Skill 10
Paraphrase to Understand What You Are Reading
Paraphrasing means putting someone else’s idea, writing, or statement into your own words. It’s a new way of saying the same thing. When you paraphrase a statement, you express the meaning of that statement in different words that usually make the original meaning clearer to you.
Your ability to paraphrase what you hear or read is a good indicator of whether you understood what was said or what you read.
The act of paraphrasing can help you monitor how well you comprehend what you read or hear. It may even help you better remember what you read because you are using your own words, not the original author’s.
As you read paragraphs on the ASVAB, think about how you would paraphrase the information.
Here is an example.
Original Paragraph: Foodborne illness is a serious public health threat. Each year, approximately 76 million cases of foodborne illness occur in the United States alone, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Of those cases of foodborne illness, more than 325,000 people are hospitalized and about 5,000 deaths occur. |
Possible Paraphrase: Millions of people are struck with foodborne illness and many die or are hospitalized as a result. This is a serious situation and a threat to public health. Millions of cases of foodborne illness are identified each year. |
Here’s another example.
Original Paragraph: Studies of homes lost and saved in the wild fires of 1985 and 1998 have led to advances in our understanding of how to protect homes and communities from fire. A big lesson learned from these recent wildfires is that local firefighting agencies will not be able to protect every home during a large wildfire because so many more homes are being built “in the woods.” It is now clear that everyone—from homeowners and local leaders to state and federal agencies—must share the responsibility of preventing and preparing for wildfires. |
Possible Paraphrase: Both homeowners and fire officials have the responsibility to protect their homes and communities from fires. This is a lesson that has been learned from recent wildfire studies. Many more homes are now being built in wooded areas, and in a wildfire, local firefighting agencies can’t protect all of them. |
Test Yourself!
Read the passage and rewrite it in your words.
Original Passage: Architects are searching for natural methods to heat and cool homes. For adaptation to changing temperatures they are looking to the flexible pinecone. Shut tight in the cold, pinecones open their scales to release their seeds when temperatures warm up. Researchers are looking for materials that change shape depending on the level of moisture in the air, opening to shunt warm moist air outside and closing to prevent warm moist air from getting inside.
Possible Paraphrasing: (write your answer here)
Read the passage and write it in your words.
Original Passage: As the public’s faith in the soundness of financial institutions continued to plummet, the nation’s banks began to collapse. Although the East Coast was hardest hit—with bank closures in New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and elsewhere—bank failures also reached across the Missouri River to cities such as Omaha. The climax came on October 14—Suspension Day—when banking was suspended in New York and throughout New England.
Possible Paraphrasing: (write your answer here)