1. Chapter 5 Summarizing ～ Lectured by Angel

2. What is a SUMMARY?  a brief restatement of the essential thought of a longer composition.  the gist or main theme of a passage.  reproduces the theme of the original with as few words as possible.  clear, brief & complete, including all the essential points

3. Uses of Summary-writing 1.Enables people to get more out of their reading. 2.A good practice in writing a composition; trains one to express one ’ s thought clearly, concisely & effectively. 3.Has great practical value, esp. to lawyers, scholars, businessmen & government officials.

4. Procedure I.Reading ① First read the passage to get the gist of it; ② Give a title to your summary; ③ Decide what parts of the passage are essential & what parts are comparatively unimportant and can be omitted with much loss; ④ Jot down in brief notes the main points — the subject, the title & the details.

5. II.Writing ① A summary should usu. be about 1/3 to ¼ as long as the original passage; ② Write it all in your own words; ③ Follow the logical order of the original passage; ④ The summary should be self-contained, i.e., it must convey the message of the original fully & clearly; ⑤ Summary writing is an exercise in compression. While writing, you may: a)Omit the details; b)Reduce the examples; c)Simplify the descriptions; d)Eliminate all repetitions; e)Compress wordy sentences and change phrases to words.

6. Examples of Compression  His courage in battle might without exaggeration be called lion-like.  The account the witness gave of the incident made everyone that heard it laugh.  They acted in a manner that rendered them liable to prosecution.  John fell into the river and, before help could reach him, he sank.  He was hard up for money and was being pressed by his creditor.

7.  He was very brave in battle.  The witness ’ s story was absurd/ridiculous.  They acted illegally.  John was drowned in the river.  He was in financial difficulties. The five sentences above can be compressed respectively as follows :

8. We make also make phrases do the work of clauses or sentences. E.g.: Beautiful mountains like Mount Tai, Lushan Mountain, and Yellow Mountain, were visited by only a few people in the past. Today, better wages, holidays with pay, new hotels on those mountains, and better train and bus services, have brought them within reach of many who never thought of visiting them ten years ago. Beautiful mountains like Mount Tai, Lushan Mountain, and Yellow Mountain, were visited by only a few people in the past. Today, better wages, holidays with pay, new hotels on those mountains, and better train and bus services, have brought them within reach of many who never thought of visiting them ten years ago.

9. Beautiful mountains like Mount Tai, once visited by only a few people, are today accessible to many, thanks to better wages, paid holidays, new hotels and better communication. Beautiful mountains like Mount Tai, once visited by only a few people, are today accessible to many, thanks to better wages, paid holidays, new hotels and better communication. These two sentences may be abridged in this way:

10. Use general words instead of specific words. E.g.: She brought home several Chinese and English novels, a few copies of Times and Newsweek, and some textbooks. She intended to read all of them during the winter vacation. She brought home several Chinese and English novels, a few copies of Times and Newsweek, and some textbooks. She intended to read all of them during the winter vacation. This may be turned into: This may be turned into: She brought home a lot of books and magazines to read during the vacation.

11. III. Revision Compare with the original to make sure all the important points are included; Compare with the original to make sure all the important points are included; Further compress it by omitting unnecessary words & phrases or by remodelling sentences; Further compress it by omitting unnecessary words & phrases or by remodelling sentences; Correct all mistakes in punctuation, spelling, grammar & idiom. Correct all mistakes in punctuation, spelling, grammar & idiom.