PARAPHRASING

Exercise 1

Paraphrase the sentences provided below. There should be more than one way to rewrite each one. Do not forget to change the vocabulary, phrases and sentence structure.

1. Despite, their massive size, elephants are known for being agile.

Despite being enormous, elephants are recognized for being quick animals.

2. Because elephants consume up to 500 pounds of food a day, they are able to strip a forest bare in no time.

Due to the fact that elephants ingest 500 pounds of food per day, they can destroy a forest instantaneously.

3. Over the centuries, lions have been used in art to represent power and magnificence.

Since always, Lions have been taken into account when artist represent majesty and control.

Since always, lions have been chosen by artist to represent grandness and power.

4. Lions are social animals with one dominant male in each pride.

Lions are friendly animals that have a predominant/ controlling/ commanding male per herd.

5. George Washington Carver was a dedicated teacher; in addition, he was known as a talented artist, musician, and researcher who made valuable contributions to his people and his country.

George Washington Carver was a committed educator; on the other hand, he was recognized as a skillful artist, musician, and investigator who made helpful contributions to Americans and the United States.

6. Archibald McLeish, known for his poetry, was appointed head of the Library of Congress by President Roosevelt in 1939.

In 1939, Archibald McLeish was chosen as the leader of the Library of Congress by Presiden Roosevelt.

Exercise 2
Read each paragraph and state the main idea in your own words. If you find the main idea stated directly in the paragraph, be sure to use the paraphrasing techniques than you practice in exercise one.


1. There is plenty of water on the earth. In fact, there is enough water in this planet for everyone to have a huge lake. The trouble is that the water is not always found in the place where it is needed. In addition, much of the water is polluted or salty. Because of these problems, there are many people without sufficient water.

Main Idea: There is plenty of water on the earth. However, there are places where water is difficult to be found.


2. New oil supplies need to be found to replace those that have been used up. There is a constant search for new oil fields. Oil hunters sink their wells wherever there are signs of oil. Each of these drillings costs thousands of dollars, and often there is not enough oil to make it profitable. Nevertheless, the search for new oil never ends.

Main Idea: New oil supplies need to be found to replace those that have been used up.



3. Quakers, a religious group known as the Society of Friends, have always worked for human causes. Before the Civil War in the United States, they were against slavery and led the movement to help slaves escape from southern part of The United States and seek freedom in the northern part. Today, they fight hunger and disease around the globe and still aid people fleeing tyranny and war. Their beliefs are based on the principles of pacifism and simple living.

Main Idea: Quakers is a religious group known as the Society of Friends, which have always worked for human causes.

Exercise 3

Let’s look at the following text. First, read the original essay several times to make sure that you understand each paragraph well. Then, fill in the outline. Next, write a 100 Word summary.

Student Rights

I Who knows better than the students themselves what a university should do for them and how they should be treated? Yet how often do students have any say at all in such important issues as Faculty selection, curriculum planning and scheduling? The answer is obvious: If university administrations refuse to include students’ representatives in the decision/ making process, something drastic must be done.

II Let’s examine what is happening right here on our own campus in the areas mentioned above. The first major issue is the selection of faculty members. Never in the history of this college has a student been permitted to interview to examine the credential of, or even meet prospective professors. All hiring is done by a joint administrative- faculty committee, often made up of people will not even extensive dealings with the individuals after day begin teaching. Those who have the most at stake and whose lives and academic careers will be governed by the professors – the students themselves – never even meet the new teachers until the first class meeting. No one is better equipped to evaluate a professor’s ability to communicate with students than those whom he or she intends to teach. Anyone can read curriculum vitae to ascertain the level of professional training and experience someone has had, but the best judges of a teacher’s ability to teach, which is the primary function of any professor is undoubtedly the students themselves.

III Students’ interest in and commitment to appropriate curricula are even more obvious. We have come to college with very specific purposes in mind: To prepare ourselves intellectually and practically for future. We know what we need to learn in order to compete successfully with others in our chosen fields. Why should be kept out of the curriculum planning process? If we pay for the text books, spend hours in the library doing research, and burn the midnight oil studying for tests and exams, why are we not permitted to give our own opinions about the materials we will spend some many hours studying? It is imperative that our views be made known to curriculum planners.

IV The area of scheduling is of vital interest to students. The hours at which classes are offered affect us daily. Many of us must juggle work and class schedules, but often administrators ignore such problem when day schedule classes. Schedules must be convenient and flexible so that all students have equal opportunities to take the most popular classes and those that are more essential to their majors. If students help with scheduling, never would there be two required courses offered at the same time for only one semester per academic year. Never would we have to wait two or three semesters to take a course that is a pre- requisite for other desired courses, nor would we have to raise across campus in ten minutes to get from one class to the next. Students are vitally concerned with scheduling.

V In the 1960s and early 1970s, students were not too shy of fearful to demonstrate against the injustices they saw in the draft system and Vietnam conflict. Why should students today be afraid to voice their opinion about the very important issues that affect their lives?

Main Idea I :university administrations refuse to include students’ representatives in the decision making process.

Main Idea II: the selection of faculty members is not allowed to students of our campus.

Main Idea III: Scheduling and curricula are other problems that university administrators do not take into account student's opinions.


100 word Summary

Students have any say in the decision making process of our Faculty selection, curriculum planning or scheduling. In the same way, students has never been permitted to interview, to examine the credential of, or even meet prospective professors since all hiring is done by a joint administrative - faculty committee and no one is better prepared to evaluate a professor’s ability to communicate with students than those whom he or she intends to teach, that is why one of the most important problems is the selection of our faculty members. On the other hand, Scheduling and curricula are other problems in which university administrators do not take into account student's opinions.