English for Academic Studies (Workshop) Session 9: Summarizing Skills

Semester 1, 2009/10 © PolyU HKCC

Circle the letter of the title that best summarizes the following selection. Then
summarize the paragraph.

Domestic violence has become a burgeoning problem in Hong Kong. It is unsurprising

that local news have frequently reported cases of domestic violence. Victims, in most
cases women and children, have frequently endured years of physical and emotional
abuses before any intervention is done. In some cases, the much needed intervention
simply comes too late.

It is often felt that more things, like stepping up the penalties and amending the existing
law, should be done by the government to reduce the number of domestic violence
incidents. While stricter policies may help deter certain forms of abuses such as
physical and/or sexual abuses, educating the public about the signs and seriousness of
spousal abuses is indispensible to the prevention of them. Enabling the abused spouse
to recognize abuse at the initial stage is particularly vital. Experiencing excessive fear
of one’s partner or having an extremely controlling partner may already be a telling signal
of having an unhealthy, and/or even, abusive relationship. Simultaneously, the public
should be encouraged to listen to those abusive stories and speak up if they ever suspect
that someone is being abused by his or her partner. If more people can notice and
acknowledge the seriousness of domestic violence earlier, fewer people need to suffer at
the hands of their abusers.

1. Which would be an accurate title for this selection?

a. Domestic Violence
b. Seriousness of Domestic Violence
c. Domestic Violence and Ways of Prevention

2. Summarize the selection: While the government may introduce more stringent
policies to reduce the occurrence of domestic violence which is growing in number in
Hong Kong, educating the public about signs and seriousness of domestic violence is

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English for Academic Studies (Workshop) Session 9: Summarizing Skills
Semester 1, 2009/10 © PolyU HKCC

even more vital. (Answer may vary)

Since the purpose of writing a summary is to shorten and revise the original materials, we
should follow the following steps in drafting a summary:

Step 1: Read the whole selection and pay particular attention to its title, headings,
and first and last paragraphs.
Step 2: Re-read the work and identify areas of importance (main ideas).
Step 3: Take note of the important points and remove all the unnecessary details.
Step 4: Draft the summary using synonyms and new sentence structures.
Step 5: Revise the summary so as to make sure the summary is phrased very
differently from the original text.

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Exercise C1: Reduce the following sentences into one without changing their meaning.

1. Of all the regrets in my life so far, one of my greatest regrets is that I didn't spend
enough time to have fun and enjoy my life when I was young and this perhaps
explains why I always crave for more adventures and excitement, and why I always
emphasize happiness should take precedence over other aspects like career, money
etc.

Key Idea: As I didn't spend enough time to enjoy my life before, I always crave for
fun and excitement nowadays. (Rewrite the key idea in your own words. Answer
may vary)

2. I always believe that unhappiness is caused by irrational thoughts and unrealistic

expectations. For example, some people may experience tremendous pains when
their love terminates prematurely or beyond their expectations. However, if they
can stand apart and reflect rationally, they will realize that love is by nature
short-lived and it will come to an end, either through death, divorce, betrayal etc.,
sooner or later. If they can perceive the truth, it is clear that their pain can be
assuaged.

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English for Academic Studies (Workshop) Session 9: Summarizing Skills
Semester 1, 2009/10 © PolyU HKCC

Key Idea: Unhappiness is caused by irrational thoughts and unrealistic

expectations. (Rewrite the key idea in your own words. Answer may vary)

3. Although there is no single formula leading to success, a person’s ability to perceive

things differently and thus behave diversely from the majority appears to be quite
essential. When people dare to undertake a different course of action, they tend to
leave a stronger impression upon others.

Key Idea: People who dare to be different from others often have a higher chance
of being success since their actions always leave a stronger impression on others.
(Rewrite the key idea in your own words. Answer may vary)

Exercise C2: Read the following article and then write a one-paragraph summary of 50
words. Give a title to your summary.

Although the Internet has frequently been characterized as a male-dominated domain,

recent evidence indicated that the gender gap in the Internet use has been rapidly
diminishing. Nowadays, both men and women appear to have equal access to the cyber
world. Despite the equal accessibility, some differences are still perceivable in terms of
the Internet use between the two sexes. One of the obvious differences lies in the type
of information that males and females search for or spend time on. While men tend to
spend more time on exploring new information such as sports news, weather information,
news on stocks markets etc. through the Internet, women use it for sharing information
(through blogs and/or Facebook) and/or communicating with others (through email
and/or MSN). Such difference surely reinforces the established stereotypes we find
between the genders, which females are predisposed to connecting, communicating and
caring others and males are less sensitive to human relations and are more adept at logical
analysis and calculations.

Title: Gender Difference over Internet Use (Answer may vary)

Key Ideas: Although both sexes enjoy equal accessibility to the Internet, women
generally spend time on using the Internet to connect with others while men tend to use
it to search for new information. Their differences over the Internet use appear to
reinforce the established gender stereotypes. (Rewrite the key idea in your own words.
Answer may vary)