(Sáng kiến kinh nghiệm) some strategies to teach how to summarize a passage effectively

MÔN TIẾNG ANH – MÃ CHẤM: A01a

SOME STRATEGIES TO TEACH HOW TO
SUMMARIZE A PASSAGE EFFECTIVELY


Table of contents
INTRODUCTION …………………………………………………………… 2
PART I: THEORY OF SUMMARY……………………………………… ...4
1. Definition of summary ……………………………………………...….. 4
2. Characteristics of a good summary …………………………………….. 4
2.1.

Language ………………………………………………………… 4

2.2.

Content …………………………………………………………... 6

2.3.

Length ………………………………………………………….... 7

3. Processes of summarizing …………………………………………….... 7
3.1.

Selection process ……………………………………………....… 7

3.2.

Reduction process ……………………………………………….. 7

4. Strategies for summarizing ……………………………………………... 8
4.1.

Journalists’ questions ………………………………………..…… 8

4.2.

“Somebody Wanted But So” ………………………………..…… 9

4.3.

Writing one-sentence summary ……………………………...…. 10

4.4.

Using annotations or maps …………………………………….... 10

PART II: APPLICATION ………………………………………………….. 13
1. Guided practice ………………………………………………………... 13
2. Suggested exercises ……………………………………………………. 20
CONCLUSION …………………………………………………………….…37
References…………………………………………………………………..….38

1


INTRODUCTION
Writing a summary is of paramount importance in language learning. It
provides students with valuable practice in reading and writing as it forces

students to focus on understanding the whole passage to pick out the main ideas
and communicate their meaning in their own words. Their vocabulary and
grammar are, therefore, improved considerably. It also helps with developing
critical thinking skills because students have to decide on the main ideas of the
reading to include in the summary.
With the recognition of the importance and usefulness of summarization,
a task of summarizing has been introduced in the national exam of selecting
English-gifted students in the last few years. Summarizing seems to be a big
challenge to most students. They do not know how to start with this new kind of
task in the exam. They often either copy verbatim, write long, detailed
“summaries” or write excessively short ones missing information. This failure
can be partially explained by the lack of careful and detailed guidance from
teachers in supporting learners to find the most suitable and effective strategies.
It is understandable as summarizing skills are not officially taught in the school.
In class, students may only be required to summarize a text with nonspecific
instructions. These instructions are not technical enough to be helpful for
students.
This matter has inspired the author to conduct an investigation on “Some
strategies to teach how to summarize a passage effectively” with a view to
sharing her practical experience with other teachers. The subjects of the study
are English-gifted students who are carefully selected for intensive training for
the national exam of English proficiency held by the Ministry of Education and
Training annually. All of them have learnt English at least 6 years and have a
good command of English.
The study is composed of two main parts. Part I is the theoretical
foundation in which the definition, the characteristics, the processes and the

2

strategies of a summary are reviewed. Part II presents the application. In this
part, the guided practice as well as suggested exercises are provided.

3


PART I: THEORY OF SUMMARY
1.DEFINITION OF SUMMARY
There have been a variety of definitions of summary, from rather broad to
more detailed ones. Delamont (1994, p.30), for instance, defines a summary as
“the reduction of a large amount of information to its most important points.”
Wohl (1978, p.127), on the other hand, states that “to summarize is to report
information using a lot fewer words than were used in the original
communication.” What is crucial in making a good summary, he argues, is the
ability to identify essentials – the main points and ideas of the text. According to
Johnson (1983, p.45), identifying what is important in a text depends on good
sampling but it also depends on knowing what to look for – the clues which
helps us to identify the important points – and to separate them from the less
important details. According to those definitions, what is necessary for a
summary writer is to omit some details, or at least state them concisely. In
addition, he needs to make sure that none of the main point or idea is lost and
that the emphasis of the original is not changed.
In short, the various definitions of summary suggest that a summary is a
brief statement that represents the condensation of information and reflects the
gist of the discourse. It can be thought of as a study outline that is connected by
sentences rather than numbers, letters or indentations (Johnson, 1983).

2. CHARACTERISTICS OF A GOOD SUMMARY
2.1.Language:
 Condensed

- Use only necessary words and phrases
- Say an idea only once; don’t repeat
 Restated
- Put the author’s ideas in your own words, avoid direct quotations.
 Unbiased
4


- Omit any personal opinions, ideas, thoughts, illustrations, and
inferences.
An outstanding feature of a summary is the use of reporting words. Reporting
expressions are of great importance:
- to show clearly whose idea you are dealing with at this point in your
essay.
- to indicate the mode of argumentation being used by the writer, e.g.:
believing, conceding, using analogies, giving examples, …

Suggested expressions:
Introduction

Content

- In (title), author (author) discusses - (Author) provides the reader with
(topic).

(details).

- In (title), (author) explains the - (Title/ Author) shows how to
principles of (topic).

(details).

- (Title) offered a detailed and - (Author) begins by explaining how
practical introduction to (topic).

…

- (Title) is a detailed account of - Then (author) …
(topic).

-

Chapter

(number)

focuses

on

- (Title) is an essential guide to (details).
(topic).

Reporting verbs
Use reporting verbs, e.g. explain, describe when you summarize the ideas of the
writer of a text. These verbs are used in different ways:
 Verb + that + Clause
E.g. explain, argue, believe, claim, …
The writer explains that this bridge was built to reduce the traffic
problems in the city.

5


 Verb + Noun/ Indirect question
E.g. present, describe, explain, …
The author first describes the Petronas Towers in Malaysia.
The writer explains why the dam was constructed.

Strong

Neutral

Argument

Counter-

Suggestion

Criticism

argument

- argue

- state

-

refute

the - suggest

- claim

- report

claim

- contend

- explain

- argue against

- maintain

- discuss

- insist

- illustrate

- criticize

- recommend

- posit

2.2.Content:
 Proper citation

- The summary begins by citing the title, author, source, and, in the case
of a magazine or a journal article, the date of publication and the text.
 Thesis statement
- is summarized clearly and accurately in a one-sentence thesis statement.
- does not contain specific details discussed in the text.
- is stated at the beginning of the summary.
 Supporting ideas
- Cover all of the author’s major supporting ideas.
- Show the relationships among these ideas.
- Omit specifics, such as illustrations , descriptions, and detailed
explanations.

6


2.3. Length:
The summary should be no more than 1/3 the length of the original paragraph or
article.
Notes:
A summary should not include:
- Your personal opinion, inference, suggestion or advice.
- Paraphrase of technical terms.
- Copied material or a string of quotes from the selection.

3. PROCESSES OF SUMMARIZING
According to Johnson (1983, p.354), whatever strategies are applied to
summarize a passage, learners all follow these two processes.

3.1. Selection process: make judgements about what text information should be
included or rejected.

* Read the selection carefully, as many times as it takes for you to
understand and identify the author’s thesis and main ideas. You might underline
or take notes on the key ideas as you read.
* Identify important information of the text:
- Pay attention to signal device that author uses to stress importance:
introductory statements, topic sentence, summary statements, underlining,
italics, …
- Seek key words and phrases that manage to capture the gist.
* Strip away the redundant examples, descriptions, detailed explanations.
* Save the crucial details that support the main idea.

3.2. Reduction process: condense the ideas by substituting general ideas for
more detailed ones.
- Using your own words, present the author’s thesis and other main ideas
in a few concise sentences. Do not copy sentences directly from the original text.
7


Use your own words to convey the main ideas as clearly and concisely as
possible.
- Substitute a superordinate term for a list of items.
E.g. If a text contains a list such as chair, table, desk, bed
→ substitute the word furniture.
- Substitute an encompassing action for a list of subcomponents of that
action.
E.g. “John left the house. He went to the train station. He bought a ticket to
London.”
→ John went to London by train.
- Do not give your own opinion or interpretation of the material you are
summarizing. Your goal is an objective, accurate, condensed overview of the

selection that does not reveal your attitude toward the ideas presented.

4. STRATEGIES FOR SUMMARIZING
4.1.

Journalists’ questions:

Called Journalists’ questions or 5 Ws and an H, these simple questions help
writers identify important information about a topic. Only after the questions
have been answered, can writers organize their summaries. This strategy proves
to be effective to deal with descriptive passages.
* WHO:

- Who are the primary or most important characters?
- Who are the secondary characters?
- Who participated?
- Who is affected?

* WHAT:

- What is the topic of the lesson?
- What is its significance?
- What is the problem?
- What are the issues?
- What happened?

* WHERE: - Where did the event occur?
8

- Where is the setting?
- Where is the source of the problem?
* WHEN:

- When did the event occur?
- When did the problem begin?
- When is it most important?

* WHY:

- Why did the event, issue, or problem occur?
- Why did it develop the way it did?

* HOW:

- How is the problem important?
- How can the problem be resolved?
- How does it affect the participants or characters identified?

Not all these questions will be answered in a paragraph. In other words, some
of the questions might be irrelevant to the topic. For example, if the topic
focuses on weather trends of the past 10 years, the Who element will probably
not be particularly important.

4.2.

“Somebody Wanted But So” Strategy

The Somebody Wanted But So strategy goes by many names, depending
upon the genre or content being studied. The strategy helps students understand

the various plot elements of conflict and resolution. Either during reading or
after reading, students complete a chart that identifies a character resolved (or
failed to resolve) those problems. The strategy helps students generalize,
recognize cause and effect relationships, and find main ideas. However, it seems
to be inappropriate for students to summarize a long complex passages with
many strata of meaning.
- Somebody/ Someone = main character or a group of people
- Wanted/ Because = main events or a group’s motivation
- But = the conflict or problem
- So = the resolution of the problem

9


Somebody Wanted

But

Mary

Her

to go to the ball

So
wicked Her fairy godmother

stepsisters

and waved her wand and

mother didn’t want a carriage, a gown,
the beautiful Mary at a
the ball
The Senate to
candidate

get

men

appeared.

elected The incumbent had She

because

carriage

was

soundly

she more political clout defeated.

disagreed with the and money
incumbent on many
issues.

4.3.

Writing one-sentence summary

Students sometimes need to summarize a paragraph in one sentence, for
example, when writing a short answer to a test question, or when citing a
research study in an essay. To write one-sentence summary, you need to figure
out the topic and controlling idea covered by the text and then find a way to
capture them in a few words.
Despite its benefits, this strategy cannot help students deal with their task in
the national exam of selecting English- gifted students as they are required to
write a paragraph to summarize a given passage.

4.4.

Using annotations or maps

According to Rinehart and Thomas (1993), an effective summary requires
reflection and decision making. They argue that for a good summary one must
see how text ideas relate, reduce important information to the given level of
organizational gist, and finally capture that gist in written form. Using
annotations and maps is highly recommended strategy to figure out the main
ideas and major details. Certain type of text can use either or both of
annotations or maps.
10


Summary of a paragraph = MAIN IDEA + major details
* Annotating:
After reading the passage, students should annotate by:
 [Placing brackets around the main idea]

 Underlining key words and phrases that support the main idea.
 WRITING KEY WORDS IN THE MARGIN
 Crossing out any information that is not important

* Mapping:
 Make a map with the information you underlined and marked
 Write a summary that includes all the important information you’ve
identified
 Paraphrase – don’t copy the exact words from the reading; try to put the
information in your own words.
MAIN IDEA

DETAIL 1

DETAIL 2

DETAIL 3

The subjects of this study are English-gifted students who had learnt
English at least 6 years and have a good command of English. They are all
carefully selected to take part in the annual national English language
proficiency exam. In this exam, they are expected to summarize a passage of
advanced level. The fourth strategy rather than the first three strategies,
11


therefore, does seem to help them summarize those kinds of passages. In the
next part, the author will give more detailed guidance on how to apply this
strategy in the real context.

12


PART II: APPLICATION
1. GUIDED PRACTICE
In this stage of the lesson, the teacher carefully guides students to carry
out all the steps of annotating and mapping techniques respectively. Teacher can
ask students to either make annotations or draw maps or both depending on the
complexity of each passage.

Practice 1: Summarize the following passage
Computers have become a necessity for both small and large business
today. It takes a computer less than a second to retrieve information that takes a
person several hours to obtain. It is for this reason that banks, airlines, and fast
food restaurants rely so heavily on them. In addition, computers can store large
amounts of data in a relatively small space. Because of this, offices need less
storage space equipment such as file cabinets and supply closets.
* Annotating:
MAIN IDEA →

[Computers have become a necessity for both small and large
business today.] It takes a computer less than a second to

- Speed in information retrieve information that takes a person several hours to obtain.
retrieval

It is for this reason that banks, airlines, and fast food restaurants
rely so heavily on them. In addition, computers can store large

- Ability to store large amounts of data in a relatively small space. Because of this,

amounts of information

offices need less storage space equipment such as file cabinets
and supply closets.

* Mapping:
Computers are important for businesses

Speed in information
retrieval

Ability to store large
amounts of information
of data
13


* Suggested summary:
Computers are important for businesses because of their speed in
retrieving information and their ability to store large amounts of data in small
spaces.

Practice 2: Summarize the following passage
THE ECOLOGY OF WAR
By Rick Boling
“Pity the nation that wears a cloth it does not weave … eats a bread it
does not harvest … pity the nation that boasts not except among its ruins … and
those whose art is the art of patching and mimicking.”_ Kahlil Gibran.
When Kahlil Gibran, patron saint of Lebanon, wrote these words he never
imagined that the country he was describing would be his own. For like Henry

David Thoreau, Gibran was first and foremost poet laureate of the land. “Every
time I close my eyes,” he once said, “I see those valleys full of magic and
dignity and those mountains covered with glory and greatness trying to reach the
sky.”
But according to Lebanese ecologist Ricardo Haber, Gibran could never
describe those magical mountains and valleys today. “Where would he get his
inspiration?”, asks Haber, founder of a conservationist group called The Friends
of Nature. “What landscape would he see?”
Reflected in Haber’s despair is the environmental devastation that has left
his once-lush country under an avalanche of physical and psychological debris.
From the destruction of its famous cedar forests to the now-rancid shores of the
Mediterranean, Lebanon is reeling under perhaps the worst ecological disruption
suffered by any country in history.
Once a nation whose staple foods included an abundance of fish drawn
from the sparkling waters of the Mediterranean. Lebanon, for the first time in his
history, is now forced to import fish from Syria and Turkey. According to
Haber, the scarcity has resulted from the beleaguered nation’s inability to
14


enforce laws protecting the integrity of its seas. Perhaps the major problems, he
notes, are the new preferred tools for fishing – dynamite and poison bait. These
illegal techniques allow fishermen to catch large numbers of fish, notes Haber, a
professor at the American University of Beirut. But they also destroy the ocean
habitat. The sea is further polluted by solid wastes and chemicals scattered along
the rocky beach. “Treatment facilities were being built, Haber explains, “but we
can’t construct a plant or regulate an industry with the Shiites on one side of
town and the Druse on the other.”
At the other end of the ecological spectrum, Haber adds, stand the pitiful
remains of the famous cedar forests, whose trees have been cut for camouflage

and firewood. Another, less direct cause of deforestation is the vicious shooting
of birds – a psychological manifestation, says Haber, of the anger and frustration
accompanying the war. In the past ten years, he notes, some 400.000 people
have been involved in a “virtual massacre of birds” in the skies over Lebanon.
As these birds, including stocks, falcons, eagles, and swallows are killed, he
notes, the forests’ tree-eating insects reproduce unchecked.
Destruction of the forests, moreover, has caused soil erosion and
diminished the supply of fresh water. Without forested watersheds, says Haber,
much of the topsoil and rainfall just runs into the sea.
Finally, the disruption of war has also taken its roll on Lebanon’s
agriculture. Land not destroyed by the negligence of the feuding Lebanese has
been devastated by occupying forces, who build trenches and burn crops. And
lack of government planning has allowed uncontrolled urbanization at the
expense of fertile plains. For Haber, this is where the war has had the most
drastic effect. “To my mind,” he says, “the worst oppression one can inflict on
people is to destroy their agricultural potential and leave them wanting for
food”.
But hope for the Lebanese environment appears to be as elusive as and
end to the hostilities. A reversal of the situation would require an enormous
cleanup effort based on cooperation among all citizens, adherence to existing
15


environmental laws, and creation of an environmental body with full political
support.
Such far-reaching changes in a country already losing its identity in the
violence among various internal factions may be little more than pipe dreams.
For Haber, however, such nations are not just pie-in-the-sky ideas. Unless steps
are taken and pressure is brought to bear from the international conservation
community, any hope of an ecological reversal may evaporate. “We cannot

afford the pace and magnitude of the damage,” says Haber, “for the point of no
return is imminent.”

Annotating:
THE ECOLOGY OF WAR
By Rick Boling
“Pity the nation that wears a cloth it does not weave … eats a
bread it does not harvest … pity the nation that boasts not except
among its ruins … and those whose art is the art of patching and
mimicking.”_ Kahlil Gibran.
When Kahlil Gibran, patron saint of Lebanon, wrote these
words he never imagined that the country he was describing would be
his own. For like Henry David Thoreau, Gibran was first and foremost
poet laureate of the land. “Every time I close my eyes,” he once said,
“I see those valleys full of magic and dignity and those mountains
covered with glory and greatness trying to reach the sky.”
But according to Lebanese ecologist Ricardo Haber, Gibran
could never describe those magical mountains and valleys today.
“Where would he get his inspiration?”, asks Haber, founder of a
conservationist group called The Friends of Nature. “What landscape
would he see?”
Reflected in Haber’s despair is the environmental devastation
that has left his once-lush country under an avalanche of physical and
psychological debris. From the destruction of its famous cedar forests
to the now-rancid shores of the Mediterranean, [Lebanon is reeling
MAIN IDEA

under perhaps the worst ecological disruption suffered by any
country in history.]

16


Once a nation whose staple foods included an abundance of
fish drawn from the sparkling waters of the Mediterranean. Lebanon,
for the first time in his history, is now forced to import fish from
The sea

(1)

Syria and Turkey. According to Haber, the scarcity has resulted from
the beleaguered nation’s inability to enforce laws protecting the

(2)

integrity of its seas. Perhaps the major problems, he notes, are the new
preferred tools for fishing – dynamite and poison bait. These illegal

(3)

techniques allow fishermen to catch large numbers of fish, notes
Haber, a professor at the American University of Beirut. But they also
destroy the ocean habitat. The sea is further polluted by solid wastes

(4)

and chemicals scattered along the rocky beach. “Treatment facilities
were being built, Haber explains, “but we can’t construct a plant or
regulate an industry with the Shiites on one side of town and the Druse
on the other.”

Cedar forests

At the other end of the ecological spectrum, Haber adds, stand
(1)

the pitiful remains of the famous cedar forests, whose trees have
been cut for camouflage and firewood. Another, less direct cause of

(2)

deforestation is the vicious shooting of birds – a psychological
manifestation, says Haber, of the anger and frustration accompanying
the war. In the past ten years, he notes, some 400.000 people have been
involved in a “virtual massacre of birds” in the skies over Lebanon. As
these birds, including stocks, falcons, eagles, and swallows are killed,
he notes, the forests’ tree-eating insects reproduce unchecked.
Destruction of the forests, moreover, has caused soil erosion

(3)

and diminished the supply of fresh water. Without

forested

watersheds, says Haber, much of the topsoil and rainfall just runs into
the sea.
The land

Finally, the disruption of war has also taken its roll on

(1)

Lebanon’s agriculture. Land not destroyed by the negligence of the
feuding Lebanese has been devastated by occupying forces, who

(2)

build trenches and burn crops. And lack of government planning

(3)

has allowed uncontrolled urbanization at the expense of fertile
plains. For Haber, this is where the war has had the most drastic effect.
“To my mind,” he says, “the worst oppression one can inflict on people
is to destroy their agricultural potential and leave them wanting for

17


food”.
But hope for the Lebanese environment appears to be as elusive
Conclusion

as an end to the hostilities. A reversal of the situation would require an
enormous cleanup effort based on cooperation among all citizens,
adherence to existing

environmental laws, and creation of an

environmental body with full political support.

Such far-reaching changes in a country already losing its
identity in the violence among various internal factions may be little
more than pipe dreams. For Haber, however, such nations are not just
Conclusion

pie-in-the-sky ideas. Unless steps are taken and pressure is brought to
bear from the international conservation community, any hope of an
ecological reversal may evaporate. “We cannot afford the pace and
magnitude of the damage,” says Haber, “for the point of no return is
imminent.”

18


Mapping

MAP: ECOLOGY OF WAR

MAIN IDEA: The once lush country of Lebanon is now faced
with a devastated ecological system due to war

The Sea

Cedar Forests

The Land

- Forced to import
fish from Syria

- Trees cut for
camouflage

- Land destroyed
by negligence,

- Inability to
enforce laws to
protect the sea.

- Shooting of birds
leave tree-eating
insects invade the
forests

occupying
forces, poor
government
planning

- Causes oil
erosion &
diminished water

- Trenches &
burned crops

supply

urbanization

- Fishing tools
used – dynamite &
poisonous bait
- Pollution of
shores by solid &
chemical waste

- Too much

Conclusion: Need for cooperation of Lebanese citizens, government
& global communities to reverse ecological problems

19


Sample Summary:
The article, “The Ecology of War” by Rich Boling discusses how the once
lush country of Lebanon is now faced with a devastated ecological system. He
points out hoe the destructions of war have affected Lebanon’s ecology. One
such effect is that the country must now import fish from Syria and Turkey due
to the nation’s inability to enforce laws protecting its seas. Dynamite and
poisonous bait have infiltrated the once clean waters of the Mediterrean. The sea
is further polluted from unrestricted solid wastes and chemicals that are dumped
in the water. The cedar forests have also suffered. Tress have been cut down for
camouflage and fire wood, while the soil has been dug out for trenches. The
vicious shooting of birds has left tree-eating insects to invade the remaining
trees. War has also destroyed Lebanon’s agricultural industry because the land
has been damaged by negligence, occupying forces, and lack of government
planning. This total damage to Lebanon’s ecological system may be irreversible.

In conclusion, according to the author, it will take cooperation among the
Lebanese citizens as well as the international community to help repair the
damage.

2. SUGGESTED EXERCISES:
Exercise 1: Summarize the following passage:
If by “suburb” is meant an urban margin that grows more rapidly than its
already developed interior, the process of suburbanization began during the
emergence of the industrial city in the second quarter of the nineteenth century.
Before that period the city was a small highly compact cluster in which people
moved about on foot and goods were conveyed by horse and cart. But the early
factories, built in the 1830’s and 1840’s, were located along waterways and near
railheads at the edges of cities, and housing was needed for the thousands of
people drawn by the prospect of employment. In time, the factories were
surrounded by proliferating mill towns of apartments and row houses that
abutted the older, main cities. As a defense against this encroachment and to
20


enlarge their tax bases, the cities appropriated their industrial neighbors. In
1854, for example, the city of Philadelphia annexed most of Philadelphia
County. Similar municipal maneuvers took place in Chicago and in New York.
Indeed, most great cities of the United States achieved such status only by
incorporating the communities along their borders.
With the acceleration of industrial growth came acute urban crowding and
accompanying social stress conditions that began to approach disastrous
proportions when, in 1888, the first commercially successful electric traction
line was developed. Within a few years the horse – drawn trolleys were retired
and electric streetcar networks crisscrossed and connected every major urban
area, fostering a wave of suburbanization that transformed the compact

industrial city into a dispersed metropolis. This first phase of mass – scale
suburbanization was reinforced by the simultaneous emergence of the urban
Middle class whose desires for homeownership. In neighborhoods far from the
aging inner city were satisfied by the developers of single-family housing tracts.
Annotating:
If by “suburb” is meant an urban margin that grows more
rapidly than its already developed interior, [the process of
suburbanization began during the emergence of the industrial

MAIN IDEA →

city in the second quarter of the nineteenth century.] Before
that period the city was a small highly compact cluster in which
people moved about on foot and goods were conveyed by horse
and cart. But the early factories, built in the 1830’s and 1840’s,
were located along waterways and near railheads at the edges of
(1)An

increasing

pressure of housing

cities, and housing was needed for the thousands of people
drawn by the prospect of employment. In time, the factories
were surrounded by proliferating mill towns of apartments and

demand for workers

row houses that abutted the older, main cities. As a defense against
(2)

the

cities’

appropriation
surrounding areas

of

this encroachment and to enlarge their tax bases, the cities
appropriated their industrial neighbors. In 1854, for example,
the city of Philadelphia annexed most of Philadelphia County.
Similar municipal maneuvers took place in Chicago and in New

21


York. Indeed, most great cities of the United States achieved such
status only by incorporating the communities along their borders.
With the acceleration of industrial growth came acute
urban crowding and accompanying social stress conditions that
began to approach disastrous proportions when, in 1888, the first
commercially successful electric traction line was developed.
Within a few years the horse – drawn trolleys were retired and
electric streetcar networks crisscrossed and connected every major
urban area, fostering a wave of suburbanization that transformed
(3) the emergence of the compact industrial city into a dispersed metropolis. This first
the Middle Class and phase of mass – scale suburbanization was reinforced by the
their desire for house simultaneous emergence of the urban Middle class whose

ownership

desires for homeownership. In neighborhoods far from the aging
inner city were satisfied by the developers of single-family
housing tracts.

Mapping
the process of suburbanization began during the emergence of
the industrial city in the second quarter of the nineteenth
century

An increasing
pressure of
housing
demand for
workers

the cities’
appropriation
of surrounding
areas

22

the emergence
of the Middle
Class and their
desire for
house
ownership

Sample answer:
The provided extract describes three factors leading to a suburbanization
process in the United States in the nineteenth century. The first reason was an
industrial growth in American cities, which resulted in an increasing pressure of
housing demand for workers in the city inners. Therefore, these cities had to
appropriate their surrounding areas to meet this need. The last one was the
emergence of the Middle Class in the American society, together with their
desire for house ownership in the city margins, further accelerated this process.

Exercise 2: Summarize the following passage
Many artists late in the last century were in search of a means to express
their individuality. Modern dance was one of the ways some of these people
sought to free their creative spirit. At the beginning there was no exacting
technique, no foundation from which to build. In later years, trial, error, and
genius founded the techniques and the principles of the movement. Eventually,
innovators even drew from what they considered the dread ballet, but first they
had to discard all that was academic so that the new could be discovered. The
beginnings of modern dance were happening before Isadora Duncan, but she
was the first person to bring the new dance to general audiences and see it
accepted and acclaimed.
Her search for a natural movement form sent her to nature. She believed
movement should be as natural as the swaying of the trees and the rolling waves
of the sea, and should be in harmony with the movements of the Earth. Her great
contributions are in three areas.
First, she began the expansion of the kinds of movements that could be
used in dance. Before Duncan danced, ballet was the only type of dance
performed in concert. In the ballet the feet and legs were emphasized, with
virtuosity shown by complicated, codified positions and movements. Duncan

performed dance by using all her body in the freest possible way. Her dance

23


stemmed from her soul and spirit. She was one of the pioneers who broke
tradition so others might be able to develop the art.
Her second contribution lies in dance costume. She discarded corset,
ballet shoes and stiff costumes. These were replaced with flowing Grecian
tunics, bare feet, and unbound hair. She believed in the natural body being
allowed to move freely, and her dress displayed this ideal.
Her third contribution was in the use of music. In her performances she
used the symphonies of great masters, including Beethoven and Wagner, which
was not the usual custom. She was as exciting and eccentric in her personal life
as in her dance.
Annotating
Many artists late in the last century were in search of a
means to express their individuality. Modern dance was one of
the ways some of these people sought to free their creative spirit.
At the beginning there was no exacting technique, no foundation
from which to build. In later years, trial, error, and genius founded
the techniques and the principles of the movement. Eventually,
innovators even drew from what they considered the dread ballet,
but first they had to discard all that was academic so that the new
could be discovered. The beginnings of modern dance were
happening before [Isadora Duncan, but she was the first person
MAIN IDEA →

to bring the new dance to general audiences and see it
accepted and acclaimed.]

Her search for a natural movement form sent her to nature.
She believed movement should be as natural as the swaying of the
trees and the rolling waves of the sea, and should be in harmony
with the movements of the Earth. Her great contributions are in

(1)Contribution to the
expansion of the kinds
of movements

three areas.
First, she began the expansion of the kinds of
movements that could be used in dance. Before Duncan danced,
ballet was the only type of dance performed in concert. In the
ballet the feet and legs were emphasized, with virtuosity shown by
complicated,

codified

24

positions

and

movements.

Duncan