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A fair summary keeps the speaker's claim at its size and keeps their reason, so they would nod at it.
Paper packet. Every task here also exists on screen, where it is checked automatically; answers written on paper are not assessed by Nydus. When you are back at a device, enter your answers there.
You will say back someone's claim and reason so they would nod at it, and spot a summary that makes the claim bigger, drops the reason, adds a motive, or swaps in a different claim — before you give any reply of your own.
Thank you for letting me speak tonight.
The youth center should stay open on Friday nights.
Friday is the only night the sports hall is free for us.
Last year the Friday soccer league had sixty players.
I know some of you think I just want somewhere to hang out.
My brother used to go there too.
You can find someone's claim and reasons, map them, and disagree without accusing. One step comes before any reply: saying back what they said, fairly.
| Term | What it means |
|---|---|
| This lesson's terms | A summary says what someone said in fewer words. A summary is fair when it keeps their claim at the same size and keeps their reason. The nod test: would the speaker nod and say yes, that is what I mean? A motive is a reason someone might secretly have for wanting something. |
| Supported conclusion | The conclusion the stated reasons reach, including the limits on its group, time or conditions. |
Zoe says: the swimming gala should start at ten, not nine, because the first bus only gets there at half past nine. Here are four summaries:
Only the first passes the nod test. The others go wrong in different ways:
There is a fourth way: putting a different claim in place of the one made, like answering Zoe wants the pool heated.
The map helps. Draw the speaker's claim box and reason boxes. A fair summary keeps every box, at the size it was drawn, and adds none.
Why bother? Because a reply to a claim nobody made answers nothing. If you still disagree after a fair summary, your disagreement is about what they actually said.
Another way: picture
A fair summary is a good photocopy made smaller: everything is still there, in the same place. An unfair one is a copy someone has drawn on.
Another way: steps
A fair summary is shorter than the original while keeping its main claim and support. Shortening is not the same as making a claim stronger. If a speaker says 'Some children found the first page hard', changing some to all alters the claim. Changing found hard to could not do also alters it. Small words carry important limits.
Keep the reason even when you disagree with it. If Noor supports a later start because the first bus arrives late, a summary that says only 'Noor wants to sleep longer' replaces the stated reason with an invented motive. You may suspect another motive, but that belongs in a separate discussion with its own evidence. First show that you have understood the argument actually offered.
Include a condition when it changes the proposal. 'Use the field if it is dry' is not the same as 'Use the field whatever happens'. A summary that drops the condition may make a sensible plan look reckless. Ask whether the speaker could reasonably reply, 'That is not what I said.' If so, restore the missing limit before evaluating the view.
A good drafting method is to write two short sentences: the speaker's claim and the speaker's reason. Join them with because. Then compare every strong word with the original. Watch for always, never, everyone, must and only. You can write a separate reply underneath, beginning with your own reason. Keeping summary and reply apart helps readers tell which ideas belong to whom.
Someone said: We should keep the garden, because it gives the science club somewhere to watch plants grow. Which summary is fair?
The supported answer is: He wants to keep the garden because the science club uses it to watch plants grow.
Find the claim and the reason in what was said. He wants to keep the garden because the science club uses it to watch plants grow. keeps both, at the size they were said. The speaker would nod. The others make the claim bigger, swap the reason for a motive, or drop the reason.
Someone said: The reading corner should be a quiet zone at lunch, because people go there to read. Which summary is fair?
The supported answer is: She wants the reading corner quiet at lunch because people go there to read.
Find the claim and the reason in what was said. She wants the reading corner quiet at lunch because people go there to read. keeps both, at the size they were said. The speaker would nod. The others make the claim bigger, swap the reason for a motive, or drop the reason.
Someone said: The tuck shop should sell fewer sugary candy, because the dentist's visit found lots of fillings. Which summary is fair?
The supported answer is: He wants the tuck shop to sell fewer sugary candy because the dentist found lots of fillings.
Find the claim and the reason in what was said. He wants the tuck shop to sell fewer sugary candy because the dentist found lots of fillings. keeps both, at the size they were said. The speaker would nod. The others make the claim bigger, swap the reason for a motive, or drop the reason.
Someone said: The kite festival should move to the hill field this year, because the beach is being dug up for the new sea wall. Which summary is fair?
The supported answer is: She wants this year's kite festival on the hill field because the beach is being dug up.
Find the claim and the reason in what was said. She wants this year's kite festival on the hill field because the beach is being dug up. keeps both, at the size they were said. The speaker would nod. The others make the claim bigger, swap the reason for a motive, or drop the reason.
Someone said: Videos in the club should have captions, because some members cannot hear the sound. Which summary is fair?
The supported answer is: She wants captions on the club's videos so that members who cannot hear the sound can follow them.
Find the claim and the reason in what was said. She wants captions on the club's videos so that members who cannot hear the sound can follow them. keeps both, at the size they were said. The speaker would nod. The others make the claim bigger, swap the reason for a motive, or drop the reason.
Lee said: practice should move indoors today, because lightning is forecast. Someone summed him up like this. Mark the parts of the summary that change what Lee said.
Lee says we should / stop playing outside for good, / because / he is scared of storms.
Lee asked for today. For good makes his claim much bigger. Lee's reason was the lightning forecast. He is scared of storms swaps his reason for a motive he never gave. Lee says we should and because are fine; the unfair parts are stop playing outside for good and he is scared of storms.
Ama said: the park should have more bins, because litter blows into the pond. Match each unfair summary to what went wrong.
Ama wants a bin every few steps across the whole town. / Ama wants more bins. / Ama wants more bins because she likes telling people off. / Ama says the pond should be drained. / the claim was made bigger / the reason was dropped / a motive was added / a different claim was put in its place
Ama wants a bin every few steps across the whole town has made her claim bigger. Ama wants more bins has lost her reason about the pond. Ama wants more bins because she likes telling people off adds a motive; Ama says the pond should be drained puts a different claim in place of hers.
Put the five steps of a fair reply in order.
Find the claim. / Find the reason given for it. / Say the claim and reason back in your own words. / Ask: is that what you mean? / Give your own reply.
Listen to the whole thing, then find the claim. Find the reason, then say both back in your own words. Ask is that what you mean? — and only once they agree, give your reply.
Councillor Mensah proposed closing Church Street to cars for two hours on Sunday mornings, because the market stalls spill into the road. Four newspaper columns sum up her proposal. Which one is fair?
The supported answer is: Mensah wants Church Street shut to cars for two hours on Sunday mornings, because the market stalls spill into the road.
Her claim: close Church Street to cars for two hours on Sunday mornings. Her reason: the stalls spill into the road. The fair column keeps both, at that size. Ban cars from the town blows the claim up; she wants to please her friends adds a motive; she wants Church Street closed drops both the size and the reason.
At a meeting, Lia says, 'On very hot days we should water the young plants early in the morning, because the soil dries quickly by lunchtime. On cool days we can keep the usual time.' A note-taker writes, 'Lia says everyone must arrive early every day because she likes mornings.' This sentence changes several parts of the argument.
The proposal concerns watering young plants on very hot days. It does not say every club member must arrive early or that the change applies every day. The reason concerns drying soil. Liking mornings is an invented motive. Even if Lia does like mornings, it is not the reason supplied here.
A fairer note is, 'Lia proposes early watering for young plants on very hot days because their soil dries quickly by lunchtime; she would keep the usual time on cool days.' This is shorter than a full meeting transcript, but it keeps the scope, reason and exception. Read it back to Lia if possible. A correction at this point is useful information, not a defeat for the note-taker.
The club may then ask whether morning watering is possible for the volunteers or whether shade would help. These are replies to the proposal. They should not be inserted into the summary as if Lia had said them. Clear meeting notes allow the next reader to reconstruct both the proposal and the response. That is why fair summarizing matters even when the writer strongly disagrees with the original suggestion.
Thinking fair means word for word. New words are fine if the claim and reason survive.
Thinking a summary is fair if it is roughly about the same thing. Every event in town is about start times, and it is not what Zoe said.
Adding what you think they really mean. Unless they said it, it is a guess, not a summary.
Ben: the park should have a drinking fountain, because runners on the track have nowhere to get water. Summary: Ben wants a fountain.
Ben: the park should have a drinking fountain, because runners on the track have nowhere to get water. Summary: Ben wants a fountain.
Claim: kept. Size: kept. Reason?
State the result of this reading move.
Claim: kept. Size: kept. Reason?
This records the link just identified: Ben: the park should have a drinking fountain, because runners on the track have nowhere to get water. Summary: Ben wants a fountain.
The runners have gone. Without them, Ben sounds as though he just likes fountains.
The runners have gone. Without them, Ben sounds as though he just likes fountains.
The reason was dropped.
State the result of this reading move.
The reason was dropped.
This records the link just identified: The runners have gone. Without them, Ben sounds as though he just likes fountains.
Fixed: Ben wants a drinking fountain in the park, because runners on the track have nowhere to get water.
Fixed: Ben wants a drinking fountain in the park, because runners on the track have nowhere to get water.
Now he would nod.
A speaker thanks the city council, says the skate ramp should be repaired, says two boards are split, says a child hurt an ankle there, and mentions that her cousin skates.
A speaker thanks the city council, says the skate ramp should be repaired, says two boards are split, says a child hurt an ankle there, and mentions that her cousin skates.
Map it first: which is the claim?
State the result of this reading move.
Map it first: which is the claim?
This records the link just identified: A speaker thanks the city council, says the skate ramp should be repaired, says two boards are split, says a child hurt an ankle there, and mentions that her cousin skates.
Claim: repair the ramp. Reasons: split boards; an injury. The thank-you and the cousin are background.
Claim: repair the ramp. Reasons: split boards; an injury. The thank-you and the cousin are background.
Two reason boxes, one claim box.
State the result of this reading move.
Two reason boxes, one claim box.
This records the link just identified: Claim: repair the ramp. Reasons: split boards; an injury. The thank-you and the cousin are background.
Summary: she wants the ramp repaired because two boards are split and a child was hurt there.
Summary: she wants the ramp repaired because two boards are split and a child was hurt there.
Every box kept, none added.
Identify the task before answering its parts.
Conditional proposal sentence: {{b0}}
Supporting reason sentence: {{b1}}
Exception sentence: {{b2}}
The three labeled spaces ask for different parts of this analysis, so keep their order visible.
Locate the evidence for the first part.
Sentence 1 preserves the proposal's rainy-day condition instead of extending it to every day.
This is the supplied information that bears on work out conditional proposal sentence.
Work out conditional proposal sentence.
1
Sentence 1 preserves the proposal's rainy-day condition instead of extending it to every day.
Work out supporting reason sentence.
2
Sentence 2 preserves the reason about protecting drawings rather than inventing a dislike of the garden.
Work out exception sentence.
3
Sentence 3 restores the dry-day exception; sentence 4 is irrelevant to this reasoning and is omitted.
Write the completed analysis in its original order.
1 / 2 / 3
Read these entries with their labels: Work out conditional proposal sentence. / Work out supporting reason sentence. / Work out exception sentence.
Someone says: the bus shelter on Hill Road should get a bench, because older people often wait there for twenty minutes. What is the claim, and how big is it?
Someone says: the bus shelter on Hill Road should get a bench, because older people often wait there for twenty minutes. What is the claim, and how big is it?
A bench in that one shelter — not benches everywhere.
What is the reason?
Now say both back, so the speaker would nod.
Read Sam's speech. To sum him up fairly, you need his claim and his reasons and nothing else. Mark the reasons, and choose the claim.
Underline the premises and circle the conclusion in the passage above.
Original numbered sentences: (1) On rainy days, the 11 club members should meet indoors. (2) The roof keeps their drawings dry. (3) On dry days, the garden is fine. (4) The club badge is round. Construct a fair summary using sentence numbers: first identify the weather-limited proposal, then its supporting reason, then the exception that must be preserved. Leave out the unrelated detail. Enter one sentence number in each field.
Work out conditional proposal sentence.
b0
Preserve the proposal's weather condition.
Work out supporting reason sentence.
b1
Keep the thing protected by the roof in the stated reason.
Work out exception sentence.
b2
Restore the explicit exception for the garden.
Original numbered sentences: (1) On rainy days, the 15 club members should meet indoors. (2) The roof keeps their drawings dry. (3) On dry days, the garden is fine. (4) The club badge is round. Construct a fair summary using sentence numbers: first identify the weather-limited proposal, then its supporting reason, then the exception that must be preserved. Leave out the unrelated detail. Enter one sentence number in each field.
Conditional proposal sentence: b0
Supporting reason sentence: b1
Exception sentence: b2
Original numbered sentences: (1) On rainy days, the 9 club members should meet indoors. (2) The roof keeps their drawings dry. (3) On dry days, the garden is fine. (4) The club badge is round. Construct a fair summary using sentence numbers: first identify the weather-limited proposal, then its supporting reason, then the exception that must be preserved. Leave out the unrelated detail. Enter one sentence number in each field.
Conditional proposal sentence: b0
Supporting reason sentence: b1
Exception sentence: b2
Original numbered sentences: (1) On rainy days, the 10 club members should meet indoors. (2) The roof keeps their drawings dry. (3) On dry days, the garden is fine. (4) The club badge is round. Construct a fair summary using sentence numbers: first identify the weather-limited proposal, then its supporting reason, then the exception that must be preserved. Leave out the unrelated detail. Enter one sentence number in each field.
Conditional proposal sentence: b0
Supporting reason sentence: b1
Exception sentence: b2
Original numbered sentences: (1) On rainy days, the 13 community center members should meet indoors. (2) The roof keeps their drawings dry. (3) On dry days, the garden is fine. (4) The community center badge is round. Construct a fair summary using sentence numbers: first identify the weather-limited proposal, then its supporting reason, then the exception that must be preserved. Leave out the unrelated detail. Enter one sentence number in each field.
Conditional proposal sentence: b0
Supporting reason sentence: b1
Exception sentence: b2
Lesson test: one question per skill, one attempt each, no hints. Your answers are checked when you submit.
Original numbered sentences: (1) On rainy days, the 12 club members should meet indoors. (2) The roof keeps their drawings dry. (3) On dry days, the garden is fine. (4) The club badge is round. Construct a fair summary using sentence numbers: first identify the weather-limited proposal, then its supporting reason, then the exception that must be preserved. Leave out the unrelated detail. Enter one sentence number in each field.
Conditional proposal sentence: b0
Supporting reason sentence: b1
Exception sentence: b2
You can sum up someone's argument fairly and say what is wrong with an unfair summary. Say how every event in town changes Zoe's claim. Next: making your own claims the right size for their reasons.
17. Your turn: the bus shelter, step 2
What is the reason?
Keep the claim's size and keep the reason; add no motive.
17. Your turn: the bus shelter, step 3
Now say both back, so the speaker would nod.
Keep the claim's size and keep the reason; add no motive.