Egypt Secondary 3 English (Connect), Week 8: Review 1: paraphrase and reading

Review 1: Units 1–3

Week 8 · Review 1 (Units 1–3): vocabulary in context, reported speech, modals of deduction, a paraphrase check in English instead of the translation items, a new reading text, questions on blog posts and argumentative and persuasive essays, punctuation, two writing tasks, what the novel questions ask · 3 lessons

Review 1: paraphrase and reading

English Secondary 3 Term 1, Review 1, Translation and Reading: pp. 50–52

GoalParaphrase sentences in English, keeping the key facts, and answer questions on a new reading text.

New words

paraphrase · to say the same thing in different wordskey fact · an important piece of information that must staysynonym · a word with nearly the same meaningstructure · the way that words are put together in a sentencedisaster · an event that goes very badlyadviser · a person who gives help and advice

Explanation

The book’s translation items ask you to choose a sentence with the same meaning. We practise the same skill in English, which is called paraphrasing. To paraphrase a sentence, keep the meaning and the key facts, change the words and change the structure. “Machines make school tasks quicker, but pupils must still learn to think for themselves” can become: “Although devices help pupils to finish work faster, they should still practise independent thinking.” Here quicker became faster, machines became devices, and the but sentence became an although sentence. Never copy whole phrases and never add new facts. Then practise a reading text: read the questions first, find the main idea, find details, and for an inference question think about what the text suggests but does not say. Your book has a reading text on pages 51 and 52 and translation items on pages 50 and 51; do them after this lesson.

Step	What to do
1 Understand	Read the sentence and find its key facts.
2 Change the words	Use synonyms for the important words.
3 Change the structure	Use a different pattern or a linking word.
4 Check	Are all the facts and the meaning the same?

Worked examples

Every Friday at lunchtime, a small group of pupils gather in room 6 to run the school radio. The club began last year with one microphone, a borrowed speaker and a lot of nerves. The first broadcast was a disaster: the microphone buzzed, a pupil sneezed at the wrong moment, and the sound did not reach the yard. Mr Fathy, the club adviser, did not complain. He asked the pupils to listen to the recording and to write down three things to improve. They learned to speak slowly, to keep a script in front of them and to test the speaker before the show. By the end of the term the broadcasts were clear, and pupils began to request songs and send questions. Now the club has twelve members, and a younger pupil reads the weather forecast every Monday. The members say that the best part is not the music but the feeling of working together for a shared goal.

Read our new text. A grown-up can read it aloud first.

Main idea: a school radio club began badly but improved because the pupils learned from their mistakes. Details: they learned to speak slowly, to keep a script and to test the speaker.

Inference: Mr Fathy did not complain, and he asked the pupils to write three things to improve. We infer that he is patient and supportive. The text does not say this directly.

Word meaning: “The first broadcast was a disaster: the microphone buzzed and the sound did not reach the yard.” The words after the colon explain that disaster means something that went very badly.

Paraphrase: “The club has twelve members.” becomes “Twelve pupils belong to the club.” The key fact (twelve) is the same and the structure is different.

Class activity

Paraphrase it. Choose three sentences from a school book. Rewrite each one in different words and with a different structure, without changing a fact. Ask a grown-up to check that the key facts are the same.

Practice

Which sentence gives the main idea of the whole text? (a) The radio club has a speaker. (b) The radio club improved because the pupils learned from their mistakes. (c) Mr Fathy likes music.

What did the club begin with? (a) One microphone, a borrowed speaker and a lot of nerves. (b) Twelve members. (c) A script.

What can we infer about Mr Fathy?

What does “disaster” mean in the text?

Which is the better paraphrase of “The class cleaned the yard quickly”? (a) The yard was cleaned fast by the class. (b) The class cleaned the yard quickly.