Tips on Summary Writing

7/21/2019 Tips on Summary Writing

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Tips on summary writing

SPM ENGLISH: LESSON 5

By JUGDEEP !U" GILL

TODAY, we will look at Section C which makes up a substantial part of the SPM 1119n!lish Paper Two" This section consists of two parts # $ea%in! Comprehension an%Summar& 'ritin!, which carr& 1( an% 1) marks respecti*el&"

The rea%in! comprehension +uestions aim to test &our un%erstan%in! of the passa!e as well as*ocabular&" Amon! the skills teste% are reco!nisin! !eneral an% specific i%eas, fin%in!important %etails an% !uessin! meanin! from contet"

Gui#$%in$s &or 'ompr$($nsion

1" $ea% the whole passa!e throu!h once to !et a !eneral i%ea of what the passa!e is about" Donot worr& if &ou come across unfamiliar wor%s" Sometimes, it is not necessar& to un%erstan%e*er& wor% &ou rea%"

-" $ea% the passa!e a secon% time, if necessar&" The secon% rea%in! helps &ou take in the%etails an% impro*e &our un%erstan%in!"

." $ea% the +uestions carefull&" /se cue wor%s in the +uestions to help &ou answer the+uestions" These can be the 0wh wor%s 2what, when, where, wh&, who, whose, how3 an%action *erbs 2i%entif&, fin%, list3"

4" 5uestions sometimes contain wor%s foun% in the passa!e" /se these wor%s to help &oui%entif& the part of the passa!e where the answer can be foun%"

)" You can lift clauses or sentences from the passa!e to answer +uestions" You %o not ha*e touse &our own wor%s unless &ou are tol% to %o so" Moreo*er, there is a %an!er in paraphrasin!

# &ou mi!ht alter6%istort the meanin! epresse% in the passa!e"

7" 8or +uestions on *ocabular&, if &ou are aske% for a wor%, then !i*e onl& O wor% an%

nothin! else" Make sure &ou spell the wor% correctl&" :f &ou are aske% for a phrase, then !i*ethe rele*ant phrase"

;" Some +uestions re+uire &ou to use &our own wor%s an% &ou must %o so"


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-" Do not !i*e two or more answers to a +uestion" Some stu%ents write %own all the possibleanswers to a +uestion =ust to be on the safe si%e"

." Do not waste time paraphrasin! answers unless &ou are aske% to %o so"

Summary writing

Man& stu%ents are concerne% about summar& writin! for se*eral reasons> the& are unable toi%entif& information rele*ant to the answer an% are unable to put the information to!ether intoa coherent para!raph" 'eak stu%ents ha*e an a%%itional problem to !rapple with # lan!ua!e"'hile these concerns are !enuine, there is no reason to fret as these problems can be easil&o*ercome with proper !ui%ance an% help from teachers"

?et me remin% &ou that summar& writin! is not a writin! skill" :t is lar!el& a rea%in! skill 2&ouare re+uire% to select rele*ant information in the tet3 with a bit of writin! thrown in 2&ouha*e to strin! the points to!ether into a unifie% tet3"

The task is ma%e easier for &ou as &ou %o not nee% to summarise the whole tet, onl& certainaspects 2usuall& two3" Therefore, it is crucial that &ou rea% the +uestion carefull& an% consi%erwhat information is rele*ant"

$emember, &ou nee% to i%entif& at least 1( points 2for content3" So %o not worr& too muchabout paraphrasin!" 8ocus on !ettin! marks for content, not lan!ua!e"

Summar& writin! in*ol*es specific skills such as the followin!>

S$%$'tion# This means choosin! information that is rele*ant to &our answer" :nformationthat is rele*ant to &our answer %epen%s on the aspect2s3 of the tet &ou are to summarise"

*on#$nsation# This means re%ucin! the len!th of the !i*en information whilepreser*in! the important points" This can be %one b& omittin! unimportant %etails, or usin!sin!le wor%s to replace phrases or clauses"

"$organisation or r$arrang$m$nt# This means takin! the !i*en information an%arran!in! it in a %ifferent wa&" Parap(rasing or r$stat$m$nt# This means sa&in! somethin! in a %ifferent wa&, withoutchan!in! the meanin!"

Gui#$%in$s &or summary writing:

1" "$a#the +uestion carefull&" Ask &ourself> 0'hat am : re+uire% to summarise"

-" Mar+the first an% last lines of the passa!e &ou are aske% to refer to"

." Then s$%$'tinformation that is rele*ant to &our answer" To %o this, un%erline the rele*antlines or i%eas as &ou rea% the tet" Alwa&s ask &ourself> 0:s this@@ 28or the summar& below,&ou woul% ask> 0:s this what Yunus %i% to help the poor@ :s this an impro*ement in the li*esof the women@3"

4" Loo+ t(roug(the lines6i%eas &ou ha*e un%erline%"

)" Summaris$ t($s$ i#$as, usin! con%ensation, reor!anisation or paraphrasin! skills"

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7" :f &ou cannot paraphrase i%eas, see if there are wor%s in the tet that &ou can replace"

;" B$gin t($ summary wit( t($ ,- wor#s gi)$nan% remember that the three %ots after thetenth wor% mean &ou ha*e to complete the sentence with some rele*ant information from thetet"


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star*in! %espite workin! 1- hours e*er& %a& of the week" 1(

. 'ith the help of his stu%ents he set out to learn wh& thesepeople were li*in! in po*ert&" :n the *illa!e of Eobra, nearChitta!on! /ni*ersit& he came across women who ma%e

bamboo furniture" These women ha% to borrow mone& frommone&len%ers to 1uy t($ raw mat$ria%s n$$#$# to ma+$1am1oo stoo%s" The& were also force% to sell these stools tothe mone&len%ers to repa& them" Their profit of (")(an!la%eshi taka was barel& enou!h for them to supporttheir families" 1)

4 Dr Yunus %isco*ere% that these people were at the merc&of mone&len%ers who char!e% hi!h interest rates for loans

!i*en out" The& ha% no choice but to turn to mone&len%ersbecause tra#itiona% 1an+s r$&us$# to gi)$ t($m sma%%%oans at a&&or#a1%$ int$r$st rat$s" Moreo*er, t($ 1an+s'onsi#$r$# t($s$ p$op%$ r$paym$nt ris+s" -(

) This prompte% him to set up Frameen ank in 19;7which !i*es out small loans or microcre%it to #$stitut$an!la%eshis" ?oans as little as /SG.( are !i*en to *er&

poor people to start their own businesses" Frameen hascertain con%itions H borrowers must be women" 97I ofFrameens borrowers are women" Yunus %isco*ere% that

women w$r$ mor$ 'ar$&u% an# r$sponsi1%$ a1out t($ir%oans as 223 o& t($m usua%%y r$pay t($ir %oans" -)

7 Another brainchil% of Dr Yunus is the Frameen Phone orJilla!e Phone" 'ith the Jilla!e Phone, the rural popluationof an!la%esh are now able to en=o& phone connecti*it&"esi%es, this is another pro=ect which pro*i%es rural womenwith business opportunities" :t works alon! the same

principles of Frameen ank, where rural women are !i*ensmall loans to bu& cellular phones so that the& can set up0public call centres at their homes" The women then use

the mone& the& earn to settle their loans" .)

; Dr Yunus i%eas ha*e sa*e% not onl& the poor from %eathbut also !i*en a new stren!th to women" efore Frameen,man& an!la%eshi women were *iewe% as useless an% a

bur%en b& their fathers an% husban%s" This lar!el& stemsfrom the tra%itional *iew that the man is the sole brea%winner in a famil&" 'ith no means to earn mone&, some ofthese women especiall& wi%ows were force% to be!" ow,with microcre%it, the women ha*e pro*en to the men thatthe& too are capable of takin! care of their families an%supportin! them financiall&" Their selfHesteem has also

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impro*e% as the& are now acti*e financial contributors tothe famil&" 'ith more mone& in han% these women are ableto pro*i%e better nutrition for their chil%ren" Frameen isalso responsible for the impro*e% social status of women asmen seem to s(ow t($m mor$ r$sp$'t" 4)

< To%a& Frameen also pro*i%es e%ucation an% housin!loans" 8inancin! is also a*ailable for irri!ation pro=ects an%other economic acti*ities" ut its main principle remains #helpin! the poor" Despite the success of Frameen, Dr Yunusis still not satisfie% with the chan!es he has brou!ht about"There is a lot more work that nee%s to be %one to impro*ethe li*in! con%itions of the poor" Dr 4unus (op$s to us$part o& t($ US,06 mi%%ion awar# ($ r$'$i)$# to s$t up a

'ompany to pro#u'$ %ow7'ost8 (ig( nutrition &oo# &or t($poor" The other plan he has is to set up an e&e hospital forthe poor in an!la%esh" )(

Source> a%apte% fromhttp>66en"wikipe%ia"or!6wiki6FrameenKankan%http>66en"wikipe%ia"or!6wiki6Muhamma%KYunus

9u$stions ,75

1" 8rom para!raph 1, 2a3" wh& was Dr Yunus !i*en the obel Peace Prie@ 2b3" whatis Dr Yunus aim in life@

-" 2a3" 8rom para!raph -, what is 0this economic theor&@ 2b3" 8rom para!raph ., what%i% the women %o with the mone& the& borrowe% from the mone&len%ers@

." 8rom para!raph 4, !i*e two reasons wh& poor an!la%eshis coul% not obtain loans fromtra%itional banks@

4" 8rom para!raph ), 2a3" wh& are 97I of Frameens borrowers women@ 2b3" fin% a

wor% which has the same meanin! as poor"

)" 2a3" 8rom para!raph ;, how has Frameen chan!e% mens treatment of women@ 2b3" 8rompara!raph


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L how his i%eas ha*e helpe% chan!e the li*es of women"

Your summar& must

L be in continuous writin!

L not be lon!er than 1.( wor%s, inclu%in! the 1( wor%s !i*en below"

L use material from lines ;6 to 62

Cre%it will be !i*en for use of own wor%s but care must be taken not to chan!e the ori!inalmeanin!"

e!in &our summar& as follows>Dr Yunus mission to help the poor improve their livesbegan?

Summary Points


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Tips on Summary Writing