Characteristics of an effegtive summary: answers

Summary

Comment

1 and 2

Both acceptable, though clearly 1 is more detailed.

3

First statement is inaccurate.

4

Accurate but too brief and general.

5

Inaccurate – very loosely linked to the source text.

6

Inaccurate – the writer does not suggest that biopolitics 'is likely to gain increasing acceptance' or that 'changes in the enviroment and in human behaviour can be bought about through political processes'. The last statement is also untrue.

7

Grossly Inaccurate, with extraneous information and a concluding statement that has no basis in the source text.

Summary

Comment

1

First two sentences are irrelevant – summary is meant to focus on scientists, not students; rest is incomplete - no mention of poor working conditions and prospects.

2

Wrong emphasis – Tonegawa's criticism is not the main point.

3

Too close to original – follows vocabulary and sentence patterns of original (lacking conciseness as a result).

4

Acceptable.

Summary

Comment

1

Brief but accurate

2

Long-winded, partly irrelevant and expressing an opinion (in the last sentence) which is not in the text. Use of term 'tropical rain forests' is wrong (see below).

3

Accurate except for use of term 'tropical rain forest', suggesting that this covers all types of forest in the tropics. The text divides tropical forests into dry and moist. The latter includes rain forests but is not synonymous.

4

First paragraph is not wholly relevant to topic; third paragraph contains an excess of information and a specious comparison in the last sentence.

5

The most satisfactory summary of the information required – accurate, with a suitable amount of selected detail.

Extract

Comment

1

Copied almost verbatim, so clearly unacceptable.

2

Acceptable, probably written from notes on the original.

3

Unacceptable – copied with minor modifications. This is still plagiarism.

4

Unacceptable – copied, except for first sentence, which names the source. Some students may think that this is perfectly legitimate.

5

Acceptable – acknowledged quotation.

6

Unacceptable and revealing a common disguise tactic - one or two original sentences from the student with several basic errors, followed by long pieces of faultless, sophisticated prose! Stress that this is easy to recognise. Be sure to correct the errors in first sentence.

7

Acceptable – expressed in the student's own words and acknowledged because it is felt the original writer merits acknowiedging.

8

Also acceptable as an alternative way of acknowledging source material.

Extract

Comment

1

Verbatim copying – clearly unacceptable.

2

Unacceptable – as in 6 in Task 10, part 1 above. (Make sure you correct the first two sentences and the final one.)

3

Also a direct copy without acknowledgement. The final two sentences may suggest that the student has a grasp of the content but, clearly, that makes it no more acceptable.

4

Acceptable. Though the ideas are those of the original, they have been thought through and re-expressed in the student's own words.

5

Unacceptable. Changing a few words (commonly at the beginning or end) does not alter the fact that this is, in essence, lifted from the original.

6

Acceptable because what is taken from the original is in quotation marks and the source is acknowledged.

7

Also acceptable. The original writer's point is made with acknowledgement to the writer and not copied.

8

Unacceptable – acknowtedged, then copied - as in Task 10, part 1 above.