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

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

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

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.

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.

MESSENGER will travel 4.9 billion miles to Mercury's orbit and will have to survive extreme conditions. For one thing, it will have to take a lot more of the sun's heat and energy than any other spacecraft. Additionally, MESSENGER will need to travel at extreme speeds—over 140,000 miles per hour! Choose the best paraphrase.

• For one thing, it will have to take a lot more of the sun's heat and energy than any other spacecraft. Additionally, MESSENGER will need to travel at extreme speeds—over 140,000 miles per hour!

• MESSENGER will need to travel at extreme speeds—over 140,000 miles per hour!

• On its 4.9 billion-mile journey, MESSENGER will encounter intense conditions as it travels near the sun and survives ultimate heat as it hurtles at a speed of over140,00 mph.

• MESSENGER will travel 4.9 billion miles to Mercury's orbit and will have to survive extreme conditions.

Which is the best paraphrase of the following sentence?
Deserts cover one fifth of the surface of the Earth. 

• Deserts cover one fifth of the Earth.

• One fifth of the Earth's surface is desert.

• Deserts cover one fifth of the Earth.

• Deserts cover more than half of the Earth's surface.

What is the best paraphrase of the following sentence?
A type of shark called a shortfin mako can leap 20 feet above the surface of the water.

• A shark can leap 20 feet out of the water, it is called a shortfin mako. 

• The shortfin mako shark can jump above the surface of water.

• A shortfin mako is a kind of shark that can leap 20 feet out of the water. 

• A shortfin mako can jump 20 feet above the surface of the water.