Summary and Information Retrieval
Summary questions test selection and condensation: you must find the relevant points in a passage and express them briefly in your own words, within a strict word limit. Information retrieval tests whether you can locate specific details without adding material that is not there.
Core rules
- Underline the instruction: what to summarize, how many points are needed and the word limit.
- Select only points that answer the question; reject background, examples and repetition.
- Condense by deleting examples, changing word class and using a general term for a list.
- Keep the original sequence if the passage is chronological or logical.
- Count your words; a summary slightly over the limit can lose marks.
- Do not add opinion, evaluation or a conclusion that is not in the passage.
Worked example
Passage: 'The school library now opens at 07:00 because many learners travel early. It also runs a homework club after school, and the librarian teaches online research skills.' Question: Summarize in no more than 20 words the improvements to library services. Answer: Earlier opening, an after-school homework club, and lessons in online research. Reasoning: three services are selected; the reason for early opening is dropped as background; the list is compressed into noun phrases and remains within the limit.
Traps that cost marks
- Including the reason ('because many learners travel early') as a separate point.
- Copying whole sentences and merely shortening them.
- Missing a point hidden in a later paragraph.
- Writing an introduction such as 'The passage says that...' and wasting words.
- Exceeding the word limit or writing fewer points than required.