缩写是对一篇文章的主题思想的简单陈述。它用最简洁 的语言概括了原文的主题。
Features of Summary
Brevity Objectivity Completeness
Uses of summary writing
Summary writing is a very good exercise for improving reading comprehension. Some students read carelessly, and gain only a vague idea of what they have read. Summary writing can force them to try to understand what they read, because summarizing requires one to read with the mind, as well as with the eye, on the page.
认真阅读给定的原文材料。如果一遍不能理 解，就多读两遍。阅读次数越多，你对原文 的理解就越深刻。
Reading
Give a title to your summary. Think of some word, phrase or short sentence that will sum up briefly the main idea of the passage. Sometimes what is called a topic sentence may be used. The topic sentence may be found at the beginning or at the end of the passage. To find a suitable title will help you to define what exactly the subject, or main theme, of the passage is.
现在，就该决定原文中哪些部分重要， 哪些部分次重要了。对重要部分的主要 观点进行概括。
Reading
Jot down in brief notes the main points-the subject, the title, and the details which you consider essential or important.
删除细节。只保留主要观点。
Writing skill
Reduce the examples. Out of five or six examples given in the original passage one or two may be chosen for the summary; the rest are to be omitted.
缩写必须全面、清晰地表明原文所载的信息， 以便你的读者不需翻阅原文就可以完全掌握材 料的原意。
Writing
Summary writing is an exercise in compression. In writing a summary, you may:
缩写时可以采用下列几种小技巧：
Procedures of writing a summary
a. Reading b. Writing c. Revision
Reading
First read the passage through carefully to get the gist of it. if reading it once is not sufficient to give you a clear understanding of it, read it over again. The more you read it, the more familiar to you will be its subject, and what is said about the subject.
being pressed by his creditor.” 可以概括为： “He was in financial difficulties.”
Writing skill
You may also make phrases do the work of clauses or sentences. Here is an example:
Summary Writing
英语七班 吕静
Definition and features of a summary Uses of summary writing Procedures of writing a summary
What is Summary?
A summary is a brief restatement of the essential thought of a longer composition. It reproduces the theme of the original with as few words as possible. When one writes a summary, one should not interpret or comment. All one has to do is to give the gist of the author’s exact and essential meaning.
Uses of summary writing
Summary writing has practical uses. The ability to grasp quickly and accurately what is read, or heard, and to reproduce it in a clear and concise way is of great value to people of many professions.
缩写应该只有原文的三分之一或四分之一长。 因此首先数一下原文的字数，然后除以三，得 到一个数字。缩写的字数可以少于这个数字， 但是千万不能超过这个数字。
Writing
The summary should be all in your own words. It must not be a patchwork made up of phrases and sentences quoted from the original passage.
给缩写起一个标题。用那些能概括文章主题思想的单 词、短语或短句子作为标题。也可以采用文中的主题 句作为标题。主题句往往出现在文章的开头或结尾。 一个好标题有助于确定文章的中心思想。
Reading
You should now be in a position to decide what parts of the passage are essential and what parts are comparatively unimportant and can be omitted without much loss
应该遵循原文的逻辑顺序。这样你就不 必重新组织观点、事实。
Writing
The summary should be self-contained, that is, it must convey the message of the original fully and clearly, so that your reader need no reference to the original to understand what its main ideas are.
选择一至两个例子。原文中可能包括5个 或更多的例子，你只需从中筛选一至二 个例子。
Writing skill
Simplify the descriptions. If in the passage there are ten sentences describing a person or an object, it will be enough to keep one or two in the summary.
简要地记下主要观点——主题、标题、 细节等你认为对概括缩写重要的东西。
Writing
A summary should usually be about onethird to one-fourth as long as the original passage. So count the number of words in the passage and divide it by three. You may use fewer words than the number prescribed, but in no case may you exceed the limit.
Uses of summary writing
Summary writing is also helpful to composition writing. When writing a summary, one has to work within strict limits. One must express a certain meaning in a fixed number of words. So it is important to choose words carefully, to make sentences with accuracy and brevity, and to write with summary in logical order.
缩写应全部用自己的话完成。不要引用 原文的句子。
Writing
You should follow the logical order of the original passage, if possible (and desirable). Ideas and facts need not be rearranged.