Paraphrasing and Summarizing a Passage - Essay Example

Question I: Paraphrasing Aggressive driving is characterized by the tendency to view driving as a competition rather than as a means of getting from one place to another. While most drivers are content to move along with the flow of traffic, aggressive drivers weave from lane to lane, seeking any advantage that will place them ahead of others. Aggressive drivers are also more likely to tailgate and honk the horn in an effort to intimidate other drivers or simply to move them along faster. When confronted with heavy traffic, aggressive drivers often engage in dangerous behavior such as passing on the right, using utility or turn lanes as driving lanes, and ignoring traffic signals. Paradoxically, aggressive drivers often pride themselves on their skill. They se other, more cautious drivers as the problem, not themselves. (131 words) Aggressive drivers tend to perceive driving as a competition rather than a skill that needs to be practiced with caution, and grow impatient with cautious drivers. In their drive to move ahead, they change lanes, tailgate, and honk in order to intimidate other drivers to move faster or just make way to let them move ahead. In traffic congestion, aggressive drivers tend to behave dangerously and use the service, utility or turn lanes and violate traffic rules and signals. (79 words) Paraphrase: Passage 2 The National Academies' Institute of Medicine now recommends an hour per day of total physical activity such as walking, stair-climbing, or swimming. Many Americans fall far short of reaching this goal. Some are still trying to catch up to the previous guidelines of thirty minutes of activity five days per week. A century ago, Americans would have found it easier to exercise for an hour per day. Without cars, people walked more, and without modern labor-saving devices, life required more physical exertion. Today, however, many Americans sit at a desk all day and come home to sit in front of a TV or computer. Even those who make an effort to exercise often find that they lack the time. (119 words) Physical exertion refers to activities like walking, stair climbing or swimming. The National Academies' Institute of Medicine has recently recommended an hour per day of physical activity whereas most Americans were already finding it difficult to meet the guideline of thirty minute physical exertion five days a week. A Century Ago, this would not have been difficult but with cars & mechanization and evolution of technology, most Americans tend to have desk jobs and end the day being couch potatoes in front of their TVS or computers. For those who want to, non availability of time is a limiting factor. (100 words) Question III: Summarizing a Passage: In a paragraph, summarize the following longer passage. Use your paraphrasing skills to condense the ideas in the original material. Developing Focus One of the most valuable skills a student can develop is focus. Focus is the ability to concentrate on one thing fro an extended period of time, shutting out everything else. The person who is focused has no trouble with homework; her mind is on the task until it is finished. The focused person has no trouble concentration during a test. She does not even notice the voice of the lecturer in an adjacent classroom, the tapping pencil of the student two rows over, or her instructor's squeaking chair. People differ widely in their ability to concentrate. Some seem capable of laser like focus on any job until it is completed. Others are easily distracted, jumping up from homework to do a hundred small but suddenly urgent tasks as the homework gets pushed further into the background. Like any other skill, the ability to focus can be learned and reinforced through practice. To improve your ability to concentrate, start by establishing a set time and place to study. If possible, study at the same time and in the same place every day. Establishing a routine gives study the importance it deserves and helps make studying a habit. Then, to keep yourself on task, set a small timer as you begin studying. Start by setting the timer to go off after fifteen minutes. Until the timer goes off, give studying your full attention. If your mind wanders-and it will-pull it back to task. Then reward yourself with something small: five minutes of solitaire on your computer or a trip to the refrigerator for a glass of iced tea. Time your reward, too-about five minutes should be sufficient. Then set the timer for another fifteen minutes. As concentration becomes a habit, that habit will spill over into the classroom, too. Your will be better able to focus on your instructor's words or on the test you are taking. If extraneous noises during test still distract you, invest in a pair of earplugs to shut out noise as you take your test. The ability to concentrate is a necessary skill. Fortunately, it is a skill that can be improved with effort. (358 words) Focus is the ability to concentrate on one thing for an extended period of time. A focused person is task oriented and shuns out distractions be it the tapping of someone's pencil, a squeaking chair, or the lecturer's voice in adjacent room during a test. Focused individuals do not have trouble completing homework. People differ in their ability to focus and some can achieve laser like focus while others jumpstart at anything else that is seemingly urgent while the original task suffers. The ability to focus is a skill that can be learned and reinforced. To improve focus while completing homework, start by setting time and place to study and possibly follow the same routine everyday. A routine helps in prioritizing and giving the task its due importance. Start the timer for fifteen minutes and try to concentrate completely and pull back your thoughts if they wander. On completion of fifteen minutes of study, reward yourself with a timed break of five minutes of any pleasurable activity like solitaire on computer or walk to the refrigerator. Eventually concentrating will become a habit and it will be easy to concentrate during lectures and tests. If still noise disrupts your concentration, invest in earplugs. Concentration is a necessary skill. (207 words) Read More