read better remember more_part7

PUTTING IT IN YOUR OWN WORDS 197 that paragraph into your own words, whether it’s the main idea, a major supporting idea, or minor support. Thus, you can be sure you under-stand an idea before you try to remember it. Whereas a summary is usually no more than one fourth the size of its source, a paraphrase should be the same size as the original. That is, if you’re paraphrasing a paragraph with five sentences, your paraphrase should also contain about five sentences. That’s because you are not cutting out minor supporting ideas and details. The important thing to watch out for when paraphrasing is not to change the writer’s ideas. Often when readers process information like this, it’s easy to include their own feelings about the topic in their para-phrase. But when you summarize or paraphrase, you need to stick to what the writer is saying. Save your own ideas for your notes and comments in the margin. Paraphrase Ideas, Not Words The key to a good paraphrase is to work idea by idea, not word by word. The trouble with going word by word is that you’re likely to simply substitute one word for another (synonyms) without really making the ideas your own. Read a sentence, understand the whole idea it conveys, and then put that idea into your own words just like you did for your summaries. See the following example to get you started. Original sentence: Under managed care systems, more and more emphasis is being placed on pre-care and post-care,which means placing more and more responsibility for healthcare delivery in the hands of allied health workers. Poor paraphrase (synonym substitution): In managed care programs, greater and greater stress is put on care before and after illnesses. As a result, greater and greater responsibility for these services is given to workers in allied health. This is trial version www.adultpdf.com 198 READ BETTER, REMEMBER MORE Good paraphrase: Increasingly, allied health workers are doing more as HMOs focus on preventative care and follow-up treatments. Notice that the good paraphrase is much more “processed” than the poor one. It has a different structure as well as different words. You’ll keep away from synonym substitution if you don’t look right at the text as you’re trying to paraphrase it.That is,once you understand the idea, put the text aside. Then paraphrase. If you have it right in front of you, you may be tempted to substitute synonyms. PRACTICE 3 Scientific texts are often difficult to follow. Try paraphrasing the follow-ing sentences to make sure you clearly understand them: 1. Evolution changes the genetic make-up of populations gradually over time, and greater complexity and adaptability do occur. 2. The human species is unique in its great ability to control factors that limit population growth in other species, and our species has there-fore been growing exponentially for hundreds of years. Answers Answers will vary. Here are sample paraphrases: 1. Species can become more adaptable and complex through evolution, which is the slow change of a group’s genetic structure. 2. Unlike other species, humans have conquered many of the problems that keep population growth rates low. As a result, the number of human beings on this planet has been increasing at a phenomenal rate for several centuries. This is trial version www.adultpdf.com PUTTING IT IN YOUR OWN WORDS 199 IN SHORT To summarize and paraphrase, you need to understand the ideas and information in the text and put those ideas into your own words. Summaries should include only the main ideas and most important supporting ideas. A paraphrase, on the other hand, should include all of the writer’s ideas. Use summaries to remember the most important information in what you read. Paraphrase to help you understand diffi-cult sentences or ideas. Skill Building Until Next Time 1. Write a brief summary of this chapter on a separate sheet of paper. 2. If you come across any difficult sentences in your reading this week, paraphrase them. Take each idea and put it into your own words. This is trial version www.adultpdf.com This is trial version www.adultpdf.com CHAPTER This last chapter reviews the strategies you learned in Chapters 15–20: analyzing word choice and point of view, determining tone, finding the implied main idea, summarizing, and paraphrasing. You’ll put all of this knowledge to practice in a review that brings in all the strategies you’ve learned throughout this book. 20 PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER ongratulations! You’re in the home stretch. You’ve been building your reading skills chapter by chapter throughout this book, and now it’s time to pull your skills all together in a final review.Here is one long passage in which you’ll prac-tice strategies from this section as well as sections 1–3. But first, here’s a review of what you’ve learned in this section. IN BRIEF · Chapter 16:Word Choice and Point ofView. Writers choose their words carefully to reflect their attitude towards their subject. You This is trial version 201 www.adultpdf.com ... - tailieumienphi.vn