ALTE DOCUMENTE
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SUMMARISING
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Glossary: General business vocabulary Language Practice: Talking about facts and actions Doing Business: Modifying business information (summarising) Social Skills: Expressing disagreement |
Sometimes, when there is time constraints, information may need to be reproduced in an abbreviated or summarised form, as only the refined material is to go forward: this implies that people in business are often required to distinguish between important and trivial elements in communications - the essence of the task in the business world.
In practice, summary, brief, digest, and synopsis all terms for a short version of a longer work, are often mistaken:
Brief is
'a detailed outline, by heads and subheads, of a
discourse (usually legal) to be
completed’:
a brief for an argument
Digest is
'an abridgement of an article, book, etc., or an
organised arrangement of material
under heads and titles’:
a digest of popular novel
Summary is
'a brief statement or restatement of main
points, especially as a
conclusion to a work’:
the summary of a chapter
Synopsis is
'usually a compressed statement of the plot of
a novel, play, etc.’:
a synopsis of Hamlet
Summarising means looking at some hundred or thousand word text and deciding which strands are vital to its understanding and which parts can be left out, or glossed over, without seriously reducing the impact. If information fall into clear-cut compartments 919f54j of vital and irrelevant, the text is easy to shorten. The shorter the summary, the greater the loss of detail is.
Whenever a person involved in business is faced with the task of summarising, that is when there are time constraints, he/she should rely on a nine-stage method based on the words TRACK DICE (a device for aiding the memory). To each letter of this mnemonics corresponds a stage to follow. (After Joseph Chilver, English for Business: A Functional Approach
& Glossary
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abridgement = prescurtare, prezentare pe scurt aid (v.) = a ajuta be faced with (v.) = a fi confruntat cu brief (s.) = compendiu, scurta expunere, rezumat clear-cut = bine definit(a) compressed = comprimat(a) constraint = constrângere device = dispozitiv, truc digest = culegere (de material); publicatie informativa; rezumat; expunere sumara gloss over (v.) = a da o interpretare speciala go forward (v.) = a pleca mai departe head = titlu important imply (v.) = a implica, a însemna involved = implicat(a) leave out (v.) = a lasa la o parte, a omite loss = pierdere mnemonics (sg.) = mnemotehnica novel = roman outline = expunere play = piesa de teatru rely on (v.) = a se baza pe shorten (v.) = a scurta strand = portiune summary = conspect, expunere sumara, rezumat synopsis (pl. synopses) = expunere sumara, rezumat, sinopsis trivial = insignifiant(a), lipsit(a) de importanta, nesemnificativ(a) |
L Language Practice
1. Answer the following.
When may information need to be reproduced in a summarised form?
What does it imply?
What is a summary? A brief? A digest? A synopsis?
What does summarising mean?
How many kinds of information are there?
What should someone involved in business rely on when faced with the task of summarising?
What corresponds to each letter of the TRACK DICE?
2. Match the following words with their definitions.
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summarily |
a. a comprehensive and usually brief abstract, recapitulation, or compendium of previously stated facts or statements |
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summarise (v.) |
b. brief and comprehensive, concise |
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summary (n.) |
c. in a prompt or direct manner, immediately, straightaway |
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summary (adj.) |
d. to make a summary of, to state or express in a concise form; to constitute a summary of |
3. Fill in with the appropriate prepositions from below.
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at – for – in – of – on – out – to – with |
Smart Fashions make clothing … young people between the ages … 18 and 25. The firm specialises … evening wear, producing the sort … clothes worn … discos, parties and clubs. Its merchandise is not expensive, though it is fashionable and well made. Soon, the company will launch its new creation, a trouser suit. The suit costs $ 15 to manufacture, and its selling price has not yet been fixed. It is made … a lightweight material which looks – and feels – … silk. It should be ideal … the young woman who wants … look smart … a summer evening. Unfortunately, fashionable clothing does not always sell well. Look what happened last year. The company brought … a lovely dress for summer wear. All Smart’s staff expected it … sell like hot cakes, but … fact few customers bought it. Smart does not want the same thing … happen … the trouser suit. The company has contacted two advertising agencies and has asked each … consider how it would promote the suit. If one … them gives good advice and has interesting ideas, they will use that agency … carry … an advertising campaign … the new suit.
4. Group the following according to the model.
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Under, below, beneath |
Slightly, imperfectly, nearly |
Subordinate |
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subalpine |
subacid |
subcommittee |
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subacute – subaltern – subaquatic – subarid – subassembly – subaxillary – subbasement – subcellar – subchloride – subclass – subconscious – subcontinent – subcortex – subdivision – subfloor – subfamily – subgroup – sublieutenant – sublingual – submarine – submontane – subplot – subprincipal – subsidy – subsoil – substrate – substructure |
5. Change the following into questions, as indicated.
Only the refined material is to go forward. (What …?)
People involved in business are often required to distinguish between important and trivial elements in communication. (Who …?)
Sometimes information may need to be reproduced in an abbreviated form. (When …?)
Summary and brief are often mistaken. (What …?)
Doing Business: Summarising
1. Summarize the text on page 39 bearing in mind the following advice.
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T |
= Task Make sure you understand the terms of reference, the task you have been set. |
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R |
= Read Read through the passage once to perceive the general drift. Then read it again more carefully. |
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A |
= Ask Ask questions such as 'What is this about?', 'What title could it be given?' |
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C |
= Clarify Look at any difficult words or passages. Try to work out their meaning from the surrounding text. |
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K |
= Key words and phrases Which are the vital parts of the text? Where possible underline them. Use broken lines to show the secondary phrases, those you consider to be fairly important but not vital. |
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D |
= Draft Make a rough draft of your summary, using your own words to link up the elements. |
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I |
= Improve Refer back to the instructions. Read the passage once more and make any necessary amendments. |
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C |
= Count Is there a limit to the number of words you are allowed to use in your summary? How many words have you used? Add or subtract according to the degree of importance. |
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E |
= Edit Read through the draft once more before editing and producing the summary in its final form. |
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COMPANY NEWS SHARE OFFER BY KITCHEN MANUFACTURER Next month, Zena plc, the well-known maker of kitchen appliances, will offer for sale to the public two million shares. These will rise about ₤800,000 for the company. Zena supplies a wide range of equipment for the luxury kitchen market. It specialises in high-quality cookers, freezers and refrigerators. The company was founded in 1970. Its turnover has grown from ₤100,000 to ₤12 million. Last year pre-tax profits were ₤1.6 million. Chairman of the firm is Mr Gerald Knight. The board of directors – average age 42 – includes Mr Frank Bewley, sales director, and Mr Jasper Levy, chief accountant. Investors should jump at the chance
to buy the shares. Zena has a good profit record over the years. Its fixed
assets are worth over ₤4 million. Factories at Liverpool and Zena are issuing new shares to
finance their expansion into |
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2. Which word or phrase in the text above mean:
a company whose controlling interest is owned by another company
a form of tenure by which an estate is held in fee simple, fee tail, or for life
a pecuniary gain resulting from the employment of capital in any transaction
a sum of money paid to shareholders of a corporation out of earnings
any long-term assets, as buildings, tracts of land, or patents
one of the equal fractional parts into which the capital stock of a joint-stock company or corporation is divided
pieces of equipment, usually operated electrically, especially for use in the home or for performance of domestic chores, as a refrigerator, washing machine, or toaster
prior to the payment of taxes
the statement of the current or market price of a commodity or security
the turning over of the capital or stock of goods involved in a particular transaction or course of business
3. Put into Romanian the text above. Use a dictionary.
I Social Skills: Expressing Disagreement
A colleague of yours says it is better to let children work in factories than have them beg in the streets. Use the following to say you disagree.
/ don't agree ...
I'm afraid I can't accept ... / I disagree with ...
Never!
No way!
Nonsense!
J Supplementary
Beginning with the creation of the
Department of Agriculture in 1862, the federal government took a direct role in
agricultural affairs, going so far as to teach farmers how to make their land
more productive. After a period of prosperity in the early 20th
century, farm prices declined in the 1920s. The Great Depression of the 1930s
drove prices still lower, and by 1932 farm prices had dropped, on average, to
less than one-third of their 1920 levels.
Farmers went bankrupt by the tens of thousands. Many present-day farm policies
have their roots in the desperate decade of the 1930s and the rescue effort
contained in the New Deal. Today a maze of legislation embodies
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