Week 02: Paraphrasing and Summarizing
SKL1233: Writing for Academic Purposes
Ms. Hansini Thedchanamoorthy
Paraphrasing Exercises
Which sentences are closest in meaning to the five sentences below?
1. 25% of adolescents who have one baby have a second baby within two years of the first baby's
birth.
a. 25% of babies are born to mothers who are adolescents.
b. One out of four adolescent mothers has another baby before the first baby reaches his second
birthday.
c. A quarter of adolescent mothers give birth when their firstborn is two.
d. 25% of adolescent mothers become pregnant again when their first babies are two years old.
2. It has been reported that the richest one percent of Americans own 40% of the country's wealth.
a. The richest 1% is 40 times as wealthy as the rest of the people in America.
b. If the gap between rich and poor continues to grow at the current rate, the richest one percent
will soon own 40% of the country's wealth.
c. 40% of the country's wealth is in the hands of only 1% of Americans.
d. 99% of Americans own 40% as much as the richest 1%.
3. The judge was relieved when the jury was finally ready to announce its verdict.
a. When the jury announced its verdict, the judge was relieved.
b. The judge asked the jury to arrive at a verdict.
c. The judge welcomed the prospect of an imminent verdict.
d. The jury welcomed the judge's relief.
4. Research data suggest that girls who witnessed maternal abuse may tolerate abuse as adults more
than girls who did not.
a. Women who witnessed the abuse of their mother as teens are more likely to become abusive
adults.
b. Women who observed the abuse of their mothers when they were young are more likely to
endure abuse themselves.
c. Women who were abused as children are more likely to abuse their own children.
d. Girls who testify about maternal abuse tolerate abuse as adults more readily.
5. Martha thinks that the issue of adolescent problems is important to write about.
a. Martha thinks that adolescents like to write about their problems.
b. Martha feels that writing about adolescent problems is worthwhile.
c. Martha believes that the dream of most adolescents is to write something important.
d. Martha thinks that adolescents can write about their problems.
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Week 02: Paraphrasing and Summarizing
SKL1233: Writing for Academic Purposes
Ms. Hansini Thedchanamoorthy
Write your own paraphrase for the following sentences:
1. A local newspaper claims that 75% of all homeless people do not like homeless shelters and prefer
to live as they do now. The regional paper states that 3/4 of people without homes would rather live
the way they do than to go to a night shelter.
2. Ronny told his aunt that a bear had attacked him, which she found difficult to believe.
Ronny's aunt had a hard time accepting that Ronny was assaulted by
a bear
3. Anyone who has ever driven through the Mojave Desert knows that one should always carry a
supply of extra water. Any person who has travelled across the Mojave Desert understands the
importance of always bringing a supply of water.
4. Of the 138 million acres of land that Native Americans owned in 1887, 90 million acres were taken
away by the white people by 1932. In 1887, 138 million acres of land was owned by the Native
Americans, 90 million of that was stolen by white people 44 years later
5. A woman who was nominated by the president to head the department was quickly approved by
the board of trustees.
The president's nomination of a female candidate to manage the departed was agreed by the board of trustees.
Paraphrase the following sentences from student paragraphs to avoid plagiarism.
1. However, college students today are the first groups of students to need the Internet for most of
their schoolwork. The Internet is required by adolescents for their schoolwork in today's age
2. Chinese speculators are able to realize profits from this buy-and-sell practice as property prices are
currently on the upswing.
Chinese philosophers could detect that the revenue from the buy-and-sell practice due to the property prices increasing
3. Researchers have found a strong association between computer and Internet use in adolescents and
engagement in multiple-risk behaviours (MRB), including illicit drug use, drunkenness and
unprotected sex.Investigators has detected an alliance between computer and Internet use in teenagers and the participation in
multiple-risk behaviors.
4. Drug resistance remains a major problem in combating HIV infection, but a different approach to
drug development could be the answer.
Drug refusal stays a big problem in fighting HIV infections, however a new way to produce drugs might be the solution
5. North China's Shanxi Province, the country's largest coal supplier and most polluted region, has
the dubious distinction of having 16 cities on the list. Neither Beijing nor Shanghai appears on the
list. The report found that only 22.94 percent of sewage was treated adequately in the cities surveyed
and less than 20 percent of household garbage met with proper handling. It said 178 cities examined
had not built any sewage treatment facilities and 130 cities had not been equipped with garbage
disposal plants.
