THE ART OF

SUMMARYTHURSDAY 13:10~16:00 CLASSROOM 526

What is a summary?

• A summary describes a larger work (such as an entire book, speech, or research project), and should include noticeably less content then the original work.

How to write a summary?

1. 先閱讀一段文章或其中一個章節，了解大概的內容。2. 第二次閱讀的時候，抓出關鍵字、詞，判斷作者的主要想法、論點。3. 然後，快速摘要出作者意思的重點。

Let’s start from some short reading!

Right now, several companies are developing a way to use your eyeball as a kind of human ID card. Fingerprints, voice and facial recognition, and retinal images are all used today for identification, but they have limitations. What makes the iris, or colored part of the eye, so special is its stability for life. Also, the iris is difficult to change or fake, and is easily “read.” Before using iris recognition technology, we take a picture of the iris with a video camera. It only takes a second, and we don’t need to worry if there are any glasses or contact lenses. Through a computer program, the iris’s forms are translated into a digital ID code, which is secret to anyone except the rightful person. This ID code can then be stored in a database, so a computer can quickly sort and search for matches. An ordinary home PC can search and compare about 10,000 iris IDs per second, meaning that you can be recognized out of the whole population of Taiwan in about three and a half minutes.

What is this passage mainly about? (A) A new technology. (B) Our eyeball. (C) A video camera. (D) Information technology.

Idioms are sometimes rather weird phrases. You will not understand them until you learn them. For example, you may hear the conversation: “I lost my friend’s camera. What should I do?” “You’d better face the music. Tell her the truth.” You may feel it strange that “music” and “truth” are put together in this way. In fact, “to face the music” means to accept an unpleasant result of an action. The hidden message of an idiom is often hard to understand. That’s why you should learn idioms. But how do you learn idioms? When you read English texts or listen to native speakers speaking, you will encounter a large number of idioms. After some time, you may become familiar with more idioms. Besides, there are idiom books which offer lists of idioms with their meanings and origins. Or you can surf the Net for some sites about idioms.

What is the passage mainly about? (A) How idioms came into use unexpectedly. (B) Why and how you should study idioms. (C) How idioms’ meanings are hidden. (D) Why we should surf the Net.

The same color may have quite different meanings, depending on where in the world you live. For example, red in western Europe and the U.S. represents danger, anger, or a warning to stop, while in China it symbolizes joy, festivity, and good luck. But in India, red stands for purity, while in the Middle East, it means danger or evil. However, in recent years, the meanings of colors have become more westernized because of the spread of western culture and the influence of TV and the Internet. That is, as other parts of the world begin to learn western social and scientific knowledge, the meanings of colors become the same in some respects. For instance, on a traffic signal, a green light means “go” and a red means “stop” all over the world. As the world becomes more connected, perhaps even the meanings of colors will become more uniform.

What is the best title for this passage? (A) The Stories of Color (B) The Changes of Meanings in Color (C) The Importance of Color Studies (D) The Background of Colors

Believe it or not, you use metaphors and similes every day of your life! Some words are metaphors all by themselves. For example— She was a bright student. We all know that “bright” refers to light. But in this sentence we are comparing intelligence to light. It’s a metaphor! While a metaphor directly states that “something” is “something else,” a simile compares things using “as” or “like.” For example— She has long hair as black as coal. Lots of cliches are similes. They are fun to use, but don’t overuse them in your writing! Cliches are used so often that we say them without thinking and they therefore lose a powerful effect on readers. Even if you are as busy as a beaver, it’s not as cute as a button or as American as apple pie to overuse cliches. It should be as plain as the nose on your face!

What is the point of this passage? (A)Metaphors and similes are handy tools a poet regularly uses. (B) It is best to avoid using metaphors or similes, because they are not interesting. (C) It is important to look for fresh metaphors or similes, rather than to use those that are growing tasteless through overuse. (D) A cliche is a simile which has been used so much that it is no longer interesting or effective.

Astronauts often work 16 hours a day on the space shuttle in order to complete all the projects set out for the mission. From space, astronauts study the geography, pollution, and weather patterns on Earth. They take many photographs to record their observations. Also, astronauts do experiments to learn how space conditions. Besides working, regular exercise is essential to keep the astronauts healthy in microgravity. Astronauts sometimes go outside the shuttle to work. They are protected by a space suit from the radiation of the Sun. Meanwhile, the space suit provides necessary oxygen supply and keeps the astronauts from feeling the extreme heat or cold outside the shuttle. When the mission is over, the crew members get ready to return to Earth. The shuttle does not use its engines for a landing. It glides through the atmosphere. When the shuttle touches the land, a drag parachute opens to steady the aircraft, get the speed right, and help the brakes on the landing-gear wheels to bring it to a complete stop.

The passage is mainly about ______. (A) how astronauts fly the space shuttle (B) how a space mission is completed (C) how a space shuttle is constructed (D) how far astronauts travel in space

Let’s try to write a summary!

• When there is a car accident police officers will find out if any of the drivers were using a cell phone. They will write this information in a report. The information will be saved and later studied.

When police officers handle car accidents, they will write down in their report if any drivers were using cell phones and file it for future study.

• There have been some very bad car accidents caused by drivers being distracted by cell phones. Drivers sometimes forget to watch the road carefully when they are using their phones. Not paying attention to the road can be dangerous, even deadly.

Drivers may be distracted when they are using cell phones, and not paying attention to the road can cause serious accidents.

• It is important for drivers to focus on the road. They need to pay attention to what is going on around them. They might need to stop or swerve quickly.

Drivers need to ay attention to the road and to stop or swerve quickly.

• People want to make sure that the roads are safe for everyone. Studies will be done using the information police officers collect at accidents. Maybe someday this information will lead to laws about driving and using cell phones.

Studies using police’s accident reports will be done and lead to regulations on talking while driving for road safety.

Try to write a summary on your own

• Who is more stressed out—the Asian teenager or the American teenager? Surprise. The American teen wins this contest. According to a recent study, almost three-quarters of American high school juniors said they felt stress at least once a week, some almost daily. Fewer than half of Japanese and Taiwanese eleventh graders reported feeling stress that often.

• The phenomenon of stress is the constant interaction between mind and body. And the influence of one upon the other can be either positive or negative. What can the mind do to the body? Studies have proved that watching funny movies can reduce pain and promote healing. Conversely, worry can give a person an ulcer, high blood pressure, or even a heart attack.

• The mind and body work together to produce stress. However, stress is not always bad. For example, a stress reaction can sometimes save a person’s life by releasing hormones that enable a person to react quickly and with greater energy in a dangerous situation. In everyday situations, stress can also provide that extra push needed to do something difficult. But too much stress often injures both the mind and the body. How can stress be kept under control? Learn to Lighten Up and Live Longer, the best seller of the month, has several good suggestions. So, grab a copy and start learning how you can reduce stress in your life.