UNIT 7 PRECIS
PRECIS
Task 1 Learn the words.
concise summary 1 краткое изложение 2 сжатый конспект
Writing concise summary is an important skill in the process of studying.
precis, n реферат
Precis is a concise summary.
Task 2 Read presentation what the precis is and find confirmation to the statements:
− precis is a summary;
− it is a condensation of a longer piece of writing;
− the writer’s main task is to restate the original ideas precisely with one’s own words;
− precis does not include personal parameters;
− the purpose of the precis is to state clearly the most important ideas of a work;
− the methods of stating clearly the most important details is by omitting the
unnecessary details, condensing them;
− the order of presentation and the meaning of the ideas is the same as in the original;
− the precis’s length is not more than one third of the original
Precis
Precis is a concise summary. It is a condensation of a longer piece of writing
covering only the main points of the original. Your main task is to restate the original ideas
precisely with your own words. Precis does not include personal comments, interpretations,
or insights. Its purpose is to state clearly the most important ideas of a work by omitting the
unnecessary details, condensing them. The ideas are presented in the same order as in the
original and with the same meaning. Precis possesses the following properties:
1 It usually does not take more than one third of the original.
2 Precis extracts the main ideas of the original, omitting all but vital details.
3 It presents the main ideas in the same order as in the original.
4 Precis relates the main ideas of the original in the writer’s own words.
Task 3 Read the original piece of writing and the summary that follows it.
John Napier: Medieval Father of the Computer
Original
John Napier was a sixteenth-century Scottish mathematician whose neighbours feared
he was a magician practicing the black arts. Fearful that Spain would invade the British
Isles, he drew plans for all manner of strange defenses, from solar mirrors for burning ships
at a distance to submarines and primitive tanks. However, his true fame rests on two great
mathematical inventions: the decimal point and logarithms.
Today mathematicians take for granted these handy exponents of numbers that make
it possible to multiply and divide by simple addition and subtraction. In Napier’s day
calculations were done in the old-fashioned way.
In 1594, the thought struck Napier that all numbers could be written in exponential
form, or as powers of a certain base number. For instance, 4 is 22, and 8 is 23. This alone is
not startling, but Napier saw beyond it to a simple way of multiplying 4 times 8 without
really multiplying. 22 plus 23 equaled to 25 in Napier’s new arithmetic, and 25 equals 32, the
same as the product of 4 times 8. The same principle applies to exponents of all numbers,
although there was a great amount of work involved in computing these exponents
extensively. In fact, it was not until 1614, twenty years after his revelation of the basic idea,
that Napier published his logarithm tables. The result was something like the introduction
of the electronic computer in our time. Logarithms drastically reduced the amount of work
involved in mathematics and relieved scientists, particularly astronomers, from a great
burden of mental drudgery.
Summary
John Napier, an eccentric Scottish mathematician of the sixteenth century, invented
the decimal point and logarithms. Napier was concerned about the time-consuming
calculations needed to multiply and divide. In 1594, Napier realized that if numbers were
expressed with exponents, the simpler tasks of addition and subtraction could be used
instead of multiplication and division, with the same results. Twenty years of testing
followed this discovery. When Napier finally published his logarithm tables in 1614, the
time savings were similar to the efficiency offered by electronic computers in the present
stage.
Task 4 Choose the right answer:
1 The first paragraph in the summary is reduced to
• one sentence
• two sentences of the original
2 The following details are omitted in the first paragraph of the precis:
• Napier’s faith in white magic, his belief in astronomy, his plans for defenses against
Germany
• neighbour’s fears that Napier was a magician, his belief in astrology and divination,
his plans for strange defenses against Spain
3 The following adjective in the summary sums up the omitted details:
• eccentric
• peculiar
4 The second paragraph in the summary is reduced to
• one sentence
• two sentences of the original
5 The specific example in the third paragraph of the original is
• retained in the summary
• not retained in the summary
6 All the dates from the original are included in the summary
• yes
• no
7 The detail describing the effect of logarithm table has been left out of the summary:
• only in 1614 Napier revealed his basic idea
• logarithms relieved scientists, particularly astronomers, from a great burden of
mental drudgery
Task 5 Read the dialogue. Act it out. Discuss the process of writing precis in pairs.
Precis Writing
− Jane, you are an expert of writing precis. What’s the best way of doing it?
− What is precis? It is a concise summary. It is a condensation of a longer piece of
writing covering only the main points of the original.
− What is the main task of writing precis?
− Your main task is to restate the original ideas precisely with your own words.
− Shall I use personal comments?
− By no means. Precis does not include personal comments, interpretations, or
insights. Its purpose is to state clearly the most important ideas of a work by
omitting the unnecessary details, condensing them.
− How are the ideas presented?
− They are presented in the same order as in the original and with the same meaning.
− Thanks a lot. Now I will try to write a good precis using this strategy of writing.