READING AND EXERCISE

Exercise 1
Summarizing sentences
Summarize a sentence by taking out the unnecessary words. Use summary words to take
the place of group of words about the same topic. Keep only the words which tell the
main point of the sentence. Use as few words as possible.

Summarize these sentences.

1. After she turned on the oven, Michiko mixed the sugar, flour, eggs, milk, oil, and
vanilla in the new blender, poured the batter into the buttered pans, and put the
cake in the oven.
Summary:________________________________________________________

2. When the Jack family returned from their vacation, they found the back door
broken, the television set missing, and all the food in their freezer gone.
Summary:________________________________________________________

3. In Natasha’s library you can find mysteries, novels, biographies, travel books,
how-to manual, science fiction thrillers, and reference books.
Summary:_________________________________________________________

4. During the summer along the Charles River in Boston, you can go rollerblading,
running, biking, or sailing, or you can have a picnic, listen to a concert, or watch a
movie.
Summary:_________________________________________________________

5. When they heard the weather forecast, the islanders closed the windows, put tape
across the glass, moved all of their plants and chairs indoors, and stocked up on
bottles of fresh water.
Summary:_________________________________________________________
Exercise 2
Summarizing paragraphs
A paragraph summary should be as short as possible, but it must be a complete sentence.
The summary of a paragraph is the main idea of the paragraph. Often (but not always),
the main idea is found in the topic sentence.
Step 1. Read the paragraph all the way through to be sure you understand it.
Step 2. Check to see if the paragraph contains a topic sentence.
Step 3. Take out unnecessary words.

Summarize the following paragraph. Follow the steps explained above. Use as few
words as possible.
By 1984, NASA, the United States space program, had carried out many successful
flights of the space shuttle. In fact, Americans were beginning to take the whole NASA
program for granted. Then, the president announced that the next shuttle would carry a
school teacher into space. Hundreds of teachers from all part of the country applied for
the job. They all wanted to be “the first teacher in space”. During the next year, these
adventurous educators were tested and examined and trained. At last, the choice was
announced. A teacher from New Hampshire, Christa McAuliffe, would be the first
teacher-astronaut.
Summary:_______________________________________________________________
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Islands are geographical formations that are completely surrounded by water, yet many
islands are covered with a rich assortment of plant life. It may seem surprising that so
much plant life exists on many islands, yet there are surprisingly simple explanations as
to how the vegetation has been able to establish itself there. Some islands were formerly
attached to larger bodies of land, while others were created on their own. Islands that
were created when flooding or rising water levels cut them off from their neighbors often
still have the plant life that they had before they were cut off. In cases where islands
formed out of the ocean, they may have plant life from neighboring lands even though
they were never actually attached to the neighboring lands. Winds carry many seeds to
islands; some plants produce extremely light seeds that can float thousands of feet above
the earth and then drift down to islands where they can sprout and develop. Birds also
carry seeds to islands; as birds move over open stretches of water, they can serve as the
transportation system to spread seeds from place to place.
Summary: _______________________________________________________________
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Exercise 3
Summarizing short passages
Step 1. Read the passage all the way through.
Step 2. Go back to the beginning and underline the topic sentence in each paragraph. If
you cannot find topic sentence, write a short summary of the paragraph.
Step 3. Put the sentences from the paragraphs together. Connect them with signal words
or other connecting words. Examples: and but however, first, next, then, because,
etc.

Reread this paragraph; write a summary of the paragraph. Work with another
student.

Text 1
Thomas Alva Edison was one of the greatest inventors of the 19th century. He is
most famous for inventing the light bulb in 1879. He also developed the world's first
electric light-power station in 1882.
Edison was born in the village of Milan, Ohio, on Feb. 11, 1847. His family later
moved to Port Huron, Michigan. He went to school for only three months, when he was
seven. After that, his mother taught him at home. Thomas loved to read. At twelve years
old, he became a train boy, selling magazines and candy on the Grand Trunk Railroad. He
spent all his money on books and equipment for his experiments.
At the age of fifteen, Edison became manager of a telegraph office. His first
inventions helped improve the telegraph, an early method for sending messages over
electric wires. At twenty one, Edison produced his first major invention, a stock ticker for
printing stock-exchange quotes. He was paid $40,000 for this invention. He took this
money and opened a manufacturing shop and small laboratory in Newark, N. J. Later he
gave up manufacturing, and moved his laboratory to Menlo Park, New Jersey. At this
laboratory, he directed other inventors. During the rest of his life he and his laboratory
invented the phonograph, film for the movie industry, and the alkaline battery. By the
time he died at West Orange, New Jersey on Oct. 18,1931, he had created over 1,000
inventions.

(Adapted from Grolier Electronic Publishing, Inc.,1995)

Text 1
Write one sentence to summarize each paragraph.
Paragraph 1:

Paragraph 2:

Paragraph 3:

Now tie the sentences together to make one short paragraph. Write the final summary
below. Use only the words which are absolutely necessary.
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