2nd
PUC ENGLISH WORKBOOK ANSWERS STREAMS SUMMARISING
D. SUMMARISING
Summarising is an important study
skill, basically involving compression of ideas. It can also help students to
optimize on study time.
HOW TO SUMMARISE:
1) Identify the main and sub-points
and note them down in the way you did in the previous section on note making.
2) Write complete sentences and
combine them into a coherent paragraph.
3) Do not add your own ideas or
opinions.
4) Try to give a suitable title
to the summary.
I) Substitute the
expressions given below with one word each. One has been done for you:
1) A short story that
teaches a moral or truth – fable
2) A story about great people who actually never
lived – mythology
3) Speaking one’s thought aloud to oneself – soliloquy
4) To warn someone of impending danger – portend
5) One who is all-powerful – omnipotent
6) One who sees the bright side of life – optimist
7) One who believes in the existence of God – theist
8) A place where orphans live – orphanage
9) Serving without pay – honorary
10) Place for keeping birds – aviary
(honorary,
mythology, portend, aviary, theist, soliloquy, optimist, orphanage,
omnipotent.)
II) Identifying the main idea while leaving
out examples or repetition is another way of condensing.
Look at the following sentences.
1) Our building
plans have met all the conditions that the authorities have asked for.
This sentence can
be rewritten as – Our building plans
have met all the conditions of the authorities.
2) There was 20%
increase in the taxes and so there were serious protest against it.
This sentence can
be rewritten as – A 20% tax increase
resulted in serious protests.
III) Let us now look at longer passages and
see how they can be summarized:
Here is a sample of a passage and its summary.
Are we masters of
our destinies? Who shape our destiny? It is said that your destiny is right in
your hands. We shape our destiny; we can create our own luck. Researchers
suggest that luck is a triumph of nurture over nature. People’s personalities
influence how they are treated by fate. It is often seen that some people cope
with all sorts of adversities and sail through problems and unhappy situations
while others are shattered emotionally and physically in similar circumstances.
Psychologists
believe that when confronted by a major problem, people fall into two types:
internalists and externalists. The first type of people analyzes, act and learn
from the outcome. They see a connection between them and whatever happens to
them. On the hand externalists believe that they have no control over their
fate. By doing so, they let life wash over them. If they fail, they just blame
bad luck instead of trying to work out why they failed and how to prevent it
from happening.
This
become a vicious circle. The willingness of externalists to see the unseen hand
of fate in everything makes them liable to more bad fortune. They see
themselves as unlucky, remain as introverts and are convinced from the start
that they would fail. They are more likely to drift into either a passive
existence or less desirable kind of life. The internalists, on the other hand,
take matters into their hands and tend to become high achievers. They make their
own luck by taking more chances and meeting more people who might help them. They
tend to be optimists, extroverts, and risk-takers. No wonder, Lady Luck pursues
such people.
SUMMARY
We
make our destiny. Our personalities determine how we deal with problem in life.
Some people can cope with hardships better than others. Psychologists
categorise people into internalists and externalists. The internalists learn
something by analyzing the problem at hand. They know the relation between them
and the outcome. Externalists do not think so as they blame their bad luck for
everything. They slip into a vicious circle of pessimism. Taking control of
difficult situations, high achievers make themselves ‘lucky’.
IV) a) Read the following passage and
complete the notes.
Recognised
as the largest desert in the world, the Sahara Desert extends across North
Africa, covering over three million square miles from the Atlantic coast to the
Nile valley.
Research
scientists believe that the land became a desert for three reasons. For
centuries, wilderness tribes have wandered from place to place in search of
food, water, and grazing land for their herds of animals. These nomadic people
have always considered the number of animals they have as a sign of wealth. The
large herds have been allowed to roam freely and graze on desert plants anti
grass. Over time, enormous sections of land have been left exposed, causing
soil erosion. Today, the Sahara Desert is expanding southward as these
wandering tribes continue to allow their animals to overgraze.
In addition to
allowing overgrazing, these people cut down whatever trees they find and use
them for firewood. The sand is unable to hold on to the intense heat of the
day, so night time temperatures often drop below freezing. Looking for warmth,
the wild tribes stripped the desert of whatever hardy shrubs and stunted trees
did grow. The land grew barren and very little vegetation remained.
Title:
The Expanding Sahara.
I) Life of the nomads.
1)
Wanderers
2) Wealth – animals
II) Reasons for desert
1)
Overgrazing
2) Firewood
3) Soil erosion, due to cutting down of
trees.
Ans: The extent of
the Sahara desert is the outcome of overgrazing that the nomadic tribes allowed
their animals, which they considered their wealth, to do. The present southward
development of the Sahara has resulted from overgrazing, cutting down of trees
for firewood and stripping the desert of shrubs and stunted trees for warmness,
leading to soil erosion.
b) Read the following passage and write its
summary.
India
is a land of festivals. Each state has its own festivals apart from the common
festivals, celebrated all over the country. Many of our festivals are harvest
or spring festivals. The Basant Panchami celebrates the advent of the spring
season. It is a joyous festival dedicated to Saraswathi, the goddess of
learning, literature and arts. This festival comes on the fifth day of the
month of May according to the Indian calendar. According to the Vedas, it is
believed that the Goddess purifies our hearts and gives us knowledge. The
Goddess blesses us with the capacity to appreciate beauty and truth and
inspires us to write poetry, create art or anything of aesthetic value.
Ancient
people worshipped all elements of nature, such as the sun, moon, rain, wind,
rivers, trees, animals etc. The composers of the Vedas lived on the banks of a
river, which came to be called Saraswathi. They worshipped the Goddess, who was
the presiding deity of the river. Even today, on Basant Panchami day, the
Goddess is worshipped with great devotion. People worship the deity by offering
flowers.
Ans: Title: Festivals of India
In the midst of the
festivals of India, numerous are harvest or spring festivals and the Basanth
Panchami which celebrates spring is one such festival. Goddess Saraswathi, worshipped
by the composers of the Vedas, is worshipped on the Basant Panchami day which
is the fifth day of May, for knowledge and purity of heart.
