Student Instructions |
Name __________________________________ |
Real Nice, Real Good
Good and nice are words that are used a lot. They usually indicate something positive, but they are so vague that they don’t give much information. For example, imagine this conversation after a parent picks up her child:
“How was the birthday party?” “Good.”
“How was the food? “Good.”
“The new kid was there. What was he like?” “Nice.”
“How was the restaurant?” “Nice.”
“What else can you tell me about the party?” “Jacob got some good presents. I had a nice time.”
Sometimes, though, you can’t even count on “good” and “nice” to indicate something positive. Imagine that your sister spills a glass of chocolate milk on your backpack.
“Real nice!” you say, sarcastically.
Or imagine that the computer crashes just before you save your report.
“Oh, good,” you sigh, frustrated.
In general, more specific words convey a lot more information than the words good and nice. Look at how the birthday party conversation takes on a new life with more specific words:
“How was the birthday party?”
“Different than any party I’ve ever been to. The quarterback for the Broncos was there.” “How was the food?”
“The kind of stuff you’d get at a football game—hot dogs, nachos, pizza, Cokes.” “The new kid was there. What was he like?”
“He was friendly and really funny. He told a lot of jokes that made us laugh.” “How was the restaurant?”
“It had loud music, and there were huge posters of football stars everywhere.” “What else can you tell me about the party?”
“Jacob got some expensive presents, things I’d sure like to have. But the best part was talking to the Broncos quarterback and getting his autograph.”
(continued)
Language Is Served • Copyright © 2008 Cottonwood Press, Inc. • 800-864-4297 • www.cottonwoodpress.com
78
Student Instructions |
Name __________________________________ |
Real nice, Real good, continued
Below are some descriptions of various scenes. Rewrite each, eliminating the words good and nice and using interesting details to create a vivid picture.
Scene #1
It was a good game. Everyone had a good time, and it was nice that our team won.
Scene #2
Claire took her little sister to a Disney movie. They had a nice time. They thought the movie was good. They had a nice time at the ice cream place afterwards. They had some good sundaes.
Scene #3
Brett went to a good dealership he knew about to find a nice used car. He found one at a good price. His wife thought it was nice. He thought it was good enough. He bought it.
Scene #4
Courtney looked around the dining room in the hotel. “This is nice,” she thought. “Good enough for me,” said her sister.
“I’m sure we’ll have a nice time here,” said Courtney. “It will be a nice wedding reception.”
“The difference between the almost right word
and the right word is really a large matter— it's the difference between the lightning bug and the lightning.”
—Mark Twain
Language Is Served • Copyright © 2008 Cottonwood Press, Inc. • 800-864-4297 • www.cottonwoodpress.com
79
Student Instructions |
Name __________________________________ |
In Other Words...
Paraphrasing means to put something in your own words. We do it all the time, even though we may not call it paraphrasing. For example, suppose your father says, “There is no way in the world that I’m going to let you go to a party and stay up until 1:00 a.m. on a school night, even if it is for your best friend’s birthday and everyone else’s parents are letting them go and you are the only one who won’t be there and it will break her heart to have the party without you.”
You are unlikely to repeat all that to your friend. You will probably paraphrase what your father said, perhaps like this: “My dad won’t let me go to a party on a school night.”
Paraphrasing isn’t always shorter than the original material, but it is always different. It doesn’t just substitute a word here and there. It generally uses a completely different sentence structure.
Practice paraphrasing by putting the following information about sausage in your own words.
Except for vegetarians, most of us have eaten sausage. However, we probably didn’t know much about what we were eating. Did you know, for example, that sausage was invented so that butchers had something to do with all the pieces and parts of an animal that didn’t look all that appealing? For example, they would use scraps of meat, fat, blood, and organ meats such as brains, liver, tongue, and kidneys. They would stuff the mixture into actual animal intestines. It isn’t exactly appetizing to think about. Today, however, most sausage is stuffed into casings made of cellulose, collagen, or even plastic.
The ingredients in sausage vary. Most European and Asian sausages are made up of 100% meat, fat, and spices. In the United States, there is a limit to how much of the sausage can be made up of fat. However, that limit is big—up to 50% of the weight of the sausage. (Rules vary, depending on the style of sausage.)
“Laws are like sausages.
It is better not to see them being made.”
prohibits the use of fillers like bread or other starch-based though, such fillers are common. They help the sausages they expand as the sausage heats up.
the world make sausages, and there are hundreds of difalone has over 1200 varieties. Some common vari-
used in the U.S. are hot dogs, bratwurst, kielbasa, and salami.
—Otto von Bismarck
Language Is Served • Copyright © 2008 Cottonwood Press, Inc. • 800-864-4297 • www.cottonwoodpress.com
80
Student Instructions |
Name __________________________________ |
In fewer words...
Summarizing is a useful skill. When you summarize, you boil something down to its essential part. You tell only what is most important. For example, let’s say you read this notice in the newspaper:
The Lemon Paperclips will be performing at the Martinez Theater next Saturday at 8:00 p.m. This popular group consists of four women who play the guitar and sing. One reviewer described their music as “a cross between Janis Joplin, the Dixie Chicks, and Avril Lavigne, with just a touch of opera.”
The members of the group have been singing and playing together since they were 12 years old. Their records are very popular, especially with girls 12-18. They are known for songs about girls doing brave things, standing up for themselves, and being strong.
The Lemon Paperclips are happy to be performing at Martinez Theater because of its great acoustics. Designed in 1999 by Gilbert Martinez, the theater is known for its wonderful sound, popular with audiences and performers alike.
Here’s how someone might write a short summary of the information above:
The popular group the Lemon Paperclips will be performing at the Martinez Theater next Saturday at 8:00 p.m. The four-woman group is especially popular with girls 12-18 and is known for its original songs about girls being strong.
Read the following newspaper story about the winner of the Cascades County Bake-Off Championship. Then write a summary of no more than 100 words. Make sure your summary
includes what is most important about the story.
Some people are surprised that Brutus Fowler bakes cakes—really, really good cakes. Fowler’s cakes are so good that he won the Cascades County Bake-Off Championship on Saturday. But to look at him, you might think he was a wrestler, a rock star, or even a tattoo artist. He is six and a half feet
arms covered with tattoos of snakes and skulls. You might him in a dark alley, but you would be safe. “He’s as gentle his girlfriend Allison Ginnelli.
Fowler began baking cakes when he was only 12, to in her bakery. He loved the work and started creating his recipes. Soon her customers were asking for cakes by
the cakes he developed, Dark Chocolate Banana Dreamboat, the one that took the grand championship at the Bake-Off For his efforts, Fowler won $1,000 in cash and 25 pounds
of sugar in the contest.
Language Is Served • Copyright © 2008 Cottonwood Press, Inc. • 800-864-4297 • www.cottonwoodpress.com
81
Student Instructions |
Name __________________________________ |
paraphrase—and Sum it Up
You have learned that paraphrasing means putting something in your own words. (No, if you change “a” to “the,” you aren’t turning something into your own words. You need to substantially change whatever you are paraphrasing.)
You have also learned that summarizing means rewording and shortening something so that you are giving the essence or most important parts of it.
Read the passage below. First, paraphrase it. Then summarize it in 100 words or less.
Some people are brave about foods. Chocolate covered ants? Sure, they will try them. A bit of raw octopus? Why not?
But it takes a truly adventurous person to eat a certain Japanese dish—fugu. Fugu is made from pufferfish, which contains the deadly poison tetrotoxin. If prepared incorrectly, fugu can kill a person, paralyzing the muscles while the victim remains conscious and slowly suffocates. There is no antidote for the poison, but some people do survive, especially those who hang on for the first 24 hours.
Because fugu is so dangerous, only specially licensed chefs are allowed to prepare it. They must work as apprentices for two to three years before being allowed to take the test for licensing. The test is so difficult that only 30% pass. The people who die from eating fugu are often people who try to cook it on their own, without any training.
In the past, some homeless people died from eating the poisonous parts of pufferfish discarded in restaurant trash cans. Therefore, the discarded parts must now be stored in locked barrels and later burned as hazardous waste. Even the knives used to prepare fugu must be special knives that are not allowed to touch any other foods.
One of the most famous fugu deaths occurred in 1975 when a famous Japanese actor visiting a restaurant insisted on eating four servings of the liver, the most
. The fugu chef didn’t feel he could turn down such an the actor died, the chef lost his license.
“In Mexico we have a word for sushi: bait.”
—José Simons
Language Is Served • Copyright © 2008 Cottonwood Press, Inc. • 800-864-4297 • www.cottonwoodpress.com
82