1、Chapter 5 Summarizing summarydefinition:the gist or main theme of a piece of writing expressed in as few words as possiblerequirements:clear,brief,and complete,with all the essential points included,so that the general effect of the original is achieved.Focus 1 Uses of Summary-Writing Summary writin
2、g enables people to get more out of their reading.Why?forcing us to pay attention to what we read,for no one can write a summary of any piece of writing unless he has clearly grasped its meaning.So summarizing is excellent training.It makes us read with the mind as well as the eye.2.Summary-writing
3、is also a very good exercise.It teaches us to express thoughts,concisely and effectively.Why?Since we are required to express the main information in as few words as possible,we must learn to choose our words and construct our sentences carefully and to write in strictly logical order.3.Summary-writ
4、ing has great practical value.Why?The ability(to grasp quickly and accurately what is read or heard and to reproduce it briefly,clearly and concisely)is of great importance,particularly to lawyers,scholars,businessmen,and government officials.Focus 2 Procedure What?Reading 1)We first read through th
5、e original carefully,but not too slowly,to get a clear idea of its general meaning.2)We are required to supply a title for our summary.Think of some word,phrase or short sentence that will sum up briefly the subject of the piece of writing.3)Further reading is now necessary to ensure that we underst
6、and the details of the piece of writing as well as its main idea.4)When we have a clear and correct idea of the subject or main theme of the piece,we can decide which parts are essential and which parts can be omitted.5)We jot down the subject,the title,and the details which we will include in the s
7、ummary and are now ready to write the summary.2.Writing We should be sure of the world limit required.Summary writing is an exercise in compression:Ways to reduce the length?(discussion)-Omit the details.Only the important points should be included in the summary;all the details that explain the mai
8、n points can be left out.-Reduce the examples.Out of five or six examples given in the original passage one or two may be chosen for the summary;the rest are to be omitted.-Simplify the descriptions.If in the passage there are ten sentences describing a person or an object,it will be enough to keep
9、one or two in the summary.-Eliminate all repetitions.Sometimes a statement is repeated for emphasis.This is not necessary in a summary.-Compress wordy sentences and change phrases to wordse.g.“His courage in battle might without exaggeration be called lion-like.”He was very brave in battle.“The acco
10、unt the witness gave of the incident made everyone that heard it laugh.”The witnesss story was absurd.“John fell into the river and,before help could reach him,he sank.”John was drowned in the river.“He was hard up for money and was being pressed by his creditor.”He was in financial difficulties.-Ma
11、ke phrases do the work of clauses or sentencese.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 o
12、f many who never thought of visiting them ten years ago.(53 words)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.(28 words)-Use general words instead of specific words.e.g.She
13、brought home several Chinese and English novels,a few copies of Time and Newsweek,and some textbooks.She intended to read all of them during the winter vacation.She brought home a lot of books and magazines to read during the vacation.-Use the shortest possible transitions.but,then,thus,yet,forat th
14、e same time,on the other handsemi-colon used to replace a transitional word or phrase-Put the main points of a dialogue in indirect speech2)We should use our own words to write a summary.3)We should convey the message fully and clearly so that the reader does not need to refer to the original.3.Revi
15、sionHow?1)carefully compare it with the original and see to it that we have not omitted any important point that it reads well as a connected whole2)correct mistakes in spelling,punctuation,grammar and idiom3)cross out unnecessary words to keep the length of the summary within the limits required4)w
16、rite out the fair copy neatly,under the title chosen.P122 sample1Task 1/2/3Practice (group work)Read the article given.Make a summary in not more than 85 words.My neighbours children love playing hide-and-seek as all children do,but no one expected that a game they played last week would be reported
17、 in the local newspaper.One afternoon,they were playing in the street just outside the post-office.Young Ian,who is only five years old,found the perfect place to hide.His sister,Janet,had shut her eyes and was counting up ten when Ian noticed that the small metal door of the letter-box had been lef
18、t open.The postman had just taken all the letters out and had gone into the post office to see if there were any parcels.Ian climbed into the letter-box and pulled the door from the inside so hard that it locked.Soon realizing what he had done,he became very frightened and started crying.Meanwhile,J
19、anet was looking for him everywhere but couldnt find him.It was lucky she happened to stop outside the letter-box and heard her brothers cries.She immediately ran to tell the postman,who hurried out to unlock the metal door.Ian was now free,but he had such a bad fright that he could not stop crying.The postman,however,soon found a way of making him laugh again.He told him that next time he wanted to hide in a letter-box,he should remember to stick a stamp on himself.
