Paraphrasing

A friend tells you, "I am absolutely livid. Jamie shared confidential information with Caroline!" You respond, "So, you're saying that you're angry that Jamie told Caroline your secret?"

When you retell information in your own words, you are __________________.

• summarizing

• paraphrasing

• yelling

• talking

Paraphrasing, or restating ideas in your own words, helps you check your understanding of what you hear and read. Read the passage. Which sentence best restates the ideas in the passage?

"Although television was not widely used in American homes until the 1950s, small, experimental television images were broadcast in the 1920s."

• Television was not widely used in American homes until the 1950s.

• Television became popular in the 1950s, but the first televisions were used thirty years earlier.

• Television became popular in the 1920s, and again in the 1950s.

Is the passage below an accurate paraphrase that helps clarify the meaning of the original text? Select Yes or No.

Original Text: Toward the end of the 1800s, the Industrial Revolution caused a change in many people's employment. When agricultural work in rural areas became harder to find, many left to seek industrial work in urban areas.

Paraphrase: The Industrial Revolution in the late 1800s changed what jobs were available. People left farms in the country to work in factories in the cities.

• Yes

• No

A paraphrase is more than a summary of a text's main ideas—it restates each key idea in about the same number of words.

Is this passage an accurate paraphrase that helps clarify the meaning of the original text? Select Yes or No.

Original Text: During the Industrial Revolution, working-class families took for granted that their children would need to be employed to help support the family.

Paraphrase: At the time of the Industrial Revolution, some children wanted to work in factories.

• Yes

• No

Paraphrasing can help you avoid _____________. It is taking another person's ideas or words and presenting them as your own. This is not only a serious academic offense, but it is also illegal in many cases. Use your own words when you write, and always give credit to others whose ideas you use.

• getting int trouble

• plagiarism

• cheating

• pledging

Choose the correct paraphrase of the following sentence:

During the Industrial Revolution, children as young as three worked in factories.

• In the time of the Industrial Revolution, children as young as three worked in the factories.

• Factories employed children-even three-year-olds-in the Industrial Revolution.

• During the Industrial Revolution, children as young as three worked in factories.

To help yourself paraphrase a text, identify the main idea of the passage.

Read this passage:

Thanks to the efforts of volunteers, people in Sauri, Kenya, have much better lives today than in years past. Their hospital now has a generator and running water, and it provides free medications for diseases that are widespread in the community. Cases of malaria have declined as people have been given mosquito nets for beds.

What is the main idea?

• Their hospital now has a generator and running water.

• It provides free medications for diseases.

• People in Sauri have much better lives than in years past.

• Cases of malaria have declined.

To help yourself paraphrase a text, look up any unfamiliar words or phrases.

Read the passage:

Thanks to the efforts of volunteers, people in Sauri, Kenya, have much better lives today than in years past. Their hospital now has a generator and running water, and it provides free medications for diseases that are widespread in the community. Cases of malaria have declined as people have been given mosquito nets for beds.

What is a generator?

• a device used to measure temperature

• a machine by which mechanical energy is changed into electrical energy and is used during power outages as back up

• a very serious illness

• a place to go when you need medical help

Final stage is to restate important ideas and details in your own words.

Read the passage:

Thanks to the efforts of volunteers, people in Sauri, Kenya, have much better lives today than in years past. Their hospital now has a generator and running water, and it provides free medications for diseases that are widespread in the community. Cases of malaria have declined as people have been given mosquito nets for beds.

Choose the best paraphrase.

• Their hospital now has a generator and running water, and it provides free medications for diseases that are widespread in the community.

• Cases of malaria have declined as people have been given mosquito nets for beds.

• Thanks to the efforts of volunteers, people in Sauri, Kenya, have much better lives today than in years past. Their hospital now has a generator and running water, and it provides free medications for diseases that are widespread in the community.

• Life in Sauri has recently improved.The hospital offers electricity and plumbing, and Free medicine and mosquito nets help prevent common diseases and malaria.

Original Text: The MESSENGER spacecraft will first perform two flyby missions, in which it will gather data on the planet Mercury. In these flybys, MESSENGER will measure Mercury's atmosphere, magnetic pull, and surface composition.

Paraphrase the text above, making sure to identify all the writer's main points. Don't forget to look up any unfamiliar words.

• MESSENGER is scheduled to travel past Mercury to get information about the planet. The spacecraft's trips will give us data about Mercury's surface, atmosphere, and gravity.

• The MESSENGER spacecraft will first perform two flyby missions, in which it will measure Mercury's atmosphere, magnetic pull, and surface composition.

• Past missions to Mercury haven't been successful because of the heat. MESSENGER is designed to orbit close to the sun.

• MESSENGER will provide useful information about Mercury during its flyby missions.