Topic X Summarising

3
LEARNING OUTCOMES
By the end of this topic, you should be able to: 1. Identify the necessary and unnecessary features in a summary; 2. Describe the various stages of summary writing; and 3. Write effective summaries of articles and reports.

INTRODUCTION

In todays fast-moving world, people are often very busy; they do not have the time to read lengthy reports and articles. So, if you want your views to be heard, you need to know how to say them in as few words as possible. The process of condensing a lengthy article or report into a very brief and precise piece of information is known as summarising. Summarising is a very useful skill in the workplace. If you are able to write executive summaries of lengthy reports, you will be able to save a lot of time. To do this, however, you must master the basic skills of writing effective summaries. Remember that summing up is a technique that adheres to strict rules. Stick to these rules and keep your reports as concise as possible.

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3.1

WRITING EFFECTIVE SUMMARIES

A summary is a brief statement of the most important information in a text. It should outline the main ideas in the text. Details, repetitions of facts and unnecessary information should be omitted. The following are important steps in writing an effective summary: Step 1 Read the whole text carefully at least twice. Step 2 Ask the following questions to get a better understanding of the text: (i) (ii) Who wrote the text? Why was it written?

(iii) When was it written? Step 3 Look for the main ideas. Step 4 Take notes or prepare a mind map. Step 5 Keep the original text aside and write your summary based on the notes, using your own words and sentence structures. Apart from the steps above, there are also guidelines that need to be followed when writing a summary: (i) (ii) Find the most important information that tells what the paragraph or group of paragraphs is about. Write this into a topic sentence. Find two to three main ideas and important details that support your topic sentence and show how they are related.

(iii) Combine several main ideas into a single sentence. (iv) Substitute a general term for lists of items or events. (v) Do not include trivial information or unimportant details. (vi) Do not repeat information.

SELF-CHECK 3.1 What is a summary?

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3.1.1

Topic SentenceG

A topic sentence is a sentence that reflects the meaning of an entire paragraph or a group of sentences. It tells what the passage is all about. When you read a paragraph, look for the topic sentence first. If you cannot find it, you can come up with your own topic sentence. How? You can do so by combining important ideas from a few sentences in the paragraph. Read the paragraph below.

It has been five years since the Multimedia Super Corridor was mooted and then promptly launched with a massive push. Never before has a nation-state committed itself so much to leapfrogging its capabilities into the information and knowledge age. The support and commitment given to this project and its associated flagships have been tremendous, drawing interest and action from the tech players of the planet. From all corners of the globe, they watched and voiced intentions to participate in this tech haven.
The underlined sentence would be a good topic sentence for the paragraph. Do the exercise below to test your understanding on writing a topic sentence.

ACTIVITY 3.1
Look for the most important piece of information that tells what the paragraph is about. Write this into a topic sentence.

From economic growth to exports and employment, computers and other information technologies (IT) play an increasingly vital role in the US economy. Although it comprises 8% of the US economy as a whole, the IT sector accounts for nearly 30% of real growth in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) from 1994 to 2000.

SELF-CHECK 3.2 What do you know about a topic sentence?

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3.1.2

Main Ideas

A main idea refers to important information that tells more about the overall idea of a paragraph or section in a text. As an example, look at the paragraph below:

Among the greatest contributions made by the computer industry to humankind is the invention of the Internet and the World Wide Web. This has brought a wealth of knowledge to the doorstep of every individual. People are now able to access information from any corner of the world within seconds. It has also revolutionised the mailing system with the introduction of e-mail and voicemail.
The underlined words form the main idea while the rest of the sentences explain the main idea. Sometimes, you may find several main ideas stated in different sentences in a paragraph. Then, you might want to combine the main ideas into a single sentence. How do you do that? See the following example. Sentence 1 is the original sentence while Sentence 2 is the one where all the main ideas are combined in a single sentence. Sentence 1 The Multimedia Super Corridor has made Malaysia popular among developed nations. It has also brought numerous foreign investors into the country. The Multimedia Super Corridor has not only popularised Malaysia but also brought in numerous foreign investors.

Sentence 2

Reading without hands-on practice will not enhance your understanding. So, try the following exercise to ensure that you have a good grasp of what has been explained.

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ACTIVITY 3.2
1. Underline the main ideas in the following paragraphs. (a) Today, the world is at a crossroad. Many plants and animals are near extinction and the food chain is in jeopardy. If we had tried to live in harmony with our environment instead of fighting against it, we would not have caused such widespread damage and the environment would not be in danger today. If we continue to abuse our world, we will almost certainly destroy it. Every movement needs a leader if it is to be truly successful. At various times in history, people have stood up to demand political, social, economic or religious change. However, most movements fizzled out as soon as some of the demands were met. To unite people in a long-term struggle towards a goal, charismatic leadership is necessary. As people are usually more willing to fight or die for a leader than an idea, the success of a movement often depends on the personality of one individual.

(b)

2.

Combine the following sentences so that they become shorter. (a) (b) Mobile phones have become very cheap now. Almost every Malaysian can afford one today. Internet usage has grown tremendously in the last two years. This is due to the untiring efforts of the government to create an IT-literate Malaysian society. The DCR-IP5E camera uses a Carl Zeiss lens. The Carl Zeiss lens provides better contrast, colour saturation and image brilliance. This helps you to get excellent video and still images.

(c)

3.1.3

Substituting with a General Term

Johan bought some milk, bread, fruit, coconut, rice, butter, meat and onions. The underlined items can be replaced with the word groceries.

A general term can be used to substitute a list of objects or events. Example:

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ACTIVITY 3.3
Write a suitable general term for each list of items below.
List of Items 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Dining set, kitchen cabinet Garden chairs and settee Medical doctors, engineers Accountants, architects and lawyers Marker pens, white paper, stapler Masking tapes, envelopes General Term _________________________ _________________________ _________________________ _________________________ _________________________ _________________________

3.1.4

Omitting Details

Articles and reports often contain trivial or unimportant details which help the reader to understand the contents better. However, in writing a summary, such information should be dropped. Look at the following paragraph.

The fact that the new Indian film Kabhie Khushi Kabhie Gham (Sometimes Theres Joy, Sometimes Sorrow), known as K3G in India, has found a place in Time magazine speaks volumes for the movies reputation. This film, which teaches family values, comes at a time when ethics and social values are sharply declining. Indias actors have contributed their best and the movie should be seen by the whole family. Its success should be judged not by the amount of money it makes but by the impact it leaves on the audience. Karan Johar, one of the youngest and most talented directors, deserves full praise and credit for his splendid effort.
Now, look at its summary. Notice how unimportant details have been left out.

The new Indian film Kabhie Khushi Kabhie Gham has been commented on in the Time Magazine. This film, which teaches family values, comes at a time when ethics and social values are sharply declining. Karan Johar, the director, deserves full praise and credit for his splendid effort.

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Based on this example, let us have a hands-on activity by doing the following exercise.

ACTIVITY 3.4
Read the following passages and rewrite them, with the key information retained. 1.

The village of Boudhanath, or Boudha, about 4km east of Kathmandu, is an age-old religious centre for Tibetan traders. But the past 50 years have seen a considerable influx of refugees, some of whom have become very wealthy businesspeople. Now, the town is a thriving marketplace, social centre and pilgrimage site; making a visit to Boudha feels like a short trip to Lhasa without the political complications. Japan is prone to earthquakes and typhoons. But sound construction, education and communications mean that the people are less vulnerable than citizens of poorer nations. Japan suffered 43 disasters from 1960 to 1981 with an average of 63 deaths per disaster; Bangladesh had 63 catastrophes over the same period with an average death toll of over 10,000.

2.

3.2
(a)

DIFFERENT TYPES OF SUMMARIES

There are three types of summary that you may need to make at the workplace: You may be required to summarise a text in one or two sentences only. A brief summary like this is needed, for example, when preparing an abstract for an article or essay you have written. You may be asked to prepare a global summary, which involves writing a detailed summary of the entire content of an article or report. You may need to write an executive summary for a very detailed report. This is an extraction of all the relevant information in a large body of text.

(b) (c)

You have come to the end of this topic and this section. Before moving on, do the following exercise to test your understanding of this topic.

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ACTIVITY 3.5
Read the passage below at least twice and then answer the questions. Find a Home for Your Site

When you are shopping around for a host, keep the following two questions in mind: How complex will your website be? How much traffic do you realistically expect it to generate? Most hosting services offer a variety of packages based on the hard disk space required and the monthly volume of data transfer. In this context, the Web pages and images viewed by visitors translate into data which they download to their systems. The hosting service will charge you according to these two variables hard disk space and data transfer volume and will add incremental charges if you exceed preset limits. The amount of server space and data-transfer units you need can vary widely. In general, a static billboard site may take up only a megabyte or less on the server while a dynamic billboard may require not only a few megabytes of server space but also several hundred megabytes of data transfer per month. But these are just general guidelines. Static billboard sites may be basic but some can enjoy heavy rates of traffic that necessitate gigabytes of data transfer per month. On the other hand, a storefront that offers a select number of obscure specialty items may have relatively modest server needs. The reality is that it is difficult to project exactly how much server space and data transfer you will end up needing, so it is important to get flexible terms. Do not let anyone rope you into a long-term contract. Most providers will let you switch packages from month to month so that you can minimise costly overrun charges.
In addition to cost issues, you need to decide how critical it is to keep your site up every minute of the day. Most web hosting services guarantee your site will be up 95% to 99% of the time. This sounds impressive at first but at the 95% level, your site could be down for over eight hours in the course of a week. Ask the hosting service if it uses multiple connections from different providers to the Internet backbone. If one provider is down, traffic can still get in and out, and your business can stay online. Check to see that credit is given whenever downtimes exceed the guarantee and that support personnel are on call around the clock. Programs that connect Web pages to databases can break down at any time.

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If you are going to collect personal and credit card information, you will need a secure server. Most hosting services now offer this feature directly or through partnership with a secure service provider but you have to pay extra for it. (Jeremy Harold Hendriques, Editor, Computer International Vol. 123. March 2009)
1. Write the answers to the following questions: (a) Who wrote the text? (b) Why was it written? (c) When was it written? Identify the main ideas in all the paragraphs. With the help of the information given, fill this mind map.

2. 3.

4.

Now you are ready to summarise the entire passage. Follow all the steps you have learned in the lesson.

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A summary is a brief statement of the most important information in a text. It should describe most of the main ideas in the text but omit details and repeated information. In writing an effective summary, you need to read the text carefully, at least once or twice. Ask questions about when the text was written and for what purpose. Look for main ideas, prepare notes or a mind map and write the summary based on the notes, using your own words. The notes or mind map will ensure that you do not leave out important facts in the summary. A topic sentence tells what the passage is all about. A main idea refers to important information that tells more about the overall idea of a paragraph or section in a text. A general term can be used to replace a list of objects or events. Trivial or unimportant details should not be included in a summary. There are three types of summary brief summary, global summary and executive summary.

x x x

x x x x x

Brief summary Executive summary Global summary

Main idea Topic sentence Trivial information