Choosing the Best Global Summary
Text for candidates: In 2023 the fishing town of Lira, population 4,200, banned single-use plastic cups at its three-day August seafood festival. Organisers supplied 6,000 reusable cups with a €2 deposit; 78% were returned. The council reports a 41% drop in waste collected from the harbour area during the event. Local bar owners, however, complain that the deposit scheme slowed service and required two extra staff. The council will vote in November on extending the ban to the spring wine fair. If approved, the scheme will include a €0.50 discount for customers who bring their own cup. Candidates must choose the best global summary from: A) Lira has banned plastic cups and will extend the ban to the wine fair. B) Lira's reusable cup scheme reduced festival waste but imposed costs, and expansion is undecided. C) Plastic pollution is a global problem that towns must solve. Ana chooses B but cannot explain why A is weaker. The task is to justify the choice and rule out the distractors.
1. Which summary is best, and what specific textual details make the other two inadequate? Answer in 3-4 sentences.
Read the worked answer
Best answer: B. It captures both sides of the text: the measured benefit (78% of cups returned; 41% drop in harbour waste) and the cost/tension (bar owners needed two extra staff), and it correctly says expansion is undecided because the vote is in November.
A fails because it presents the wine-fair extension as a fact ('will extend'), while the text says the council will vote on it. It also omits the bar owners' complaint, so it is not a global summary.
C fails because it is a generic claim about plastic pollution. It could describe almost any town and ignores the specific Lira scheme, its figures and its controversy.
2. Write a headline of no more than 8 words that reflects the text's central tension. Explain your word choices.
Read the worked answer
Lira's cup scheme: waste down, costs up (7 words).
'Cup scheme' names the specific measure, not a vague 'ban'. 'Waste down' reflects the 41% drop, and 'costs up' reflects the extra staff and slower service reported by bar owners. The colon signals the contrast that makes the story newsworthy. A headline such as 'Lira bans plastic' would overstate the extension and hide the unresolved vote.