be followed by ‘that’.
allege imply remark reject argue
insist say examine assert discuss state propose believe mention suggest find claim note survey postulate comment observe write hypothesize
·
Verbs that demonstrate certainty are not
highlighted
·
Verbs that should be followed by ‘that’ are the
highlighted ones
4.2
Reporting
exercise
Which of the verbs from the list above could be used to
report the statement made by Tan in the excerpt below?
Globalization has
made an impact not only in business and politics, but also in people’s diet and
the nature of food businesses. Large scale migration and foreign travel have
been catalysts which have introduced new types of food and cuisines. According
to Tan (2010), through travels abroad, Singaporeans have developed a liking for
exotic and foreign cuisines and this has resulted in a wide range of
restaurants being set up here to cater to their tastes.
·
Claim
·
Comment
·
Discuss
·
Observe
·
Remark
·
Say
·
Mention
·
State
4.3
C3 Reporting Information Practice
Example (1)
Title: Appropriate use of quotations in note‐taking
Original Text: “Students frequently overuse direct quotation
in taking notes, and as a result they overuse quotations in the final research
paper. Probably only about 10% of your final manuscript should appear as
directly quoted matter. Therefore, you should strive to limit the amount of
exact transcribing of source materials while taking notes.”
Source: Lester, J.D. (1976). Writing research papers (2nd
ed.). pp. 46‐47.
Paraphrase: In
research papers students often quote excessively, failing to keep quoted
material down to a desirable level. Since the problem usually originates during
note taking, it is essential to minimize the material recorded verbatim
(Lester, 1976).
Summary: Students should only make a limited amount of notes
in direct quotation in order to help minimize the amount of quotes used
(Lester, 1976).
Lester (1076) asserts that students should
only make a limited amount of notes in direct quotation in order to help
minimize the amount of quotes used.
Example (2)
Example ii. Title: What do you think an appropriate title is
for this paragraph? Original Text: “Overall, the first two quarters have been
profitable for the company. Nineteen of twenty departments report cutting costs
at least twenty percent, and sales from fifteen departments have risen five
percent, or about $5 million. Despite these positive developments, most
department heads believe that they will not be able to maintain these levels
for the remainder of the year.”
Summary: While the
first half of the year has been profitable, the next six months are not
expected to be as lucrative.
Source: Retrieved
from Purdue Online Writing Lab. (2013). Paraphrasing and Summary.
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/976/1/
Purdue Online Writing Lab (2013) concluded
that although the first half of the year has been profitable, the next six
months are not expected to be as lucrative.
