Summary and information retrieval
What the domain tests
This domain tests your ability to find specific information and to condense a passage into its main points. Tasks may use notices, tables, short articles or longer prose. You must select relevant points, paraphrase them and respect any word limit.
Core rules
- Identify the topic sentence of each paragraph; it usually carries the main point.
- Scan for names, dates, numbers and key terms before reading closely.
- Separate main points from examples, repetition and minor detail.
- Paraphrase in your own words; do not lift long phrases unless a term has no synonym.
- Count words after drafting. A summary over the limit loses marks even if the content is good.
- For information retrieval, copy accurately only when the task asks for exact wording.
Worked example
Passage: “Ombura kai ri porweze rukwao. Ovinamwinyo avihe vya koka. Ovandu va isa ovihwa vyavo; ovakurona va hihira komukunda. Ndino ovandu va hina okurira ombura.” Task: summarise the effects of the drought in no more than 15 words. Reasoning: The main effects are failed rains, dead livestock, abandoned fields, old people moving to the village and people waiting for rain. “Ovihwa” and “ovinamwinyo” are not examples to copy; they are the main losses. A valid summary: “Rain failed, livestock died, fields were abandoned and people moved, waiting for rain.” The examples are compressed, not listed one by one.
Traps that cost marks
- Copying full sentences instead of summarising.
- Including every example and repeating the same idea.
- Changing the writer's meaning while paraphrasing.
- Ignoring the word limit or writing a list without links.
- Retrieving a detail that answers a different question.