Question

Which of the following statements describes a good summary? Select all that apply.
1. It will likely be as long as the original source text.
2. It will be written in the summarizer’s own words and sentence structure.
3. It will copy the organization and language from the original source.
4. It will be shorter than the original passage because it only captures the main point.

Answer 1

Correct choices: 2 and 4.

2 is correct — a good summary uses the summarizer’s own words and sentence structure (paraphrasing).
4 is correct — a summary is shorter and focuses on the main points.

1 and 3 are incorrect — a summary should not be as long as the original, nor should it copy the original’s language and organization.