Summary Practice

Tomorrow is Jill's birthday. She is excited because she gets to pick where she will eat dinner. Will it be Mexican food at the Big Enchilada House? Or will it be fried chicken at the Chicken Shack, or a big cheeseburger at Al's Hamburger Palace. She just couldn't decide. Then there was always the Pizza Shop with that great pepperoni pizza. How would she ever decide? Maybe she would just flip a coin.
The Summary of this passage is:

• Jill has many restaurants to choose from for her birthday.
•  Jill loves Mexican food.
• The Pizza Shop has the best pizza in town.
•  Jill will choose a place by flipping a coin.

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.

The Summary of this passage is:

• There are a lot of cows in Texas.

• There are many different, varied parts of Texas.

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

• There are alligators in the swampland of southeast Texas.

It started when they got to the bears. Peter felt tired and his stomach hurt. He dragged himself over to see the elephants, which were eating from a stack of hay. Normally, the elephants were his favorite. Without much interest, Peter followed his classmates to the camels, which were busy swatting flies with their tails. Peter knew he should be having fun at the zoo, but he just felt terrible and all he wanted to do was lie down and rest. Even the lions and tigers did not interest him now.

The Summary of this passage is:

• Peter's favorite animals were the elephants.

• The camels were swatting flies with their tails.

• It was really hot at the zoo.

• Peter didn't enjoy the zoo because he felt really bad.

For the walls, Jenny thought she would use a bright yellow paint. She would pick a border that had mostly bright red and green colors, and maybe a little bit of blue. She already had found some curtains that were sky blue with streaks of red, blue and yellow that she thought would go great with the walls. And finally, she had picked a carpet that was mostly blue with specks of red and yellow. Jenny couldn't wait till she was done decorating her room. It was really going to look awesome.

The Summary of this passage is:

• Jenny likes bright colors.

• Jenny was going to paint her room.

• Jenny was picking out colors and materials to decorate her room.

• Yellow is a good color to paint your walls.

GameFAQs is a Web site that hosts walkthroughs for video games. It also has answers to many frequently asked questions to popular video games. The website was created in November 1995 by Jeff Veasey. The site has a lot of video game information. It is a place where gamers can get almost any information about games. It covers systems from the Atari to the Xbox 360. The Web site also covers computer games. The information on the Web site is given by volunteer gamers. Then, it is reviewed by the site's two editors, Jeff Veasey and Allen Tyner. The Web site also has a large message board community. Every game listed on the site has a board for discussion or game help.

The summary of this passage is:

• GameFAQs has a lot of information about video games. It helps people with questions they have about games. It also gives them information on how to play the games well. Users can post messages on the message boards.

• GameFAQs is a good Web site that allows gamers to discuss all kinds of video and computer games. It was started in November 1995. Allen Tyner is one of the two editors who checks the information volunteers put on the Web site.

• GameFAQs is a Web site that helps video gamers with their games. It was created in 1995 and covers old and new video and computer games. The site is run by two editors, who check volunteer information before putting it on the site.

• GameFAQs has information on old and new video games. It has information for Xbox 360 games like Halo. It also has several message boards where gamers can discuss their favorite computer games. It was created by Jeff Veasey.

The Blackpole Warbler is a tiny bird that takes a really long trip. This little songbird lives in the forests of North America in the summer. However, when the weather turns cold in North America, the Blackpole Warbler takes flight.These small birds fly all the way to the Caribbean, where they spend the winter on warm tropical beaches. How far does the warbler fly for this tropical getaway? Scientists have tracked the Blackpole Warbler and say these amazing birds can fly over 1,700 miles!

Which is the best summary of this text?

• The blackpole warbler is a small bird. It is also asongbird. It can fly.

• The blackpole warbler is a small songbird that can flyover 1,700 miles.

• The blackpole warbler is a small songbird that flies fromNorth America all the way to the Caribbean. The bird fliesover 1,700 miles.

• Birds often migrate to warmer places in the winter.

The first book Chris read in fifth grade was about a lost kitten. Then he read a book about a family of bears, and then he read about a wild kangaroo in Australia. It seems every book Chris reads is about animals. Last week he found a good book about snakes and reptiles, and another book about elephants. Today Chris went to the library, and he checked out a book about dolphins, whales and other animals that live in the sea.
The Summary of this passage is:

• Chris likes kangaroos.
• Chris is in the fifth grade.
• Chris reads a lot of books about animals.
• Dolphins and whales live in the sea.

San Francisco is located on the coast of California in an area often called the Bay Area. The weather is generally very mild, seldom getting really cold or really hot. Its mild climate is one reason many people live there. It seldom snows in San Francisco and generally does not get below freezing during the winter. Even in the middle of summer, temperatures may be in the mid 80s with a cool breeze from the bay keeping the weather very comfortable.
The Summary of this passage is:
 

• San Francisco has many neat things to do.
•  It seldom snows in California.
•  Many people choose to live in California.
•  The weather in San Francisco is generally very mild.

Right now Jason was playing right field. He really wanted to play third base. Earlier this year, coach had put him in left field and second base in a game, but never at third base. Once in practice, coach let him play third base, but he kept missing ground balls. When he did stop one, he made a bad throw to first base. Maybe if he kept practicing, Jason would be good enough to play third base. That was his dream.
The Summary of this passage is:

• Jason really wanted to play third base.
• Jason was the best player on his team.
• Jason had trouble catching ground balls.
• Jason was too lazy to practice.

Is this a good summary: In the story, "My Dog", A boy named Robert adopts a dog during Christmas Eve Night. But the dog does not like the man. Though after spending time together, they develop an understanding.

• No, because it has an exclamation in the end.

• Yes, because it includes the names, setting, and how the problem was fixed.

• No, because there is too much detail and summaries aren't supposed to have a bunch.

• Yes, because I just like the way it is written