Reading: A Summary Answer That Copies Every Number
A reading passage describes a 'human library' project in a small town: residents borrow people for 20-minute conversations to challenge stereotypes. It began with 8 volunteer 'books' in 2022; by 2024 it had 45 volunteers and 300 loans. The summary task: 'Complete the sentence in no more than 8 words: The project grew from ____ to ____.' A candidate writes: 'eight volunteer books in 2022 to 45 volunteers and 300 loans in 2024' (13 words). The candidate says the answer is correct because 'all the numbers are there'. The task's rubric says answers must respect the word limit and must fit the grammatical frame; extra words are not marked. The teacher must decide whether to award the mark and what feedback to give.
1. Does the candidate's answer earn the mark? Apply the word limit and the grammatical frame.
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No. The answer is 13 words, five over the eight-word limit, and the rubric says extra words are not marked. The content is factually right, but the frame grew from ____ to ____ expects two endpoints, not a list of three data points. Eight volunteer books in 2022 to 45 volunteers and 300 loans in 2024 also mixes a starting count with two different final measures. The candidate has copied the passage rather than summarised it. Award 0 for the item; the error is task management, not failure to understand the passage.
2. Write two acceptable answers within eight words that fit the frame and preserve the growth idea.
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Option 1: eight volunteer books to 45 volunteers (6 words)
Option 2: 8 volunteers in 2022 to 45 in 2024 (8 words)
Both fit from X to Y, keep the comparison, and drop the 300 loans because the frame asks for the growth of the project's people, not every statistic. A third option is 8 books in 2022 to 45 in 2024 (8 words). The key is to choose the two endpoints and count words, treating numbers as words. The answer should read as a sentence when inserted into the frame, not as a data dump.
3. What feedback should the candidate receive about using numbers in summary tasks?
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Explain that summaries require selection, not transcription. Before writing, identify the grammatical frame and the two or three required data points; cross out extra figures. Count words after drafting, treating numbers and hyphenated compounds as words. A checklist helps: Does my answer fit the blank? Is every word necessary? Have I kept the comparison? The candidate's instinct to include all numbers is understandable, but it shows a misunderstanding of 'summary'. A short rewriting drill with the same sentence and a strict eight-word limit would target the problem more effectively than a general instruction to 'be concise'.