The summary question is usually the last question in Paper 2 Section C. You will be required to condense the main points of certain paragraphs into 80 words or fewer. There are two main components that make up the marking rubrics: Content and Language. Many students struggle with balancing the two components while managing the word limit.
Time management is extremely important. Students with poor time management tend to leave very little time for summary and end up having to rush through the segment. As a result, they either write a half-baked summary, or worse, not attempting it at all. A good way to manage your time is to allocate 25 – 30 mins for it. However, should you require more time for your previous segment, just remember that it will eat into your summary!
Secondly, it is important to select points only within the designated paragraphs! You will not be given credit for points from other paragraphs. Ask yourself if the sentence you are eyeing addresses the summary requirements. If it doesn’t, move on to the next sentence. When in doubt, make a little note. Perhaps you could add a question mark after labelling the content point. Furthermore, signposts can help you determine whether the content point is relevant. such as connectors of addition and contrast. In the end, you should have at least 8 content points. In some cases, it is recommended that you give an extra content point (9 points in total) just in case one of the points is wrong.
Finally, students have to juggle between including important and necessary details while leaving out unnecessary information. While adjectives and adverbs are important, examples are not. Students also have a tendency to engage in redundancy or repetition of ideas, and include irrelevant details. This can be a crucial mistake which can eat into your time and cost you your marks.
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