Summarizing a Paragraph

Hello writers and readers !
In this occasion I'm going to show you about Summary.

Summary is a ​short, ​clear ​description that gives the ​main ​facts or ​ideas about something.

It should  be  as short as  possible,  but  it must  be  a  complete sentence.

There are 3 steps to summarizing a paragraph:

Firts                 : Read the paragraph all the way through to be sure you understand it. 

Second            : Check to see if the paragraph contains a topic sentence.

Third               : Write the topic sentence or statement with your own word.

Pactice :

The Challenger Disaster by Mary Jones

By 1984, NASA, the United States space program, had carried out many successful flights of the space shuttle. In fact, Americans were beginning to take the whole NASA program for granted. Then, the president announced that the next shuttle would carry a school teacher into space. Hundreds of teachers from all parts of the country applied for the job. They all wanted to be “the first teacher in space.” During the next year, these adventurous educators were tested and examined and trained. At last, the choice was announced. A teacher from New Hampshire, Christa MacAuliffe, would be the first teacher-astronaut.

Summary: Christa MacAuliffe was first teacher-astronaut who carried by the suttle into space.

Many months of preparation and training followed the announcement. First, Christa went through intensive physical training. She had to be in top condition for the flight. Then she learned how to operate some of the delicate instruments on the Challenger space shuttle. Christa planned special lesions, which she would teach from space. Finally, she trained with the astronauts, so they could work as a team in space.

Summary: Christa trained with the astronauts to work as a team in space.

Everyone knows what happened on that terrible day in January, 1986. Early in the morning, the Challenger crew had a good breakfast and discussed their plans. They made sure they understood all of the work they would be doing during the flight. Later, they boarded a special van, which carried them to the shuttle. The weather was rather cold, and some NASA officials wondered if they should put off the flight. After some discussion, they decided to go ahead. The Challenger took off over the Atlantic Ocean in Florida. Minutes later, it exploded in the air. All the crew members died in the crash.

Summary: In January 1986, because the bad weather the suttle was exploded and nobody safe.




Real assignment :

The Lost Colony

1. The English were not the first Europeans to land their ships on American soil. The Vikings had discovered North America in the 11th century. Columbus landed in the Bahamas in 1492 for Spain, and the French began expeditions to the New World in 1524. But the first English presence in North America is important because the thirteen English colonies that would later be established eventually became the country now known as the United States of America.

Summary : The thirteen English colonies established North America to USA. 



2. In April of 1585 Sir Walter Raleigh, under the authority of Queen Elizabeth of England, sent an expedition of seven ships carrying 600 men, half of them soldiers, to found an English colony in North America. The colony was to be used to establish an English presence in the New World as well as a base from which English privateers, or pirates, could attack and plunder Spanish treasure fleets. Raleigh’s cousin, Sir Richard Grenville, led the expedition.

Summary : The expedition in April of 1585 which led by Sir Richard Grenville to found an English colony in North America.

3. In July of that year the bulk of the fleet reached a small island off the coast of Virginia that was called Roanoke. After building a small fort on the north side of the island, the colonists initiated relations with a Native American tribe that lived on the island, the Aquascogoc. These natives showed little interest in building relations with the English colonists, and they soon parted company. After this encounter, however, the English noticed that one of their silver cups had gone missing, and they attributed its disappearance to the Aquascogoc. Grenville, the English captain, was furious. He believed that the Aquascogoc had stolen the silver cup. Whether or not this was true, angry exchanges followed and soon the English burned the Aquascogoc village. The English held their fort against the subsequent attacks of the natives.

Summary : The colonist prejudice Native American about the silver cups and changed the relations become a battle.


4. Despite their success in battle, the colonists had a miserable time because they were mainly soldiers and adventurers, not farmers. They were hungry. They missed the comforts of England, such as soft feather beds and dainty foods. Also they had expected to find gold and silver on the island, and were disappointed when they found none. Grenville soon tired of these conditions and set out on his ship to plunder Spanish treasure fleets and return to England. The colony was gradually abandoned.

Summary : Because the condition was unadaptable the colonist became derelict.


5. In 1587 Sir Walter Raleigh dispatched a further expedition of three ships and 150 colonists, led by John White, to Roanoke. This time the expedition included women and children, including White’s pregnant daughter, Elenora. Shortly after they reached Roanoke, Elenora delivered a child whom they named Virginia. Virginia was the first English person born in America. But the English soon ran into more trouble with the Native Americans. A colonist named George Howe was killed by natives while searching for crabs alone on the beach. The colonists were scared. They persuaded White to sail back to England to ask Sir Walter Raleigh for help. White left behind 114 colonists, including his daughter Elenora and granddaughter Virginia.

Summary : The next expedition to Roanoke in 1587 which led by John White was troubled and left behind 114 from 150 colonist.

6. Unfortunately for White and the colonists, England was preparing for a naval war with Spain. All shipping from English ports was ceased. It took White three years to get his relief expedition back to Roanoke. When he returned in August of 1590, White found no sign of his daughter, granddaughter, or anyone else. They found three letters, “CRO,” carved on a tree and the full word, “CROATOAN,” on a nearby post. Possibly this referred to the Croatoan Island, which was nearby. White searched long and anxiously, but failed to find them.

Summary : The expedition in August of 1590 to Croatoan Island was unsuccessful.

7. No further trace of the lost colony has ever been found. Sir Walter Raleigh himself searched for the colonists in 1595, and he sent another search-party in 1602, but nothing came of either attempt. To this day no one knows for certain what happened to the colonists.

Summary : The lost colony was untraceable and no explanation about it.

I know I’m really late know but I hope I have a second chance to correct and repost it.

Please give me your feedback. I’m really glad to hear that.