Summories Before we begin to look at how to approach a summary, it is important to understand what a summary is and to realise that we use sumrnariesin mauy everyday situations. Imagine you are reading an article in a magazine in 1'ou¡.wt 1.t*uage . As you seem very interested in it and becauseI cannot understand your language, I ask you what it is about. Of course you are not going to translate the whole thing, so your brain quicldy sons out what bits I might find interesting, and reorganisesthem so that you can then passon üe information using words I can understand immediately. The words you choose and the wa1,you expressthe ideas contained in the article are, il fact, your summary. As a result, I am better informed, without having to take the time and make the effort to work through a passagein a foreign language. Imagine you 1a's¡t to see a popular film at the local cinema. Later, you want to tell your friend about it. Again, you pick the parts you think will appeal to your friend and also give him an idea ofthe basic story of the film. In other words, you summarise it for him. This may even saveyour friend from having to go to the cinema himself; if your summary does not make the film sound interesting to your friend, then he may decide not to go and watch it! We do exacdy the same thing when telling someone about a conversadon we have had with someone else.We certainly do not repeat the conversa¡ion word for word exactly as it happened, nor do we always use the words used ir the actual conversation. We also select whatwe say depending on whowe say it to. Do you tell your mother everything your friend said to you at a partyl I doubt it! A summary allows you to understand quicldy and easily a passagewhich may be long and n-raycontain ditEcult or specialisedvocabulary.
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quest¡on How to opproochq summory Stoge I r Read the question. \44rat exactly do you need to summariseI IIow many words do you have to usel Look at any pictures or headings for clues about the content of the passage. r As you read, undedine the key words in the question. For example, from the exam question'Write a summary about the causeand extent of the flooding', you would probably idenify cnuseand rj?rt as key words. r Code the key words ifthere is more than one. Choose whichever coding metlrod you prefer: either a, b, or 1, 2, or the fust letter ofthe key w6¡d(5). In the above example, and depending on which coding method you choose, causewlll be coded a or f or c; extent wlll be coded b or 2 or e.
Stoge 2 Pickout relevantpoints paragraph by paragraph. r Skim readthe passage and underline them. At the same time, use )'our code to identifl, each point at the side ofthe text so that you can find it easily. Continuing with the above example, every time you found a reference to causein the