Paraphrasing: an Example

Original

Despite the undoubted fact that everyone's vision of what constitutes success is different, one
should spend one's time establishing and finalizing one's personal vision of it. Otherwise, how
can you possibly understand what your final destination might be, or whether or not your
decisions are assisting you in moving in the direction of the goals which you've set yourself?

The two kinds of statement – mission and vision – can be invaluable to your approach, aiding
you, as they do, in focusing on your primary goal, and quickly identifying possibilities that you
might wish to exploit and explore.

Paraphrase

We all have different ideas about success. What's important is that you spend time defining your
version of success. That way, you'll understand what you should be working toward. You'll also
know if your decisions are helping you to move toward your goals.

Used as part of your personal approach to goal-setting, mission and vision statements are useful
for bringing sharp focus to your most important goal, and for helping you to quickly identify
which opportunities you should pursue.

Paraphrase Exercise: Paraphrase the following texts.

FOUR WHEELS GOOD
i)The growth of the car industry parallels the development of modern capitalism. It began in
France and Germany, but took off in the United States. There Henry Ford adapted the moving
production line from the Chicago meat industry to motor manufacturing, thus inventing mass
production. In the 1920s Alfred Sloan’s management theories helped General Motors to become
the world’s dominant car company. After the Second World War the industry developed
‘planned obsolescence’, whereby frequent model changes encouraged customers to buy new cars
more often than they needed to. Later, from the 1970’s, environmentalists began to criticize the
industry for producing inefficient models which used too much fuel, contributing to global
warming. At this time, trade unions became increasingly militant in defense of their member’s
jobs. Today the industry owns some of the strongest brands in the world. However, many major
car companies struggle with stagnant markets and falling profits. (SL-1-12)
ii) Before the last century no humans had visited Antarctica, and even today the vast continent
has a winter population of fewer than 200 people. However, a recent report from a New Zealand
government agency outlines the scale of the population problem in the ice and snow. Although
untouched compared with other regions in the world, the bitter cold of Antarctica means that the
normal process of decay is prevented. As a result some research stations are surrounded by the
rubbish of nearly 60 years’ operations.
Despite popular belief, the polar continent is really a desert, with less precipitation than the
Sahara in the past, snowfall slowly covered the waste left behind, like beer cans of dead ponies,
but now, possibly due to global warming, the ice is thinning and these are being exposed. Over
10 years ago the countries using Antarctica agreed a treaty on waste disposal, under which
everything is to be taken home, and this is slowly improving the situation. However, the
scientists do not want everything removed. The remains of very early expeditions at the
beginning of the twentieth century have acquired historical value and will be preserved. (SL- 13-
26)
iii) It has never been denied that Dante the political philosopher as well as Dante the poet
assimilated to the full political doctrines by which his century was moved. In fact, Dante held a
key-position in the political and intellectual discussions around 1300, and if in a superficial
manner he has often been labeled reactionary, it is simply the prevalence of the imperial idea in
Dante’s works—different though it was from that of the preceding centuries—which obscured
the overwhelmingly unconventional features of his moral-political outlook. From Ernst H.
Kantorowicz, The King’s Two Bodies. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1981. (SL-27-40)

Source: http://www.cz-training.com/toefl/paraphrase05.html

Summarizing: an Example
Original Passage

Alexander Fleming is well-known for his accidental discovery of penicillin. In 1940, after
returning home from a vacation, he discovered mold growing on a laboratory petri dish. Noting
that the mold was adept at killing the disease in the same dish, he actively tried to replicate it.
Eventually, this resulted in the innovation of the penicillin drug.

Summarized Passage

Penicillin was discovered in the early 1940s. Alexander Fleming had returned from a trip and
found mold growing on a petri dish. Its effects on the disease led to it being used as a clinical
drug.

1. Read the following text and compare the summaries. Decide which the best, giving
reasons is.
Researchers in France and the United States have recently reported that baboons are able to think
abruptly. It has been known for some time that chimpanzees are capable of abrupt thought, but
baboons are the most distant relation to mankind. In the experiment, scientists trained two
baboons to use a personal computer and a joystick. The animals had to match computer designs
which were basically the same, but had the superficial differences. In the experiment the baboons
performed better than would be expected by chance. The researchers describe their study in an
article in the Journal of Experimental Psychology.
 a) French and American scientists have shown for the first time that the baboons have the
ability to think in an abstract way. The animals were taught to use the computer, and then
had to select patterns that were similar, which they did at a rate better than chance.
b) Baboons are a kind of monkey more distant from man than chimpanzees. Although it is
known that chimpanzees are able to think abstractly, until recently it was not clear if
baboons could do the same. But new research by various scientists has shown that this is
so.
c) According to a recent article in the Journal of Experimental Psychology, baboons are able
to think in an abstract way. The article describes how researchers trained to baboons to
use personal computer and a joystick. The animals did better than would be expected.

2. Read the following text and underline the key points.

Indian researchers are trying to find out if there is any truth in old sayings which claim to predict
the weather. In Gujarat farmers had the choice of planting either peanuts, which are more
profitable in wet years, or castor, which does better in drier conditions. The difference depends
on the timing of the monsoon rains, which can arrive in any time between the beginning and the
middle of June. Farmers, however, have to decide what seeds to sow in April and May.

There is a local saying, at least a thousand years old, which claims that the monsoon starts 45
days after the flowering of a common tree, Casie fistula. Dr. Kanani, an agronomist from Gujarat
Agricultural University, has been studying the relationship since 1996, and has found that the
tree does successfully predict the approximate date of the monsoon’s arrival.

Complete the following notes of the key points.

a) Indian scientists checking ancient …………………………………..
…………………………………..
b) Old saying links monsoon to ………………………………………..
……………………………………..
c) Used by farmers to select peanuts (for wet) or…………………….
……………………………….
d) Dr Kanani of Gujarat Agricultural University has found that ……
……………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………

Summary Exercises:
Summarize the following paragraphs in 70 words maximum:
South Korea is planning to move its capital from Seoul to new site in the middle of the
country. Although Seoul has been the capital since the fourteenth century, the city of over
20 million is now very crowded, and also close to the hostile armies of North Korea. The
new capital is planned to cost $45 billion, with construction finishing by 2012.

There is, however, strong opposition to the project, since similar schemes in other
countries have taken far longer and cost much more than originally planned. Australia,
for example, took over 70 years to finish building Canberra, while Nigeria has never
completed its planned new capital, Abuja. Both Brazil and Malaysia have found that the
building of new capitals (Brasilia and Putrajaya) can sharply increase the national burden
of debt. Even if the government does eventually move to the new capital, it is unlikely
that South Korea’s main businesses will follow it, so Seoul will probably continue to be
the country’s principle city. (165 words)

Summarize the following paragraphs in number of words in brackets:

A) Research on children’s advertising would not seem to support a ban. Psychology
professor, Adrian Furnham, argues against any restrictions, noting “Peer influences and
parenting styles are massively more influential in determining children’s behaviour and
achievements than advertising” (Stokes and Brown, 2011). Furthermore, a German study
points out that, on average, children between three and thirteen years old spend only
1.4% of their waking time watching adverts. That said, in the UK, this translates into 18
000 adverts a year (Grissom, 2010). However until there has been definitive research
linking behaviour to advertising, it would seem premature to argue for a ban, but perhaps
some regulation is needed, especially given parents’ concerns. (60 words)

B) One restriction would arguably be on food advertising. 95% of these during children’s
television programmes were for products high in fat, salt or sugar (Grissom, 2010) and
many, including the World Health Organisation, believe that there is a link between such
foods and increasing levels of obesity and high blood pressure. Yet for every $1 spent by
the WHO to combat these effects of a poor diet, the global food industry spends $500,
part of an annual industry worth $25 billion (WHO, 2009). It is obviously not a fair fight
and as children’s health is at stake, there is a strong case for a limitation on food
advertising to the young. (30 words)

C) This could well help children. However, the downside of any such regulation could be
damage to business, such as to the above mentioned food industry who would obviously
see profits fall. Another less direct casualty would be children’s television. At present,
this industry is heavily reliant on advertising revenues. Martin Bowley of the media
organization Carlton Sales, remarked “Without TV advertising in the UK, the ability of
commercial TV stations to deliver high quality programs to young people would be
severely affected” (BBC, 2007). Of ITV’s £39 million children’s commissioning budget,
£11 million came from advertising (BBC, 2007). The removal of this support could lead
to jobs losses, and a flood of cheap American exports. There is also the wider implication
of any ban, with many within the EU saying it would contravene the whole idea of free
trade in goods and services that the EU is based on, and would in fact be illegal. (30
words)