Summarizing

Summarizing

Nonfiction

Multiple Choice

When writing a summary, it is okay to include any opinions or background knowledge you have on the topic.

• True

• False

Multiple Choice

When you determine the main idea and significant details of a text while condensing information into a short paragraph, you are _____.

• predicting

• summarizing

• evaluating

• judging

Multiple Choice

Turtles have been around for more than 200 million years. Scientists think they are the most ancient of all reptiles. Turtles live in many places on land and in water. Like all reptiles, they are cold-blooded. Turtles that live where winters are cold usually hibernate. Turtles eat insects, fish and frogs. They also munch on plants, including fruit and flowers. The largest turtle is the leatherback, which can weigh more than 2,000 pounds!

Which title best summarizes this paragraph?

• Interesting Facts About Turtles

• Very Ancient Reptiles

• The Large Leatherback

• Places where Turtles Live

Multiple Choice

The explorer Marco Polo left his home in Italy in 1271. After many years of traveling, his party reached the summer palace of Kublai Khan in what is now China. Polo remained at the court for seventeen years. He marveled at things not yet seen in Europe. For example, common people bathed daily. Roads and bridges were paved. People used paper money as currency. They also burned coal as a fuel. When Polo finally returned to Europe, it took a while before people believed the stories he told or the book he wrote about his travels. Which title best summarizes this paragraph?

• What Marco Polo Was Like

• Meeting Kublai Khan

• A Wanderer from Italy

• The Travels of Marco Polo

Multiple Choice

Which of the following sentences should be included in a summary of this text?

When some people think about Texas, they think of cowboys on the open range-herding cattle up a dusty trail. However, Texas has much more than open prairie with large herds of cows. There are the mountains of West Texas, the piney hills of east Texas, and the emerald waters off the coast of Padre Island. Texas also has large coastal harbors with numerous sailboats, powerboats, inland lakes, rivers, swamps of southeast Texas with alligators and other exotic wildlife.

• Texas is one of the biggest states in the United States.

• There are a lot of cows in Texas.

• There are many different, varied parts of Texas.

• There are alligators in the swampland of southeast Texas.

Multiple Choice

Dinosaurs lived on the Earth for approximately 180 million years. About 250 million years ago during the Permian Period, the Earth's seas shrunk. Reptiles, including dinosaurs, survived this period. The dinosaurs were the strong, dominant reptiles of the period. By the end of the Jurassic Period, dinosaurs had reached enormous sizes and roamed the Earth as leaders. In the Cretaceous Period, the dinosaurs died out, and more mammals began to flourish.

The reason why dinosaurs were able to survive the Permian Period is because _____.

• the only needed to eat vegetation in order to survive

• they were able to swim

• they were stronger than some of the other mammals

• the Permian Period didn't last for a long time

Multiple Choice

As our landfills grow into large mountains of junk it has become apparent that we need to take action. Every year thousands of water bottles are thrown into landfills where they do not get recycled and they do not decompose. Thus, further adding to our society's waste.

These sentences support the argument that buying bottled water _____.

• destroys our environment

• helps people stay healthy

• makes people money

• makes finding clean water easier

Multiple Choice

Which of the following best summarizes the text?

Squirrels are small creatures that belong to the family of rodents. They have a bushy tail and pointed ears. Squirrels can be divided into three types: tree squirrels, ground squirrels, and flying squirrels. Ground squirrels live in holes that they make on the ground. They eat nuts, fruits, berries, and insects. Tree squirrels live in holes that they make in trees. They eat the bark of trees, fruits, flowers, nuts, and eggs. If needed, they also come down in search of food. Flying squirrels live in nests or in holes that they make in trees. They cannot fly, but they can glide through the air from one tree to another. They eat fruits, berries, nuts, eggs, and small animals.

Squirrels are very possessive about where they live. They make very protective mothers and become wild and violent to protect their babies from enemies. Baby squirrels are blind when they are born and completely depend on their mothers. However, as squirrels get older, they have very good eyesight. They can spot their food from a distance. Many people think that they eat only nuts, but they are actually omnivores. This means that they eat both plants and animals.

Squirrels are considered to be very intelligent. They can imitate the actions of different animals and also of human beings. They hide their food in different places to keep it away from their enemy's reach. Squirrels also use different tricks to protect themselves from their enemies. For instance, they chew the skin of a dead snake and then lick themselves so that they smell like a snake. They then hide in their burrows. When an enemy passes by their burrow, it thinks that the squirrel is a snake. There is so much to learn about squirrels.

• Squirrels have a bushy tail and pointed ears. These pointed ears help them to hear the sound of their enemies. They are intelligent as they use different tricks to protect themselves from their enemies.

• Squirrels are of three types. They are intelligent rodents because they know how to protect their homes and their young ones. They are very flexible and quick as they can move very fast from one place to another.

• Squirrels are rodents and eat fruits and nuts. They are intelligent and teach their babies to protect their food and homes. They also prepare themselves by storing food for the long winter months.

• There are three different types of squirrels, and they are all omnivores. They are protective about their homes and their babies. They use intelligent tricks to store food and keep enemies away.