SUMMARY SKILLS

I. IDENTIFYING DETAILS
When summarizing, keep only the gist (main idea) of the sentence. Leave out examples
and descriptions.
a. Identifying adjectives
Adjectives are words that describe people and things.
adj

adj

adj

Example 1: A big, fat rat ran across the slimy, littered floor of the old railway
station.
Gist of sentence: A rat ran across the floor of the
railway station.
Leave out adjectives describing the rat, floor and
railway station.

adj

Example 2: That Malaysian Idol contestant was tall, beautiful and talented.
Gist of sentence: That Malaysian Idol contestant was talented.
Tall and beautiful are adjectives that describe the contestants
looks. In the Malaysian Idol contest, it is essential to be talented,
so that is the most important message of the sentence.

b. Identifying adverbs
Adverbs are words that describe action. They come after verbs and usually end with
ly, but not always.
v

adv

adv

Example 1: The children screamed happily as they ran quickly out of the school.
Gist of sentence: The children screamed as they ran out of
the school.
v

adv

adv

Example 2: She thought long and hard about the problem.

Gist of sentence: She thought about the

problem.
c. Identify adjective clauses
Sometimes, descriptions are written as clauses.
Adjective clauses which start with who, which, that, whom and whose are often
marked off by commas.
clause
Example: The man, who is shouting at the crowd, is a police inspector.
Gist of sentence: The man is a police
inspector.

EXERCISE 1
Identify and underline the adjectives in the sentences below. Then, write
the gist of each sentence.
1. The elegant, well-dressed woman drove a bright red sports car.
The woman drove a sports car.
2. Dr. Fong is a kind, well-known eye specialist.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------3. The cranky old woman lived alone in a broken-down wooden shack.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------4. Muzamir seems to be angry and moody most of the time.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------5. They awarded the multi-million dollar contract to the most experienced
contractor.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------6. Everyone loved watching the new animated movie.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------7. Yesterdays Mathematics test was tricky and difficult.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

8. Golf is a game which seems to be popular and addictive.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------9. The assignment sounds tough and challenging.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------10.Cell phones have become popular in Malaysia because they are quite affordable.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

EXERCISE 2
Identify and underline the adjective clauses in the sentences below. Then, write
the gist of each sentence.
1. The Liverpool team, which won the European champions League, was given a
fantastic welcome.
The Liverpool team was given a fantastic welcome.
2. Late students, who have not submitted their Geography project, will have 10 marks
deducted.
_______________________________________________________________________________
3. The Anti-Smoking Campaign, which is organized by the government, has been quite
successful.
_______________________________________________________________________________
4. Parents, whose children do not turn up for sports practice, have been given letters.
________________________________________________________________________________
5. The prize was donated by the man, who owns the only cyber caf in town.
________________________________________________________________________________
6. She donated the clothes that she had outgrown.
_________________________________________________________________________________
7. Jane, who is the wife of Tarzan, taught him to speak English.
__________________________________________________________________________________

8. Batik, which is a traditional form of printing fabric, is popular in the east coast.
___________________________________________________________________________________

EXERCISE 3
Identify and underline the adjectives and adjectives clauses in the sentences
below. Then, write the gist of each sentence.
1. The Gawai Festival, which is a harvest festival, is celebrated in Sarawak.
The Gawai Festival is celebrated in Sarawak.
2. The people, who were beautifully and colourfully dressed in their tribal costumes,
sang and danced.
_________________________________________________________________________________
3. All the things left behind at the Cineplex which are not claimed by June 30 will be
donated to charity.
__________________________________________________________________________________
4. The girl, who scored 17 As in the last SPM, was rewarded with a scholarship.
___________________________________________________________________________________
5. A non-Chinese lion dance group, whose members are from all walks of life, gave a
performance in Genting Highland.
___________________________________________________________________________________
6. The Body Store, whose owner is an environmentally responsible woman, is against
animal testing.
____________________________________________________________________________________
7. A group of women, who are all breast-cancer survivors, will be taking part in the
coming Dragon Boat Competition which will be held in Penang soon.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
8. The students performance in Maths and Science, which are two core subjects, has
improved.
_____________________________________________________________________________________