Exercise 5: Summary- read a text and summaries the relevant details in about 100 words Exam Technique a. Finding the details • underline the key words in the task • read the text once to understand the main ideas • read the task again and look carefully at the key words you have underlined • read the text a second time and underline the relevant details • number the details to check how many you have found- there should be about 8 b. Writing the summary • Start with a topic sentence which you take from the task e.g. :
“Read the following article about Romina the gorilla. Write a summary describing how her behaviour has changed since her eye operation." Start of your answer : Romina's behaviour changed in many ways after the operation. She ---”
• use your own words wherever possible but if you do not know a synonym for an important word use the word from the text • write in simple sentences and link each sentence together so that your answer flows. For example, for the topic above you can use pronouns e.g “she”. (Romina) and addition linkers e.g. “she also”, and “ as well as this she”.