Golden Rules of Summary Writing Rule 1: You must pay close attention to the instructions (rubric) given and follow them. Rule 2: Read the rubric carefully to isolate key instruction words. These tell you what you have to summarise. Keep them in mind as you write your summary, otherwise your answer will become irrelevant. Rule 3: Distractors and Elaboration points should not be included in your summary. Rule 4: A topic sentence is a warning to keep alert. Rule 5: Always keep the rubric in mind.

8 Steps to Successful Summary Writing 1.Read the summary question very carefully and underline key words. 2. Re-read the part of the passage covered by the question and underline all the relevant material. 3.Make brief notes in your own words of all the points you have underlined. 4.Write out your notes in complete sentences, concentrating purely on writing accurately. 5.Read your summary once you have finished writing it. Check for tenses, spelling and punctuation. 6.Should your summary exceed the word count, edit it again. 7. If time permits, write the final draft on a FRESH SHEET OF PAPER. 8. Write the honest word count at the bottom.

Summary Passage: Tourism Keep to the word limit allowed. Use only the area of text specified. Use the opening ten words provided. Write in continuous prose. Summarise the benefits and disadvantages of tourism.

Paragraph 1 Content Points: 1.Local people share the new-found wealth of the foreign visitor. 2.Hotels have sprung up, creating new employment for the local population. 3.Visitors with money to spend encourage business. 4.Restaurants and craftsmen benefit particularly. 5.Tourism now provides a more substantial income than before.

Paragraph 2 Distractors: phrases or whole sentences which are irrelevant to the rubric. Distractors in this paragraph: 1.First two sentences of the paragraph: ‘One might expect … … future of the holiday industry.’ Content Points: 1.A new hotel is built every month. 2.These create more jobs. Linking and replacing with own words: New hotels are constantly built, creating employment.

Paragraph 3 Topic sentence: one which highlights the points which will be, or have been, made in the rest of the paragraph. ‘However’- linking device which indicates a change of direction of ideas. Alert you to disadvantages now. Elaboration points: ideas, phrases or sentences which do not form points in themselves, but give extra information as examples or explanation of ideas.

Paragraph 3 Elaboration points: 1.Visitors begin to look elsewhere for safer beaches and waters to swim in. 2.The trees that would have kept the earth intact are no longer there. Merely explain the consequence of the fact that sewage spills untreated into the sea and why landslides are bound to happen.

Paragraph 3 Disadvantages of tourism: 1.There are overcrowded beaches. 2.The concrete jungles of endless hotels lose their appeal. 3.Holiday towns cannot support the massive influx of visitors. 4.Sewage spills untreated into the sea. 5.Hundreds of square kilometres of forests in Austria and Switzerland have been destroyed to make way for winter sports for tourists. 6.This destruction has caused endless landslides.

Paragraph 4 Disadvantages of tourism: 1.Thousands of holidaymakers trek through the forest land of Nepal. 2.Precious trees and plants are destroyed. 3.The inhabitants of Nepal do not benefit financially. 4.Tourists spend their money on goods and food imported from outside Nepal.

Paragraph 4 Elaboration point: ‘One area of Nepal is invaded by walkers a year…’ This sentence tells you that one area of Nepal does not have enough provisions and accommodation for the tourists. However, it is not a disadvantage of tourism but a consequence of it.

Paragraph 5 Sentence 1: Topic sentence The word ‘suffer’ indicates one of the key instruction words from the rubric, i.e. ‘disadvantages’. Sentence 2: Elaboration point This sentence merely extends the idea of Sentence 1. Sentence 3: Content points numbers 1 & 2 1.Farmland makes way for hotels, roads and airports 2.The old way of life has gone.

Paragraph 5 Sentence 4: Elaboration point The sentence reflects on the contents of the previous sentence. It tells you 2 things about the farmer’s way of life: he worked hard and he was independent. However, it tells you nothing whatsoever about the benefits and disadvantages of tourism. Sentence 5: Content point number 3 This sentence makes the point that people who used to be farmers earn more through tourism, Here, the emphasis is on one-time farmers (not the same point as the point made about higher wages in Para 1) – so this is a benefit.

Paragraph 5 Sentence 6: Content point number 4 4.The farmer is no longer his own master. 5.Sentence 7, 8 & 9: Content point number 5 The writer is making the general point that the farmer’s good nature is being exploited. He is earning more money, but he has lost his independence and must please his employer rather than himself. So the point is: the farmer has to be obedient (or submissive) – involves making a general point from a particular example.

Completed Summary Countries benefit from the growth of tourism, for local people share the wealth of the visitors. New hotels create employment, while visitors’ expenditure encourages business, particularly among restaurants and craftsmen. Tourism provide better income. New hotels are constantly built, creating even more jobs. However, disadvantages include overcrowded beaches and concrete jungles of endless hotels. Holiday towns cannot support all the visitors, and sewage spills untreated into the sea. Large areas of forests in Austria and Switzerland have been destroyed for winter sports, causing landslides. Thousands of tourists trek through the forests of Nepal, destroying precious trees and plants. Local people do not benefit financially because tourists buy imported, not local, goods and food. Farmland makes way for hotels, consequently destroying the old way of life. Although the farmer earns more, he is no longer his own master, and needs to obey his employer. (144 words)

Additional Points to Take Note Link content points using a present participle when possible e.g. ‘Hotels opened, creating employment’. Use pronouns wherever possible without obscuring the sense e.g. ‘he’ instead of ‘the author’, ‘they’ instead of ‘the tourists’. Don’t use topic sentences, even if original text uses them. E.g. ‘There were many disadvantages brought about by tourism’, just get straight on to writing down the disadvantages. Don’t think that contracting words will save words. They won’t.

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