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Summary Writing
A summary is, in nature, an academic paragraph, which is a combination of a topic sentence and a couple
of supporting sentences. The topic sentence is to introduce the genre, the purpose, the topic as well as the
main idea of the given reading passage. The supporting sentences are to justify the main idea mentioned in
the topic sentence.
1. Topic sentence
Skim through the following passage in order to fill the missing information in the table below. Write the topic
sentence for the summary.
Genre
Purpose
Topic
Main idea

(Source: De thi chinh thuc HSGQG 2015)

Topic sentence:
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Frank Nguyen/2019
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Sample:
Genre: Magazine article
Purpose: re-conceptualize the notion of talent
Topic: Talent
Main idea: (a) more traits are added into the definition; (b) talent is a result of both nature and nurture
The given magazine article is to redefine the concept of talent first by adding more latent traits into this
construct and then put it in a dynamic interaction with the contextual factors.

Practice 1
Write the topic sentence for the summary of the following reading passage.

(Source: De thi chinh thuc HSGQG 2016)

Topic sentence:
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Frank Nguyen/2019
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2. Text analysis
Before writing a summary of a given reading passage, one might need to synthesize information in that
text. The following table might facilitate him/her in such a synthesis process.
Paragraph Rhetorical purpose Key point Important evidence

Complete the above table with the information in the reading passage below.

(Source: De thi chinh thuc HSGQG 2018)

Frank Nguyen/2019
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Practice 1
Read the passage below and complete the missing information in the following table.

(Source: De thi chinh thuc HSGQG 2017)

Paragraph Rhetorical purpose Key point Important evidence

Frank Nguyen/2019
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3. Flexible language use

Study the following example and identify which passage and paragraph it aims to summarize.
Under a reciprocal mechanism, negative stress is, in nature, stemmed from our past failure, which, in turn,
provokes our fear of a similar scenario in the future. In such a condition, we often lose control over both
behavior and speech and many have to resort to drugs as a way out. Some typical adversities that negative
stress might bring about include, among others, eating disorder, fatigue and insomnia.
Practice 1
Summarize the key points in the following reading passage with no more than 150 words.

(Source: De thi chinh thuc HSGQG 2019)

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………THE END……

Frank Nguyen/2019