20 questions
Which of the following statements is TRUE about SUMMARIZING?
A summary should include many story details.
A summary is always found in the first sentence of a paragraph or chapter.
A summary should always be fiction.
A summary is what the passage is mostly about.
Which BEST DESCRIBES a SUMMARY?
Main or most important idea of the text
A really long detailed piece of writing
A dumb thing teachers make you write
The entire text in your own words
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 best 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.
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 best 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.
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 best 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.
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.
What is the main idea of this passage?
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.
What is the main thing the author is trying to tell us?
There are many different, varied parts of Texas.
There are a lot of cows in Texas.
There are alligators in the swampland of southeast Texas.
Texas is one of the biggest states in the United States.
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 best 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.
Julie watched the ants as they carried small crumbs down the trail to the anthill. She thinks ants are very hard working and industrious little creatures. They always seemed busy, and you never saw an ant just laying around doing nothing. They were carrying food, building tunnels, or defending the anthill. One thing you could say about ants is that they sure aren't lazy.
The best summary of this passage is:
Ants carry many things.
Some ants may bite you.
Ants are hard workers.
Some ants help take care of the queen.
As soon as she arrived at grandmother's house, Jessica ran into her bedroom to look at the blue quilt. It covered her grandmother's bed and was Jessica's favorite. It had patches of dark blue, medium blue, and light blue, with pictures of birds and flowers on every other patch. Jessica liked to take naps with the quilt wrapped around her. She loved the way it felt so soft and warm against her skin. Whenever she was visiting grandma, just looking at the quilt made Jessica happy. The best summary of this passage is...
Jessica's grandmother has a pretty blue quilt.
Jessica loved her grandmother's quilt.
Jessica took naps at her grandmother's house.
The quilt was warm.
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.
What is the main thing the author wants us to know?
Frank's room was a mess.
A peanut butter and jelly sandwich was in one corner of the room.
Frank liked potato chips.
Frank got in big trouble because his room was not clean.
Many people have not heard giraffes make noises. Giraffes do not use sounds to “talk” with each other. When hurt, giraffes make a low moo, something like a cow. When frightened, they make a short, high sound.
What is this paragraph mainly about?
Giraffes do make noises.
Giraffes talk all the time.
Cows and giraffes talk to each other.
Most people have heard giraffes talk.
Carson's older sister, Madison, is a very good student. She isn't satisfied to just get by in school. She is involved in extra activities at school, including the school's music program and the math club. She also always tries to answer the teacher's questions in class. What is this paragraph mainly about?
Madison was born before Carson.
Madison is a very good student.
Madison likes to show off.
Madison likes music.
Do you ever wonder how you taste things? You owe your sense of taste to your taste buds. We have 9,000 taste buds just on the tongue alone. There are also taste buds on the roof of your mouth. You even have taste buds on the back of your throat. What does the author want you to learn from this passage?
Why we can only taste certain things
Where taste buds are found
That we taste through our noses
We have taste buds on our tongues
It is estimated that over twenty million pounds of candy corn are sold in the US each year. Brach's, the top manufacturer, sells enough candy corn to circle the earth 4.25 times if each piece were laid end to end. That's a lot of candy corn, but that's nothing compared to the production of Tootsie Rolls. Over 64 million Tootsie Rolls are produced every day! But even Tootsie Rolls have got nothing on the candy industry's staple product: chocolate. Confectioners manufacture over twenty billion pounds of chocolate in the United States each year. Now that's a mouthful! What is the main idea of this passage?
Tootsie rolls are delicious
Chocolate is best
How much of popular candies are sold each year
How large the earth is
I can't wait until this weekend! We’re going to my grandparents’ house and my entire family will be there. I will spend most of my time playing games with my cousins. We always have such a good time together! The day goes by so fast, and by the end we are all exhausted... but we still don’t want to leave!
What is the main idea?
The author enjoys spending time with his/her family.
Weekends are for travel.
The grandparents live far away.
The author is sad to leave her cousin's house.
If you are feeling sad, you can make yourself feel better by doing a few simple things. You can take a walk (or get another form of exercise), you can talk to a friend, or you can write down your feelings. Writing down the good things in your life will help too. Doing something good for someone else will also help you feel better. If you still feel a little sad, act happy. It works like magic to make you feel better!
What is the main idea?
Sometimes people feel sad.
You should do good things for others.
We're not always happy.
There are many ways to make yourself feel better.
Mark wanted to be a great skater. But he didn't want to spend the hours practicing. He wished he could just do the tricks easily. Mark's dream was to have everyone stop and stare when he entered the skate park. He wanted them to say, "Mark is the best skater in the whole world."
What is the main idea?
Mark wants everyone to think he's a great skater without doing the hard work.
Mark practices very hard to become a great skater.
Mark is the best skater at the park.
Mark wants to learn how to skate so he can compete.
Mrs. Jones and Mrs. Brown are bakers. They work at a store called Bake Goods to Go. Mrs. Jones works nights. She bakes cakes, cookies, and pies. Mrs. Brown works in the daytime. She bakes bread and rolls. Both Mrs. Jones and Mrs. Brown are very good bakers.
What is the main idea?
Mrs. Jones bakes pies.
Mrs. Brown bakes rolls.
Mrs. Jones and Mrs. Brown are bakers
They work at a store called Bake Goods to Go.
Soccer players learn many skills when playing soccer. Soccer players learn how to dribble and pass the ball. They also learn how to control the ball so they can eventually score. Most importantly, soccer players learn how to work together with their teammates.
What is the main idea?
Soccer players learn how to control the ball so they can eventually score.
Soccer players learn how to dribble.
Soccer players learn how to work together as teammates.
Soccer players learn many skills when playing soccer.