**Summarising** is the process of condensing important information from an original source into a shorter, more manageable form while retaining all main ideas. Unlike note-making, which is personal and uses abbreviated forms, summarising presents information in complete sentences suitable for reporting to others.
A good summary must:
The summarising process follows several structured steps:
Unlike note-making, summarising requires:
Effective summarising employs **word economy** — replacing multiple words with single words that convey the same meaning.
**Example 1:**
Original: "Children who show intelligence far beyond their age often turn out to be mediocre in adult life."
Summary: "Precocious children often turn out to be mediocre in adult life."
(The single word "precocious" replaces the phrase "children who show intelligence far beyond their age")
**Example 2:**
Original: "Her genius was marked by excellence in the various arts, languages and science."
Summary: "She was a versatile genius."
(The word "versatile" replaces "excellence in the various arts, languages and science")
**Example 3:**
Original: "They are unable to eat normal milk because their bodies reject it."
Summary: "They are lactose-intolerant."
The original text discusses:
1. Botanical classification and growing conditions of soybeans
2. Multiple uses of soybeans (food, industrial)
3. Nutritional and health benefits
4. Practical preparation of soymilk
**Important points extracted:**
**Techniques applied:**
**Example of condensation:**
"The soybean leguminous plant which grows in all kinds of soil and climate yields beans, sprouts and a variety of processed food items..."
**Advanced condensation techniques:**
**Final condensed form:**
"Soybean, a legume, growing in a variety of soil and climatic conditions, yields beans, sprouts and a variety of food items and is used in making candles and bio-diesel. Rich in protein, vitamins, minerals and fibres, it is low in cholesterol and fat."
**Definition**: A noun phrase that renames or defines another noun, placed next to it.
**Example**: "Soybeans, the seeds of leguminous plants, grow in varied climates."
(The phrase "the seeds of leguminous plants" defines "soybeans")
**Definition**: Verb forms ending in "-ing" used to show action in a more compact way.
**Example**:
Original: "As the land dried out and vegetation decreased..."
Summary: "Drying land and decreasing vegetation..."
**Original**: "It is rich in vitamins, especially the B complex."
**Summary**: "Rich in B-complex vitamins..."
**Original**: "Although soymilk is lactose-free..."
**Summary**: "Lactose-free soymilk..."
**Original**: "Foods such as soy milk, tofu, tempeh, textured vegetable protein, miso, soy sauce..."
**Summary**: "Processed soy food items..."
Before finalizing your summary, verify:
✓ **Completeness**: Are all main ideas from the original included?
✓ **Accuracy**: Have you misrepresented any information?
✓ **Brevity**: Is the summary approximately one-third the original length?
✓ **Clarity**: Can readers understand the summary without reading the original?
✓ **Coherence**: Are ideas logically connected with appropriate connectors?
✓ **Precision**: Have you used economical language and avoided redundancy?
✓ **Structure**: Does the summary follow a logical paragraph organization?
✓ **Grammar**: Are all sentences grammatically correct and complete?
Q1. According to the study material, what is the PRIMARY purpose of summarising compared to note-making?
Answer: B — The study material clearly states that note-making is for personal reference, while summarising is used when main points are to be reported to others.
Q2. What should be the approximate length of a well-written summary in relation to the original passage?
Answer: B — The material states that a summary is usually one-third the length of the original passage, as demonstrated with the 225-word passage reduced to approximately 75 words.
Q3. Which of the following should be AVOIDED when writing a summary?
Answer: C — The study material explicitly states that examples, explanations, and repetitions should be avoided in summarising to keep it concise.
Q4. In the soybean example, the phrase 'a legume' placed between commas is an example of which technique for reducing summary length?
Answer: C — The material explains that phrases in apposition (like 'a legume' between commas) provide essential information without expanding the sentence structure.
Q5. How does the phrase 'precocious children' function as a compression technique compared to 'children who show intelligence far beyond their age'?
Answer: B — This example demonstrates using one word to replace many words—'precocious' efficiently conveys what would otherwise require multiple words.
Q6. Which of the following statements about connectors in summarising is correct? Assertion (A): Connectors like 'however', 'therefore', and 'also' are essential for linking summarised points into coherent sentences. Reason (R): Connectors show relationships between ideas and improve readability of the summary. Options: A. Both A and R are correct, and R is the correct explanation of A. B. Both A and R are correct, but R is not the correct explanation of A. C. A is correct but R is incorrect. D. Both A and R are incorrect.
Answer: A — The material explicitly states that points should be expanded into full sentences and linked using suitable connectors, making both assertion and reason correct and logically connected.
Q7. Read the following sentence: 'The Sahara, which was green 6,000 years ago, later became the world's driest desert due to monsoon migration.' Which technique would BEST compress this in a summary?
Answer: B — This option uses apposition ('once green and habitable') and participial phrases ('following monsoon migration') to compress information efficiently while maintaining all key ideas.
Q8. What is the KEY difference between 'nominalising verbs' (used in note-making) and the approach used in summarising?
Answer: A — The material states that note-making uses nominalisation for severe abbreviation, while summarising expands points into full sentences and connects them with suitable connectors.
Q9. Based on the Green Sahara passage, which of these is NOT one of the factors that caused the Sahara to become a desert? Assertion: The Northern Hemisphere's tilt towards the sun and perihelion alignment caused monsoons to shift northward 10,000 years ago, making the Sahara green. Reason: Around 5,000 years ago, the monsoon shifted back southward, and as vegetation decreased, soil lost its water retention, creating a runaway drying effect. Which combination correctly explains the desert formation? A. Only the monsoon shift caused desertification. B. Only reduced vegetation caused desertification. C. Both factors together (monsoon shift AND reduced vegetation feedback) caused the transformation. D. Human activity caused the primary desertification.
Answer: C — The passage shows a two-step process: first, the monsoon shift southward triggered drying, and then reduced vegetation created a feedback loop ('runaway drying effect') that permanently transformed the landscape.
Q10. HOTS: If you were to summarise the Green Sahara passage (approximately 480 words) to 160 words, which summarising strategies would you MOST need to apply to achieve this 67% reduction while retaining all main ideas?
Answer: B — A 67% reduction requires aggressive use of all techniques shown in the material: apposition phrases, participles, postponed verbs, and synonym compression, while maintaining essential cause-effect relationships that explain desertification.
What is the main difference between note-making and summarising?
Note-making uses abbreviated, nominalised points for personal reference, while summarising expands them into full sentences with connectors for reporting to others.
What is the target length of a good summary compared to the original?
A summary should typically be about one-third the length of the original passage.
Name three elements that should be avoided when summarising.
Examples, explanations, and repetitions should be avoided to keep the summary concise.
What does 'paraphrasing' mean in the context of summarising?
Paraphrasing means expressing the main ideas in your own words rather than copying directly from the original text.
What literary device is used in the example 'precocious children' instead of 'children who show intelligence far beyond their age'?
Compression or concise expression—using a single word to replace a longer phrase while maintaining the same meaning.
What are 'connectors' in summarising and why are they important?
Connectors are linking words (like 'however', 'therefore', 'also') that join summarised points into coherent sentences and show relationships between ideas.
Explain the role of 'underlining' in the summarising process.
Underlining important ideas while reading helps identify key points that must be retained in the summary.
What is meant by 'nominalising' verbs and when is it used?
Nominalising means converting verbs into nouns (e.g., 'grows' becomes 'growth'); it is used in note-making but not in summarising.
How can phrases in apposition help reduce a summary's length?
Phrases in apposition (like 'a legume' placed between commas) provide essential information without expanding the sentence structure.
What is a 'runaway drying effect' and what does it represent in the Green Sahara example?
It is a chain reaction where reduced vegetation prevents water retention, fewer clouds form, and the land becomes increasingly arid—showing cause-and-effect compression in summarising.
Define summarising and state two key ways it differs from note-making. [2 marks]
Summarising is paraphrasing all important information in full sentences with connectors. Differences: note-making is for personal reference and uses nominalisation; summarising is reportable and expands sentences.
Explain with an example how the phrase 'versatile genius' serves as a compression technique in summarising. What would be the fuller original phrase and why is compression important? [5 marks]
The phrase 'versatile genius' replaces 'excellence in various arts, languages and science.' Compression is important because it reduces word count while maintaining meaning and helps achieve the target length of one-third the original passage.
Summarise the Green Sahara passage in approximately 75 words, applying at least three compression techniques (apposition, present participles, or verb postponement). Retain all main ideas about how the Sahara transformed from green to desert. [6 marks]
Include: (1) Sahara was green 6,000 years ago due to monsoon migration; (2) monsoon shift southward 5,000 years ago triggered drying; (3) reduced vegetation created a runaway feedback effect; (4) current aquifers remain. Use apposition phrases like 'the Sahara, once green and habitable' and present participles like 'shifting southward' to compress information into full, connected sentences within 75 words.
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