Paraphrasing Exercises

Show how much you understand the given sentence or short paragraph.

Compare the sentences "The individual who lacks affection,

recognition or the fulfillment of other emotional needs may turn to food."

A person who is unloved or unrecognized may eat for emotional fulfillment.

"Education in the United States is financed by taxing everyone, even those people without children or those whose children attend private school."

Even childless people or those with children in private schools contribute to education through taxes in the United States.

"Computer systems contain internal memory units for storage of instructions and data; in addition, they may include external systems to increase the memory and provide flexibility.“

Instructions and data are kept in the internal memory units of computer systems. External memory units may be added for extra storage and flexibility.

We might well find that we need more than three weeks in which to complete a report of this kind.

It's quite likely that three weeks won't be sufficient for us to finalize such a report.

Frankly, in my opinion the girl's musical abilities are no more than average for her age.

Suggested paraphrase:

To be honest, I don't think the girl's musical talents are anything out of the ordinary considering her age.

Paraphrase the following. The answers are suggested only.

For many years now transport planners in the UK have been demanding that motorists pay directly for the use of roads.

Transport planners in the UK have, for a long time now, been insisting that those who use the roads must pay for them directly.

The dramatic fall in share prices took even the experts by surprise.

Even those in the know were unprepared for the rapid drop in share prices.

The new range of products launched last Autumn is already selling well.

The goods put onto the market for the first time last Autumn have already found plenty of buyers.

What worries me is that they have so far failed to improve the quality of the work.

The fact that they still haven't managed to upgrade the quality of the work troubles me.

Roof insulation will pay for itself within two years in lower heating costs, or so they claim.

They claim that roof insulation would reduce heating costs; therefore, in two years you could recover the amount invested.

Those opposed to gambling continue to argue the case against it on social and moral grounds.

Those who are against gambling continue to state the moral and social reasons for the stand they take.

Worries that the strong yen will hurt exports and strangle Japan's economic recovery, have pushed share prices sharply down.

Share prices have dropped noticeably in Japan for it is feared that the strong yen will adversely affect exports and make the nation's economic recovery impossible.

Although Windows 2000 has a number of features that distinguish it from NT4, and make it more flexible, more secure and easier to maintain, the main aim has been something altogether different.

Windows 2000 is certainly different in several aspects from NT4 with the result that it is less rigid, safer and upkeep is less complex; but these changes do not by any means constitute the main goal.

Try this paragraph! Lead has been known to be a poison for many centuries.

In fact, there is evidence that it contributed to the fall of the Roman Empire. There is no doubt that in the second century BC Rome's wealthy ruling class suffered from a disproportionately high level of stillbirths, sterility and brain damage. And a high lead content has been found in the bones of such ancient Romans. One widely-supported hypothesis is that the cause of both facts was lead poisoning from leaden wine-cups and plates which only the rich could afford (Williams 1982, p. 83).

A suggested paraphrase…

According to Williams (1982) the ancient Roman elitehad a much higher incidence of mental retardation andchild mortality than the rest of the Roman population. Theyalso had trouble producing children. One explanation forthis was the fact that they ate and drank from utensilsmade of lead. Only the wealthy Romans could afford suchutensils. Lead was found in the bones of these people afterskeletal remains were discovered in archaeological sites,and later analysed in laboratories. One can even speculatethat lead might have been a factor in the decline in theRoman civilisation. Of course, lead has been regarded as atoxic substance for many years but the Roman elite wouldnot have known this.

compiled by fikret

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