HFCC
Writing Improvement
Tutorials
Courtesy of Rick Bailey, A.D.
English Instructor
Paraphrase is a restatement of an author’s idea using your own words. It is the most basic skill used in summary and for this reason deserves continuous practice. Look for key terms and the main idea in the sentence you paraphrase. You probably have to use some of the author’s words. If you use more than five consecutive words from the author’s sentence, you are no longer paraphrasing. Try again. It is a good idea to keep things simple. In paraphrase, a short sentence is better than a long one.
The bakery was filled with noise; the smell of yeast mingled
with human sweat in the hot rooms; the bakers' hands were
constantly plunged into flour and water. (Richard Sennett)
The bakery was noisy, hot, and smelly, and the work was
hands-on.
The bakers needed to cooperate intimately in order to coordinate
the varied tasks of the bakery.
Working together was important.
Exercise: Paraphrase the ideas in each of the following sentences. Make sure your paraphrase sentences are short, simple, and to the point. Try to avoid using more than five consecutive words from the original sentence.
We may have come a long way baby, but the latest Voices of Women opinion poll suggests we still have a long way to go.
The survey found men are beginning to share the same attitudes toward work as women -- with like percentages seeking flexible work hours and the ability to work from home.
Leaders of the nation's largest drug prevention program, Drug Abuse Resistance Education, announced on Thursday that they were changing DARE's approach, admitting that the vastly expensive program appears to be ineffective.
Joan McCord, co-chairwoman of the National Academy of Sciences panel that issued a stinging report on DARE this week, is one of the people who is concerned about the program hurting the children who participate.
Ten years ago, David Warm bulldozed cherry fields into fairways. He painted clubhouse walls and built sand traps with his father, helping open one of northern Michigan's scores of picturesque golf courses.
Checking players’ weight after practice and the following day to monitor excessive weight loss, and taking mandatory rest breaks in the shade and water breaks during practice and at needed intervals are essential to help prevent heatstroke.
Rollovers make up a small fraction of all accidents but are responsible for a disproportionate number of deaths, particularly in S.U.V.’s.
Few, if any, countries have adapted notions like automation and virtual reality so widely or embraced them so fully as Japan, where animated films, for example, are consistently the biggest hits.
While most fancy new gadgets tend to be embraced first by the young, Aibo, the virtual pet, is most popular among only elderly people, a category that abounds in Japan.
Company officials envision a day when household companions will be sold that can fetch a beer or the newspaper, or even cook a meal.
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