COMMONWEALTH SECONDARY SCHOOL

ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE DEPARTMENT

2023 SECONDARY ONE EXPRESS
SUMMARY – ANALYSING & POINT-PICKING
Name: Rubhashree( 10 ) Class: 1C Date: 13/8/2023

Basic Skills for summary!

- Do NOT exceed the word count
- Do NOT paraphrase if you don’t know how to
- But Do NOT copy and paste everything from the passage either!
- Organise your points logically à can follow the order in the passage

Simple steps:
à 1. Question Analysis 2. Point Picking 3. Paraphrasing 4. Connecting

1. Question Analysis

Identify the main parts of the summary question

Highlight / underline them and mark them as “A”, “B” (if there is more than one part)

Qn: Using your own words as far as possible, summaries the (A)advantages and
(B)drawbacks of online shopping.

Use ONLY information from paragraphs 4 TO 7.

Your summary must be in continuous writing (not note form). It must not be longer than 80
words (not counting the words given to help you begin).

2. Point-picking

Pick out the key ideas from each paragraph

Ask: Do these ideas answer the summary question? If YES, highlight, If NO, ignore!
WHAT TO EXCLUDE: facts, statistics, examples, lists, numbers, repetition &
elaboration of points

Qn: Read the paragraphs on the next page (ONLY PARAGRAPHS 4 TO 7 ARE GIVEN)

Tick the boxes at the end of each sentence if you think it is a valid point that answers the
summary question. Take note that the key idea may not be the entire sentence!

1
Paragraph 4

What attracts customers to online shopping? For one, it does offer an immense choice at on
glance. Retailers with physical shops are limited in the amount of goods they can display or
even keep in their stocks since both require a significant investment of capital. Internet retailers
have no such constraints. They simply have to upload pictures of their products with
descriptions to attract potential consumers. Often, they do not have inventory problems also,
as they do not hold the goods themselves, but pass on the orders to wholesalers and
manufacturers.

Paragraph 5

While those shopping in physical stores might have to wait for certain items (such as sofas) for up
to two months, generally online shopping offers a swift dispatch of goods, eliminating that waiting
time. Navigating the websites is also easy and retailers aim to make their sites as user-friendly
as possible. Some businesses are taking advantage of smartphone applications as another
means to draw customers. There is no need for one to bother with opening hours, overbearing
staff, parking, traffic and the hundred other problems that accompany any shopping trip as you
can buy from anywhere in the world through online shopping. Furthermore, online shopping
transcends time so purchases can be made 24/7.

Paragraph 6

For retailers, however, it is a different matter. People only have so much money to spend, so
retailers are all chasing after the same pool of customers. This leads to a lot of unhealthy
competition being developed among retailers and the losers have always been the physical
shops with some being forced out of business. Although they are still picked for some things
– groceries, for instance, and furniture – in many instances we turn to the Internet.

Paragraph 7

Many of us have also become bargain hunters and searching for good deals online is now easier
with many price comparison sites. Retailers also roll out reward and loyalty vouchers to attract
more customers. However, the shipping and handling charges are something you need to bring
into your calculations when you look for cheap items. Those can mount up very quickly – buy
something bulky and you can end up paying more for shipping than the item itself, making the
so-called bargain not one anymore! To add on, counterfeiting is a huge business these days.
Everything from designer items to car parts could be made into fakes and one has no way of
knowing before the merchandise actually arrives.

Modified from CWSS MYE 2017