Sixty-Word Summary: Selecting Main Ideas and Avoiding Copied Style
A Grade 12 student must write a 60-word summary of a 220-word article for the school notice board. The article explains that a church group funded two 5,000-litre rainwater tanks for a village. It says 80 households now collect roof water, and that diarrhoea cases at the clinic fell from 40 to 12 in six months. It also notes that maintenance costs 200 kina a year and that a committee of five villagers checks the filters monthly. The article ends with the sentence 'The shimmering gift of water transforms lives.' The student's draft is 78 words, keeps the phrase 'shimmering gift of water', and includes the names of the church group and the clinic nurse. The teacher says the summary must be in the student's own words, include only main ideas, and fit the notice board.
1. Identify two main ideas the summary must keep and one detail it can cut. Explain your choices using the purpose of a summary.
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Two main ideas: the project improved health by providing household water, and the system is maintained locally at a known cost. These are main because they answer what changed and whether it can last. A detail to cut is the name of the church group or the clinic nurse; names are not central to the notice board's purpose, which is to inform readers quickly about the project's outcome and upkeep. The 200 kina annual cost and the five-person committee are borderline: they support the maintenance idea, so they can stay if the word limit allows. The 40 to 12 diarrhoea figures are strong evidence and should stay. A summary should select according to purpose, not according to what appears first.
2. Write a summary of 60 words or fewer in your own words. Keep the key facts and explain what you cut.
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Model summary (42 words): A church group funded two 5,000-litre rainwater tanks for a village. Eighty households now collect roof water, and clinic diarrhoea cases fell from 40 to 12 in six months. Maintenance costs 200 kina a year, with a five-person committee checking filters monthly. This keeps the cause, the scale, the health result, and the upkeep. It cuts the church group's name, the nurse's name, and the article's final image. The word count is under 60, so it fits the notice board.
3. Explain why the phrase 'shimmering gift of water' is a problem in a summary, even if the student uses quotation marks.
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'The shimmering gift of water transforms lives' is the article's evaluative closing, not a neutral main idea. In a summary, even with quotation marks, it imports the original writer's style and judgement and uses words the student did not choose. It also adds no factual information beyond the health improvement already stated. A summary should use the student's own words and report, not praise. The phrase is a problem because it makes the summary sound like advertising and can suggest copying. The student should replace it with a plain statement such as 'The project improved health' or omit it if the word limit is tight.