iBTReadingQuestion:SummaryCharts
Thesummarychartshouldbeano-brainer,butasurprisingnumberofstudentsneedlesslylosepointsonit.
Theconceptissimple;youaregivenageneralstatementandaskedtochoosethethreechoicesthatbestsupportthestatement.Thegeneralstatementmayormaynotbethethesisoftheessay;itwillalwaysbeabroaderstatementthananyofthechoices.
Fallbackonyourknowledgeofessaystructurefromthewritingsection.Rememberhowparagraphshavetopicsentencesthatareillustratedwithdetailsorexamples.Inmostcases,youaresimplylookingforaparaphraseofatopicsentence.Itmustdirectlysupportthegeneralstatement;ifitdoesnt,throwitout.Wrongchoiceswilleitherbeminordetails,factuallyincorrectinformation,orfactsnotpresentintheessay.
Knowthedifferencebetweenamajorsupportsentenceandaminordetail!Thedetailswilloftenbedescribingoneofthesupportsentences.
Forexample;ourgeneralstatementisTheautomobileindustryintheUnitedStatesdevelopedrapidlyinthefirsthalfofthetwentiethcentury.
Considerthesetwochoices:
a)Theassemblyline,firstimplementedatFordsDearbornfactory,increaseditsproductioncapacitiessevenfold,churningoutautomobilesatarateofhundredsperday.
b)Leadingthewayinpopularizingthemass-producedautomobilewastheModelT.,thefirstvehicleaffordabletotheworkingandmiddleclasses.
Thegeneralstatementisabouttheoverallgrowthoftheindustry.Bothchoicesseemtorefertogrowth(increaseditsproductioninchoicea,andmass-producedinchoiceb).Butlookatthosewordscarefully.Whichonereallydescribesgrowth?increaseditsproduction,notmass-producedwhichdescribestheautomobile.Forthatreasonalone,aclearlysupportsthegeneralstatement,andbdoesnot.
Onadeeperlevel,wecancomparethemeaningofthesentences.Choicebisanexampleofamassproducedautomobile,whichwecaninferwasmadepossiblebytheincreasedproductioncapacitiesreferencedinchoicea.Therefore,bisreallyadetailofa;aissupportofthegeneralstatement.Amainidea.
Thinkofyouressayoutlines;thatwilldothetrick!
POSTEDBYTOEFLMONKEYAT7:08AMLINKSTOTHISPOST
LABELS:IBTREADINGQUESTION:SUMMARYCHART
MONDAY,OCTOBER29,2007