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PARAPHRASING & SUMMARISING

Total questions: 20

Worksheet time: 58mins

Name
Class
Date
1.

PARAPHRASING means . . .

a)

writing down exactly what a passage says

b)

putting information

into your own words

2.

To express someone else’s ideas in our own words means . . .

a)

Paraphrasing

b)

Quoting

c)

Summarizing

3.

What is the best summary of the following passage?


The Elk River flows from the far northern part of the state all the way to the southern tip. All kinds of animals rely on it for drinking water, people eat the fish they catch in it, and farmers in the state depend on it for irrigating their crops. Since there is very little rain in this state, the Elk River gives animals and humans the water they need to stay alive. Even though the river is not nearly the biggest in the nation, it is very important to the people and animals that live near it.

a)

The Elk River is a small river.

b)

The Elk River starts in the northern part of the state.

c)

The Elk River is very important to people and animals.

d)

People catch fish in the Elk River.

4.

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:

a)

Jenny likes bright colors.

b)

Jenny was going to paint her room.

c)

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

d)

Yellow is a good color to paint your walls.

5.

Read the excerpt below.

Which sentence best restates the ideas?


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

a)

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

b)

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

c)

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

6.

When you paraphrase, you should be sure to..

a)

Put quotation marks around it

b)

Put it in your own words and make it shorter than the original

c)

Put it in your own words, but keep it about the same length as the original

d)

Just change the order of the words around in the sentence

7.
 Choose the BEST paraphrase of this text: 

Lionel Messi earns a whopping $39.6 million a year for playing striker for La Liga's Barcelona team.
(Scholastic Book of World Records 2011 page 99)
a)
Lionel Messi earns a whopping $39.6 million a year for playing striker for La Liga's Barcelona team.
b)
According to Scholastic Book of World Records 2011, I think it is great that soccer player Lionel Messi earns a whopping $39.6 million a year for playing striker for La Liga's Barcelona team!
c)
Soccer player Lionel Messi earns a whopping $39.6 million a year for playing soccer as striker/winger for La Liga's Barcelona team. Barcelona is the capital of Catalonia and the second largest city in Spain.
d)
According to Scholastic Book of World Records 2011, soccer player Lionel Messi makes over $39 million dollars annually. This impressive salary is from his work as a striker for La Liga's Barcelona team (page 99).
8.
Johnny really wanted an adventure. He borrowed his friend's bike and explored the world. He saw many amazing things and had a lot of fun. Johnny was so glad he went on his trip! What is the best summary for this paragraph?
a)
Johnny saw amazing things.
b)
Johnny went on a fun bike adventure.
c)
Johnny was glad he went on a trip.
d)
Johnny wanted to explore.
9.
Sally had a birthday party at her house. She invited lots of friends. They all brought her a present to open. She was excited to share cupcakes with her friends. She thanked everyone for coming before they went home. What is the best summary for this paragraph?
a)
Sally opened presents.
b)
Sally ate cupcakes with her friends.
c)
Sally had a birthday party with her friends.
d)
Sally thanked her friends for coming.
10.
Read the following passage and then answer the question.
Books lay in the middle of his floor. Several broken toys were shoved halfway under the bed, and dirty clothes were everywhere. Frank's parents kept telling him to clean his room, but it never seemed to get clean. In fact, if Frank did manage to clean part of it, the rest of the room just got messier. In one corner of the room was an old peanut butter and jelly sandwich, and an open bag of potato chips was thrown on the dresser.
a)
Frank's room was a mess.
b)
A peanut butter and jelly sandwich was in one corner of the room.
c)
Frank liked potato chips.
d)
Frank got in big trouble because his room was not clean.
11.
Read the following passage and then answer the question.
Math didn't make much sense to Cathy. She always got area and perimeter mixed up and she had no idea what a right angle was. Last quarter she failed math, and this quarter wasn't any better. As long as she could remember, math had been hard for Cathy. She did fine in reading and science, but not math. Now she was working on her math homework, but she didn't know how to do most of it. Who invented math, anyway!
a)
Who invented math?
b)
Cathy did well in reading and science.
c)
Cathy always got area and perimeter mixed up.
d)
Cathy was not very good at math.
12.
How do I know my paraphrase is CORRECT? 
a)
I check that it has the same meaning as the first phrase.
b)
I check that I repeated the same words as the first phrase. 
13.
What is the best paraphrase of the following sentence?
Brazil is the largest country in South America and Suriname is the smallest. 
a)
The biggest country in South America is Brazil, while the tiniest is Suriname.
b)
Suriname and Brazil the largest and smallest countries in Brazil.
c)
The largest country is Brazil and the smallest country is Suriname, and they are both countries in Brazil.
d)
The two countries of Brazil and Suriname are two countries in Brazil.
14.

Donald’s car is $1.000.000, while mine is only $35.000.


Donald’s car is ……………………… more expensive than my car.

a)

less

b)

far

c)

nowhere near

d)

not

15.

There are far more people watching movies than people reading books.


Film is a lot …………………………. than books.

a)

more interesting

b)

less interesting

c)

more like

d)

less like

16.

Ramesh never enjoys watching movie.


Ramesh is not ………………………….. in watching movies.

a)

interested

b)

keen

c)

into

d)

fond of

17.

This is the first time the principal plays a guitar in front of all students.


The principal has …………………… played guitar in front of all students before.

a)

never

b)

been

c)

first time

d)

had never

18.

I saw Laura and Janet going to Jack’s house yesterday morning.


Laura and Jane ………………….. to Jack’s house yesterday morning.

a)

went

b)

go

c)

going

d)

have gone

19.

Students can stay longer in front of their tabs playing games, but not reading e-books.


Students say that playing games is ........ more interesting than reading e-books.

a)

much

b)

more

c)

less

d)

nowhere near

20.

How could you paraphrase the following sentence: "Moby, the orange robot, is best friends with a boy named Tim."

a)

Moby, the orange robot, is best friends with a man named Tim.

b)

Tim is best friends with an orange robot named Moby.

c)

Moby is an orange robot.

d)

Tim and Moby are friends.