Paraphrasing

Exercise 1

Paraphrase each sentence. They may be more than one way to rewrite each one. Remember to change vocabulary, phrases and sentence structure wherever you can.

1.   Despite their massive size, elephants are known for being agile.

Although their huge size, elephants are recognized for been agile.

2.   Because elephants consume up to 500 pounds of food a day, they are able to strip a forest bare in no time.

      Elephants eat up to 500 pounds a day, for that reason they can pull down a forest quickly.

3.   Over the centuries, lions have been used in art to represent power and magnificence.

      Lions have been used in art to simbolize strength and bravery for ages.

4.   Lions are social animals with one dominant male in each pride.

      Lions are interacting animal that have one male that is authority in each pride.

5.   George Washington Carver was a dedicated teacher, in addition, he was known as a talented artist, musician, and researcher who made valuable contributions to his people and his country.

George Washington carver who was a devoted teacher and was known as a very good artist, musician and researcher, made important contributions to his community and his country.

6.   Archibald McLeish, known for his poetry, was appointed head of the Library of Congress by President Roosevelt in 1939.

      President Roosevelt named Archibald McLeish who is known for his poetry, head of the Library of Congress in 1939. 

Exercise 2

Read each paragraph and state the main idea in your own words. If you find the main idea stated directly in the paragraph, be sure to use the paraphrasing techniques that you practice in exercise one.

1.   There is plenty of water on the earth. In fact, there is enough water in this planet for everyone to have huge lake. The trouble is that the water is not always found in the place where it is needed. In addition, much of the water is polluted or salty. Because of these problems, there are many people without sufficient water.

Main Idea: Problems that are with water aroun the world.

2.   New oil supplies need to be found to replace those that have been used up. There is a constant search for new oil fields. Oil hunters sink their wells there are signs of oil. Each of these drillings costs thousands and thousands of dollars, and often there is not enough oil to make it profitable. Nevertheless, the search for new oil never ends.

Main idea: The search of new oil to replace those that have already been used.

3.   Quakers, a religious group known as the Society of Friends, have always worked for human causes. Before the Civil War in the United States, they were against slavery and led the movement to help slaves escape from the southern part of the United States and seek freedom in the northern part. Today, they fight hunger and disease around the globe and still aid people fleeing tyranny and war. Their beliefs are based on the principles of pacifism and simple living.

Main idea: Purpose of the Quaker's work. 

Exercise 3

Fill in the outline and write a 100 word summary.

Thesis: Students should be take into account at the moment of make decisions at the faculty.

I (Main idea) Students should be informed about the process of selecting faculty members.

II (Main idea) Students are the only ones who knows what they need to learn and they should participate in the creation of the curriculum.

III (Main idea) Students must discuss about the injustices they percieve in the faculty sistem.

Summary

Although students are the only ones who know what university should do for them, they never are asked what they think about topics like the selection of schedule, curriculum and faculty members. So this is one of the major issues in the faculty, because if students are the ones who spend hours studuying subjects selected by other people, they should be asked what they want to learn and how they want to do it. Another point is the selection of professors, the best personal to evaluate are the students and they just know the professor the first day of class. Furthermore they are no even ask about the schedule although the hours at which classes are offered affect them dayli, but the worst thing about it is that students do not do anything about it even though it affects them directly.

Clouds

This picture is a perfect capture of the clouds over the ocean and it transmits me a state of peace and quiteness, because I feel like I am flying and going to a better place, where everything is peace, and if you look at it carefully you find shapes in the clouds, it is just fascinating.

Identifying Topics, Main Ideas, and Supporting Details

I found this information at http://academic.cuesta.edu/acasupp/as/308.HTM
Understanding the topic of a textbook chapter, an article, a paragraph, a sentence or a passage is a sophisticated reading task. Being able to draw conclusions, evaluate, and critically interpret articles or chapters is important for overall comprehension in college reading. Textbook chapters, articles, paragraphs, sentences, or passages all have topics and main ideas. The topic is the broad, general theme or message. It is what some call the subject. The main idea is the "key concept" being expressed. Details, major and minor, support the main idea by telling how, what, when, where, why, how much, or how many. Locating the topic, main idea, and supporting details helps you understand the point(s) the writer is attempting to express. Identifying the relationship between these will increase your comprehension.

Grasping the Main Idea:

Every paragraph has a key concept or main idea. The main idea is the most important piece of information the author wants you to know about the concept of that paragraph.
When authors write they have an idea in mind that they are trying to get across. This is especially true as authors compose paragraphs. An author organizes each paragraph's main idea and supporting details in support of the topic or central theme, and each paragraph supports the paragraph preceding it.
A writer will state his/her main idea explicitly somewhere in the paragraph. That main idea may be stated at the beginning of the paragraph, in the middle, or at the end. The sentence in which the main idea is stated is the topic sentence of that paragraph.
The topic sentence announces the general theme ( or portion of the theme) to be dealt with in the paragraph. Although the topic sentence may appear anywhere in the paragraph, it is usually first - and for a very good reason. This sentence provides the focus for the writer while writing and for the reader while reading. When you find the topic sentence, be sure to underline it so that it will stand out not only now, but also later when you review.

Identifying the Topic:

The first thing you must be able to do to get at the main idea of a paragraph is to identify the topic - the subject of the paragraph. Think of the paragraph as a wheel with the topic being the hub - the central core around which the whole wheel (or paragraph) spins. Your strategy for topic identification is simply to ask yourself the question, "What is this about?" Keep asking yourself that question as you read a paragraph, until the answer to your question becomes clear. Sometimes you can spot the topic by looking for a word or two that repeat. Usually you can state the topic in a few words.
There are three types of paragraph
Introductory paragraphs tell you, in advance, such things as (1) the main ideas of the chapter or section; (2) the extent or limits of the coverage; (3) how the topic is developed; and (4) the writer's attitude toward the topic. Transitional paragraphs are usually short; their sole function is to tie together what you have read so far and what is to come - to set the stage for succeeding ideas of the chapter or section. Summarizing paragraphs are used to restate briefly the main ideas of the chapter or section. The writer may also draw some conclusion from these ideas, or speculate on some conclusion based on the evidence he/she has presented.
All three types should alert you: the introductory paragraph of things to come; the transitional paragraph of a new topic; and the summarizing paragraph of main ideas that you should have gotten.