SUMMARY SKILLS GRADE 9
The purpose of making a summary (precis) is to shorten what you have to say and yet still
convey all the main points.
There are a number of ways we can save words by using one instead of several.
In the paragraph below, we could use a single word in place of the underlined ones.
Rewrite the paragraph choosing words from the list provided to replace those
underlined.
Decided breathless crossroads planned
late hardly rapidly arrived
glanced punctual
Anna and I had arranged with each other to meet at the place where the two roads cross
each other .1 reached the agreed place first and expected Anna to come at any moment
because she had always been neither early nor late before. I took a quick look at my watch
and saw that she was already ten minutes behind the right time. Just as I had made up my
mind that she was not coming, I saw her running at a great pace along the road. I want to
meet her, but she was so lacking in breath that she could only with the greatest of difficulty
speak.
Another way to save words is to find one general idea to cover a number of ideas .
eg. A list of bananas, oranges, strawberries, pears and apples can all be generalised under
the one word - fruit.
Example Summary
Scrooge wore shabby clothes and always walked to work to save the fare. He did not
drink because that cost unnecessary money, and though he was quite rich, he bought the
cheapest food possible He never gave anything to charity.
Summary. Scrooge was mean, or Scrooge was a miser.
Do summaries of the following paragraphs, reducing each to the number of words (or
less) specified in the brackets.
l . Sam thinks his aunts, uncles, cousins and grandparents are useful only when they
give him money, records, books, games and bigger things like a bicycle. (12)
2. The relief party experienced thirst, hunger, excessive cold, storms, disease, damage
to their equipment, personal accidents and attack by wild animals. (6)
3. In our garden we are rarely bothered by wasps, bees. midges, mosquitoes, flies and
hornets. (8)
4. Margaret seldom asked her husband to do any shopping because he forgot what he
had been told to buy. He rarely remembered appointments. When he wrote a letter,
he would leave it unposted in his pocket and find it there a week later when he put
the next one in it. (12)
, PRECIS WRITING
A Precis is a summary of the main points of a passage (or chapter etc). It is written in
plain, precise and concise language. The precis should be about one third of the length of
the original.
To reduce the length of the original and to use plain, precise and concise language, you
need to exercise certain techniques e.g.
l. Using exact words. Replace each of the underlined pans by one word.
å) We all listened with great concentration.
b) He sent money to the hospital without revealing his name.
c) The members voted for Smith without one exception.
d) He came to see me each and every day at eight o'clock.
e) The police have evidence to suggest that the woman had been murdered so they got
permission to dig her body out of the ground
2. Cut down on repetition and unnecessary words. Trim the following sentences.
a) With my very own eyes I saw the hypnotised man lying unsupported in mid-air.
b) The pupils were assembled together in the hall.
c) There is a circle of trees at the top of the hill in a ring .
d) Would you repeat that instruction again?
e) It is the duty and obligation of every citizen of the country to show his loyalty to
the country.
3. Simplify. Rewrite each sentence in simpler language.
a) When Bob perceived that he had been the victim of betrayal he was sorely wrathful.
b) He exercised all the strength he could summon to surmount the obstacle which
confronted him.
c) His features were a symbol of honesty.
d) When he chanced to espy a strange figure approaching, Sir Galway uttered a fond hope
that it might be a friend and not a foe .
4. Use literal rather than metaphorical / figurative language. Express the
following more simply.
a) While he was waiting for the decision, he was like a cat on hot bricks .
b) When he heard the glad news, he was up in the clouds.
c) Everybody liked Tom because he had a heart of gold .
d) After we had crossed the border, the journey was plain sailing .
The purpose of making a summary (precis) is to shorten what you have to say and yet still
convey all the main points.
There are a number of ways we can save words by using one instead of several.
In the paragraph below, we could use a single word in place of the underlined ones.
Rewrite the paragraph choosing words from the list provided to replace those
underlined.
Decided breathless crossroads planned
late hardly rapidly arrived
glanced punctual
Anna and I had arranged with each other to meet at the place where the two roads cross
each other .1 reached the agreed place first and expected Anna to come at any moment
because she had always been neither early nor late before. I took a quick look at my watch
and saw that she was already ten minutes behind the right time. Just as I had made up my
mind that she was not coming, I saw her running at a great pace along the road. I want to
meet her, but she was so lacking in breath that she could only with the greatest of difficulty
speak.
Another way to save words is to find one general idea to cover a number of ideas .
eg. A list of bananas, oranges, strawberries, pears and apples can all be generalised under
the one word - fruit.
Example Summary
Scrooge wore shabby clothes and always walked to work to save the fare. He did not
drink because that cost unnecessary money, and though he was quite rich, he bought the
cheapest food possible He never gave anything to charity.
Summary. Scrooge was mean, or Scrooge was a miser.
Do summaries of the following paragraphs, reducing each to the number of words (or
less) specified in the brackets.
l . Sam thinks his aunts, uncles, cousins and grandparents are useful only when they
give him money, records, books, games and bigger things like a bicycle. (12)
2. The relief party experienced thirst, hunger, excessive cold, storms, disease, damage
to their equipment, personal accidents and attack by wild animals. (6)
3. In our garden we are rarely bothered by wasps, bees. midges, mosquitoes, flies and
hornets. (8)
4. Margaret seldom asked her husband to do any shopping because he forgot what he
had been told to buy. He rarely remembered appointments. When he wrote a letter,
he would leave it unposted in his pocket and find it there a week later when he put
the next one in it. (12)
, PRECIS WRITING
A Precis is a summary of the main points of a passage (or chapter etc). It is written in
plain, precise and concise language. The precis should be about one third of the length of
the original.
To reduce the length of the original and to use plain, precise and concise language, you
need to exercise certain techniques e.g.
l. Using exact words. Replace each of the underlined pans by one word.
å) We all listened with great concentration.
b) He sent money to the hospital without revealing his name.
c) The members voted for Smith without one exception.
d) He came to see me each and every day at eight o'clock.
e) The police have evidence to suggest that the woman had been murdered so they got
permission to dig her body out of the ground
2. Cut down on repetition and unnecessary words. Trim the following sentences.
a) With my very own eyes I saw the hypnotised man lying unsupported in mid-air.
b) The pupils were assembled together in the hall.
c) There is a circle of trees at the top of the hill in a ring .
d) Would you repeat that instruction again?
e) It is the duty and obligation of every citizen of the country to show his loyalty to
the country.
3. Simplify. Rewrite each sentence in simpler language.
a) When Bob perceived that he had been the victim of betrayal he was sorely wrathful.
b) He exercised all the strength he could summon to surmount the obstacle which
confronted him.
c) His features were a symbol of honesty.
d) When he chanced to espy a strange figure approaching, Sir Galway uttered a fond hope
that it might be a friend and not a foe .
4. Use literal rather than metaphorical / figurative language. Express the
following more simply.
a) While he was waiting for the decision, he was like a cat on hot bricks .
b) When he heard the glad news, he was up in the clouds.
c) Everybody liked Tom because he had a heart of gold .
d) After we had crossed the border, the journey was plain sailing .
