英语作文Summary方法大汇总.docx

英语作文Summary方法大汇总.docx

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英语作文Summary方法大汇总

SummaryWriting

CharacteristicsofaGoodSummary:

Agoodsummaryhasthefollowingcharacteristics:

►ProperCitation:

Thesummarybeginsbycitingthetitle,author,source,and,inthecaseofamagazineorjournalarticle,thedateofpublicationandthetext.

►ThesisStatement:

Theoverallthesisofthetextselectionistheauthor’scentraltheme.Thereareseveralaspectstoaneffectivethesisstatement:

-Itcomprisestwoparts:

a）thetopicorgeneralsubjectmatterofthetext,andb）theauthor’smajorassertion,comment,orpositiononthetopic.

-Thiscentralthemeissummarizedclearlyandaccuratelyinaonesentencethesisstatement.

-Thethesisstatementdoesnotcontainspecificdetailsdiscussedinthetext.

-Thethesisstatementisstatedatthebeginningofthesummary.

►SupportingIdeas:

Theauthorsupportshis/herthesiswithsupportingideas.Usethefollowingbasicguidelineswhensummarisingsupportingideas:

-Coveralloftheauthor’smajorsupportingideas.

-Showtherelationshipsamongtheseideas.

-Omitspecifics,suchasillustrations,descriptions,anddetailedexplanations.

-Indicatetheauthor’spurposeinwriting:

toinform,topersuade,ortoentertain.Ifthepassageisapersuasivepiece,reporttheauthor’sbiasorpositionontheissue.

-Omitallpersonalopinions,ideas,andinferences.Letthereaderknowthatyouarereportingtheauthor’sideas.

►GrammarandtheMechanicsofWriting:

Grammarandrelatedconcernsensurethat,asawriter,youcommunicateclearlytoyourreader.Thefollowingareparticularlyimportant:

-Restatetheideasinyourownwordsasmuchaspossible.Avoiddirectquotations.

-Usetransitionalwordsforasmoothandlogicalflowofideas.

-Editandre-writeyourwork.

-Checkyourgrammar,punctuation,andspelling

►Length:

Thelengthofasummarydependsonhowlongtheoriginaldocumentis.Itmayvarybetweenonethirdtheoriginaltextandonetenth.

StepsinWritingaSummary:

Initially,summarywritingcanseemlikeachallengingtask.Itrequirescarefulreadingandreflectivethinkingaboutthearticle.Mostofus,however,tendtoskimreadwithoutfocusedreflection,butwithtimeandeffort,thestepslistedherecanhelpyoubecomeaneffectivesummarywriter.

►Readthearticle

►RereadtheArticle.

-Dividethearticleintosegmentsorsectionsofideas.Eachsegmentdealswithoneaspectofthecentraltheme.Asegmentcancompriseoneormoreparagraphs.Note:

newsmagazinearticlestendtobeginwithananecdote.Thisisthewriter’sleadintothearticle,butdoesnotcontainthethesisorsupportingideas.Typically,afeatureleaddoesnotconstituteasegmentofthought.

-Labeleachsegment.Useageneralphrasethatcapturesthesubjectmatterofthesegment.Writethelabelinthemarginnexttothesegment.

-Highlightorunderlinethemainpointsandkeyphrases.

►WriteOne-Sentencesummaries.

-Writeaone-sentencesummaryforeachsegmentofthoughtonaseparatesheetofpaper.

►FormulatetheThesisStatement.

-Formulateacentralthemethatweavestheone-sentencesegmentsummariestogether.Thisisyourthesisstatement.

-Inmanyarticles,theauthorwillstatethisdirectly.Youmaywishtotakehisdirectstatementofthethesisandrestateitinyourownwords.Note:

Innewsmagazinearticles,thethesisisoftensuggestedthroughthearticle’stitleandsub-title.

-Inotherarticles,youmayhavetowriteyourownone-sentencethesisstatementthatsummarizesthiscentraltheme.

►WriteYourFirstDraft.

-Beginwithapropercitationofthetitle,author,source,anddateofpublicationofthearticlesummarised.

-Combinethethesisstatementandyourone-sentencesegmentsummariesintoaone-to-two-paragraphsummary.

-Eliminateallunnecessarywordsandrepetitions.

-Eliminateallpersonalideasandinferences.

-Usetransitionsforasmoothandlogicalflowofideas.

-Concludewitha“summingup”sentencebystatingwhatcanbelearnedfromreadingthearticle.

►EditYourDraft.Checkyoursummarybyaskingthefollowingquestions:

-HaveIansweredthewho,what,when,why,andhowquestions?

-Ismygrammar,punctuation,andspellingcorrect?

-HaveIleftoutmypersonalviewsandideas?

-Doesmysummary“hangtogether”?

DoesitflowwhenIreaditaloud?

-Havesomeoneelsereadit.Doesthesummarygivethemthecentralideasofthearticle?

►WriteYourFinalDraft.

ASampleSummaryof“NationalSecurityJustifiesCensorship”

ByRogerS.Thomas

Introduction

Thearticle"NationalSecurityJustifiesCensorship"byElmoR.ZumwaltandJamesG.Zumwalt,appearsinCensorship,abookintheOpposingViewpointsSeries. Thearticleassertsthatinformationthatissecretandvitaltothesecurityofthenationshouldnotbereleasedtothepress.TheargumentsmadebyZumwaltSeniorandJunioraresummarizedbelow.

Summary

AlthoughmanyjournalistscontendthattheFirstAmendmentguaranteesunrestrictedprintingfreedom,theauthorsbelievethepresshasgainedmorepowerthantheframersoftheConstitutionforesawandthereforeneglectedtoinstallsafeguardsthatwouldprotectnationalsecurity.Accordingtotheauthors,thepowerofthemediahasgonefarpastwhattheconstitutionalframersexpected;consequently,severalactssincethewritingoftheConstitutionhavebeenimplementedtodealwiththelackofprotectionregardingnationalsecurity.Theauthorscontinuetoaffirmthateventhoughsignificantriskexistswhenconfidentialinformationisreleasedtothepress,thisdangerhasremainedunresolvedbythecourts.

Theauthorsciteanexampletoprovethispoint.TheCIAduringtheReaganadministrationrecognizedMuhamarQuadaffiasaknownterroristandapotentialthreattonationalsecurityinaclassifieddocument.TheWashingtonPostsomehowhadthedocumentdisclosedtothem,andtheysoonpublishedtheinformation.Severalmonthsaftertheoperationhadbeenabandoned,theCIAfoundQuadaffiresponsibleforthebombingofaWestBerlindiscotheque.Militaryactionhadtobetakenbecauseoftheearlierreleaseoftheclassifieddocument.Theoperationincurredmilitarycasualties.

Theauthorsthenofferatwo-partsolution:

（1）makethepublicationofclassifiedinformationapunishableoffense,and

（2）incorporatea"codeofethics"intomediaguidelinesthatsafeguardsnationalsecurity.Thepaperendsbydiscussinghowethicsaretheresponsibilityofgoodjournalism.

Conclusion

ElmoR.ZumwaltandJamesG.Zumwaltassertthatthemediaareoverpoweredandthenationalsecurityisunderprotected.Theybelievethatthegovernmentandthemediamusttakestepstoassureadisasterdoesnotoccur.

Thefirstsentenceofasummary

Youareexpectedtoidentifythetitleofthetextandtheauthorinthefirstsentence,aswellastheauthor’sthesisorcontrollingidea.Ageneralformatforthefirstsentenceisasfollows:

Inthearticle{“titleofArticle,”},{Author’sname}+{primaryverb}+{mainidea}.

Example:

Inthearticle“HowChildrenFail,”JohnHoltarguesthatmostchildrenfailbecausetheydonotdeveloptheirfullpotential.

Themostcommonlyusedprimaryverbsinclude:

1.claim2.recommend3.argue4.report5.show

6.insist7.explain8.describe9.suggest10.believe

ModelSummariesofArticles

Originalpassage

ThefollowingpassagewaswrittenbyMarcLaceyandpublishedinNewYorkTimesonNovember12,2004.

UsingaNewLanguageinAfricatoSaveDyingOnes

Swahilispeakerswishingtousea“compyuta”—ascomputerisrenderedinSwahili—havebeenoutofluckwhenitcomestocommunicatingintheirtongue.Computers,nomatterhowbulkytheirharddrivesorsophisticatedtheirsoftwarepackages,havenotyetmasteredSwahiliorhundredsofotherindigenousAfricanlanguages.

Butthatmaysoonchange.Acrossthecontinent,linguistsareworkingwithexpertsininformationtechnologytomakecomputersmoreaccessibletoAfricanswhohappennottoknowEnglish,French,ortheothermajorlanguagesthathavebeenprogrammedintotheworld’sdesktops.

Thereiseconomicreasonfortheoutreach.Microsoft,whichisworkingtoincorporateSwahiliintoMicrosoftWindows,MicrosoftOffice,andotherpopularprograms,seesamarketforitssoftwareamongtheroughly100millionSwahilispeakersinEastAfrica.ThesamegoesforGoogle,whichlastmonthlaunchedwww.google.co.ke,offeringaKenyanversioninSwahiliofthepopularsearchengine.

ButthecampaigntoAfricanizecyberspaceisnotallaboutthebottomline.TherearehundredsoflanguagesinAfrica—somespokenonlybyafewdozenelders—andtheyaredyingoutatanalarmingrate.Thecontinent’slinguistsseethecomputersasoneimportantwayofsavingthem.UNESCOestimatesthat90percentoftheworld’s6,000languagesarenotrepresentedontheInternetandthatonelanguagedisappearssomewherearoundtheworldeverytwoweeks.

（242words）

Summary

Inthearticle“UsingaNewLanguageinAfricatoSaveDyingOnes”（NewYorkTimes,November12,2004）,MarcLaceyreportsthatlinguistsandcomputerexpertsareworkingtodevelopcomputersthatworkinSwahiliandotherAfricanlanguages,sothatmanyAfricanscanusecomputersintheirnativelanguages.Economicsisonereasonfordoingso.ComputercompaniessuchasMicrosoftandGoogleseepotentiallyhugemarketfortheirproductsinAfrica.AnotherimportantreasonistosaveAfricanlanguagesthatareindangerofdyingout.

（88words）

Hereisanothermodelsummaryofamagazinearticle:

HowtoHealaHypochondriac

ByMichaelD.LemonickTuesday,Sept.30,2003

Ithappenstoeverymedicalstudentsoonerorlater.Yougetacoughthatpersistsforawhileorfeelafunnypaininthestomachornoticeatinylumpun