Monday, May 18, 2009

Paraphrasing

Many times, a boss or supervisor may want you to write a short summary to paraphrase what was said or what happened at an event (like a meeting). Paraphrasing or summarizing means that you're not giving a word-for-word account of what transpired, but that you're giving the most important points or an overview of things.

Let's look at an example.

Perhaps you're at a restaurant and your friend says this to the waiter: "I have some questions about the breakfast specials. Are they all prepared with butter? I'm not sure that I want butter. What about the pancakes? Are they made with butter too? Oh, forget it. I'll just order the waffles and not worry about it."

You might paraphrase that by telling someone that your friend asked some questions about the food, including if it was made with butter, and he decided to order the waffles. (Do you see how that is a much shorter way to give someone the main idea?

I'd like you to give it a try! Visit one of the sites below and pick a story to read. Then, come back here & paraphrase what you read in 2-4 sentences.

Travel Channel
CNN Entertainment
USA Today

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Novene

Jessica Scaperotti a representative of the New York City Health Department is investigating the death o a 16month old boy who had a high fever and died on Monday at Elmhurst Hospital in Queens. Also, on Sunday Assistant Principal Mitchell Wiener who suffered from gout (a joint disease) became the city's first swine flu death.

Julissa said...

The Obama administration announced Tuesday what amounts to a sweeping revision to auto-emission and fuel-economy standards, putting them in the same package for the first time.

The plan would require cars and trucks to average 35.5 miles per gallon by 2016, President Obama said at a ceremony with legislators, regulators, executives of 10 car companies and the United Auto Workers union. The plan would increase the standard and accelerate the requirement from 35 mpg in 2020 set by the 2007 Energy Act.

"The status quo is no longer acceptable," Obama said. "We have done little to increase fuel efficiency of America's cars and trucks for decades."

It also is expected to boost the average price of a new vehicle $600 on top of the $700 price boost already envisioned in the 2007 law, for a total of $1,300.

Obama agreed that "it costs money to build these vehicles." But he also stressed that "the cost of driving these vehicles will go down as drivers save money at the pump."

Anonymous said...

The White House Stimulus plan will add an abundant amount of jobs to each state. The $787 billion stimulus plan is expected to add an estimated 206,000 job to Florida state alone. Infrastructure/housing spending for Florida is estimated at $2.092 billion.

Abbey P.

Anonymous said...

Travel Channel
The story was about a couple who had visited Ellis Island in the 1990s. They were giving their experience of the delays they encountered in getting to the Island once again. However, they commented that it was worth the while.

Karla Banton

Anonymous said...

From USA Today - Topic: 2 bodies, ticket, found in Air France investigation.

Two bodies, a briefcase and a backpack with a vaccination card were recovered from Air France, flight 447, which disappeared over the Atlantic Ocean. Air France officials confirmed that the ticket belong to a passenger on the flight. The bodies are being sent to the Fernando De Norhonha Islands for identification.

Leonie Florestal