Reading

An annotation is a brief description of a book, article, or other publication, including audio-visual materials. Its purpose is to characterize the publication in such a way that the reader can decide whether or not to read the complete work.

Text 1

How to summarize - say the same thing in fewer words

1. A summary is a shorter version of a longer piece of writing. Summarizing means capturing¹ all the most important parts of the original, and expressing them shorter.

2. A summary is sometimes known as a pré cis, rendering, or a paraphrase.

3. In academic writing, summarizing exercises are often set to test your understanding of the original, and your ability to re-state (retell) its main purpose.

4. In business writing, you might need to summarize to provide easily-digestible information² for customers or clients.

5. Summarizing is also a useful skill when gathering information or doing research.

6. The summary should be expressed in your own words. It’s not enough to merely copy out parts of the original.

7. The size of the summary must be not more than one tenth of the original.

8. Read the original, and try to understand its main subject. Then you might need to read it again to understand it in details.

9. Underline or make a marginal note³ of the main issues. Use a highlighter⁴ if this helps.

10. Look up any words you don’t know, so that you understand the author’s sentences and how they relate to each other.

11. Work through the text to identify its main sections or arguments. These might be expressed as paragraphs.

12. Draw up a list of the topics.

13. Focus your attention on the main point. Leave out any illustrative examples.

14. Write a sentence which states the central idea of the original text.

15. Use this as the starting point for writing a paragraph which combines all the points you have made.

17. The final summary should accurately capture the central meaning of the original.

18. Remember that it must be in your own words. By writing in this way, you help to re-create the meaning of the original in a way which makes sense for you.

Notes:

1. capturing – охват

2. easily-digestible information – легко усваиваемая информация

3. marginal note – примечание на полях

4. highlighter – маркер

IV. Запомните выражения, используемые для реферирования текстов:

1. The article is concerned with (deals with)… – Статья касается…

2.The article deals with – статья рассматривает

3. The subject of the article is … – Темой статьи является …

4. The article is devoted to – статья посвящена …

5. At the beginning of the article the author describes (dwells on, touches upon, explains)… – В начале статьи автор описывает (останавливается на, касается, объясняет) …

6. Then (after that, further on, next) the author passes on to (goes on to say that …, gives a detailed (brief) analysis (description) … – Затем (после этого, далее) автор переходит к …, говорит, что …, делает детальный (краткий) анализ (описание).

7. The article ends with … – Статья заканчивается …

8. It was noted … – Было отмечено …

9. In conclusion the author states (underlines, stresses, remarks) that … – В заключении автор утверждает (подчеркивает, выделяет, отмечает), что …

V. Прочитайте текст, выпишите ключевые фразы и сделайте реферирование текста на английском языке:

What is Going on?

Jerome K. Jerome said that we are never happy with the weather. The weather, like the government, is always in the wrong. But something has been really wrong with it lately. The weather is getting worse and the so-called extreme weather events are becoming more and more frequent¹.

Scientists have noticed it too. Their explanation² is short: the cause is global warming.

What is global warming? “Greenhouse effect”³ is natural feature of our atmosphere without which life on our planet would be impossible. Certain atmospheric gases work as a kind of blanket⁴, keeping the Earth warm. The amount⁵ of these “greenhouse” gases used to be more or less the same for centuries. But the industrial revolution broke this balance. The amounts of CO and other gases have increased by 30%. Climate experts predict that by 2050 the global average temperature will rise by 2-3 degrees.

So what could happen? Northern regions will be wetter and warmer, southern regions will be drier and hotter. Snow will melt in the Alps and other mountains. and the water will cause floods⁶. Sea levels will rise and a lot of areas will disappear under water. So will whole species of animals and plants.

What shall we do? We can’t sit and wait. People should use clean energy, such as wind, solar and wave power. If we recycle cans and paper, take public transport and think about switching off unused light at home, we’ll reduce the threat⁷ of global climate change.

Notes:

1. frequent – частый

2. explanation – объяснение

3. greenhouse effect – парниковый эффект

4. a kind of blanket – своего рода одеяло

5. the amount of – количество

6. floods – наводнения

7. to reduce the threat – уменьшить угрозу

VI. Прочитайте текст, выпишите ключевые фразы и сделайте реферирование текста на английском языке:

Recycling of Waste

Now about one half a ton of rubbish¹ is produced by one person each year. Most of this is buried in enormous² landfill sites or burned in incinerators (печах). Both of these actions can be dangerous for the environment. Is all our rubbish really rubbish? Much of what is thrown away could be used again. It’s better to reuse and recycle our rubbish instead of just trying to solve the problem of where to put it! Now the rates³ of recycling have increased, so, in Britain 35% of household (бытового) rubbish is recycled, although up to 80% could be recycled. Much of waste is made up of glass, metal, plastic and paper. Our natural resources such as trees, oil, coal and aluminium are used up in enormous amounts to make these products and the resources will one day be completely used up. We must cut down on energy use.

What to do?

· Sort our rubbish. Organic matter e.g. potato peelings⁴, leftover food, tea leaves etc. can be transferred strait to a compost heap in the garden and used as a good, natural fertilizer for the plants. Aluminium cans, glass bottles and newspapers, plastic bottles, juice cartons and cardboard can be taken for recycling.

· Use recycled paper to help save trees.

Notes:

1. rubbish – мусор

2. enormous – огромный

3. rate – темп

4. peelings – очистки

5. fertilizer for the plants – удобрение для растений