PTE Summarize Written Text | Tips and Template

Summarize Written Text

PTE Summarize Written Text is one of the most important tasks in the PTE Writing section and contributes heavily to your writing score. So in this blog, we will learn about PTE Summarize Written text. PTE Writing itself is the second section of Part 1 of the test, which is Speaking and Writing.

Additionally, you will know about the tips and tricks to deal with the Summarize written text, along with scoring, templates, examples and its facts and layout explained. 

The writing test is designed to test the ability of PTE exam takers to write persuasively and concisely in English in an academic context. You will get 30-60 minutes for the entire writing exam. Now, let’s look at the possible combinations of questions in the Writing section.  

So, according to the changed PTE format, the number of questions in Summarize Written Text is now just 1 to 2, instead of 2 to 3. This task has an allocated time of 10 minutes, and Write Essay is for 20 minutes. Here, you can get 1 summarize written text and 2 essays or 2 summarize written text and 1 essay. Below are the possible combinations. 

Writing Section possible combination:

Additionally, if you get 2 essays, which is most unlikely to happen, then you will be marked on only 1 essay. And the other essay will be used to train the software. This process is called Seeding. Since you don’t know which essay will be marked, attempt both the essays properly.  
 

Summarize Written Text Overview 

In PTE Summarize written text, you will get single or multiple paragraphs. What you will have to do is, to sum up or summarize the whole text into a single sentence. This single sentence will hold the central idea of the text and any important sub-idea(s). The answer to the Summarize Written Text will contribute to your reading and writing section because you have to first read the text and then write it in one sentence. Your answer should be short and crisp in just 5 to 75 words to score good marks. I hope you must have got an overall idea about this task. Learn more in this overview video.

Let’s move on to see how it looks.

PTE Summarize Written Text Layout

Shown below is the layout of the Summarize Written Text task, which shows you exactly how it looks in the PTE test.

• Question prompt– It is nothing but the instructions given on how to attempt the question. 
• Passage to read– There will be one paragraph or more than one to read and summarize. 
• Writing space– Here you will be typing your answer, the summarized text. 
• Word counter– It will show you how many words you have written. So you don’t need to worry about the word count. 
• Cut, copy, paste buttons– These buttons will be there on the screen.  
• Timer– It will show you the time backward, and how much time left. 

Summarize written text Layout

PTE Summarize Written Text Scoring Explained 

Summarize written text Scoring explained

It is very important to understand the scoring of this task, as this will help you to understand what ways you can score effectively. The four areas marked here are Content, Form, Grammar, and Vocabulary. 

• Content: Focus on the topic, including only key information and essential supporting points. 
• Form: Length of the sentence. 1 sentence of 5-75 words. 
• Grammar: Basic structure of the sentence should be correct. The best responses usually consist of the main clause and subordinate clause. 
• Vocabulary: Use appropriate choices of words. 

Content, Form, Grammar & Vocabulary

The content must cover all the essential aspects to get 2 points. If you only cover partial content, it will earn you 1 point, while the irrelevant content will fetch you zero points for content. Furthermore, you will get an easy 2 if your answer is between 5 and 75 words. If there are less than 5 words and more than 75 words, you get zero points for form.   

Additionally, you will obtain 2 points if you use correct grammar. Two points will be awarded for the Summarize text answer that does not contain any grammatical errors. If you make a few grammatical errors (1 or 2), you will score 1 point for grammar. Whereas, if you make more mistakes, then you will get zero for grammar.

And lastly, for vocabulary, you can score 2 points for the usage of appropriate words. This doesn’t mean that you need to use difficult or complex words, just the ones that make sense in the given context. If you use less appropriate words, you get 1 point and for the usage of no appropriate words, you get zero. 

You will have to keep in mind that your response must be expressed within one sentence. In order to summarize the main point of the passage, you will need to use compound or complex sentences. Along with it, briefly mention the supporting detail. You can also choose our Summarize Written Task template for your practice.

Summarize Written Text Practice – Time

To practice the PTE Summarize Written Text task, the first thing that you need is to learn and divide your time well. As you already know, time plays the most crucial role in the PTE exam. Even though you prepare perfectly to take the exam, you will face a major setback if you don’t know how to manage it. So it is essential to learn how to divide your time to use it efficiently. Let us show you how to do it. 

Divide your Time

To start your summarize Written text practice, you should know that you get 10 minutes to complete the Summarize written text task. In case you finish early, for instance, 7 minutes, then the time will not be carried on to the next task. So you must use your 10 minutes to the fullest.  

The first 2-3 minutes should be spent reading. Reading the paragraph thoroughly is essential because only then you will be able to understand it and thereby summarize it. Besides, you will not get a score for content if it is irrelevant. You should spend the next 4-5 minutes writing a single sentence. Summarize the text in one sentence needs a lot of practice since there will be a lot of rewriting, rearranging, and rewriting. The process goes on until you the results satisfy you.

In the last 1-2 minutes, you should check the answer for any grammatical errors or irrelevant vocabulary. Make sure that the punctuation is correct and the number of words is as required. 

To further your PTE Summarize Written Text practice, you already know that this task contributes to your Reading and Writing section. But you might think that we are only talking about writing here, then why is it included here? Here’s your answer. Reading the text plays an equally important role in summarizing it in this task. Let us give you further Reading tips.  
 

Summarize Written Text Practice – Reading

In order to do Summarize Written text practice, the first and foremost skill that you need is Reading. You need to perfect your reading, both speed reading as well as deep reading. This is required so that you understand the given passage well. To perfect your reading skills, please refer to our article on PTE Reading Tips and Tricks, which will definitely help you improve your reading by incorporating certain habits. Basically, there are two ways to read this text- 

• Find the central idea of the text or 2 to 3 sub-ideas – read and find the overall idea first and then also find out some supporting details. You need to ignore the details and just focus on the keywords.
• Find the central idea of each paragraph – you may also choose to find the central ideas of each of the given paragraphs and then combine them to form your response.

We are going to cover all that you need to Summarize written text practice in the next section. You can also use the Summarize Written Task template that we recommend to excel in this task. So, once you improve your reading and timing skills,

Summarize Written Text Tips 

Summarize Written Text Strategy: For students who have strong command of English (80+)

We are now going to walk you through the essential Summarize Written Text Tips. Let me show this with an example so that it becomes more clear. 

Step 1: Skim read the text

Skim read the text

By skim reading the text you will get an idea that what the passage is about. Spend one minute reading the passage superficially. Read the keywords like Fuel, Space, Rotating Detonation engine, Conventional Rocket, Propellant, Create Thrust, etc. So, you will come to know that there is some sort of comparison in the text between the space shuttle and a conventional rocket. 

Step 2: Deep read the text and note down the keywords and key phrases 

Deep read the text and note down the keywords and key phrases

Take two minutes to deep read the text and keep noting down the keywords by your side. In this picture, you can see that a few words have been highlighted, and then the noted keywords. While summarizing the text since you have to write it in a few words, so you are allowed to use synonyms or just one word for a whole phrase.  

Step 3: Convert the keywords into a sentence 

Convert the keywords into a sentence

Take around 4 minutes to do this. Imagine that you are explaining this to someone, for instance, your younger brother. So how would you do that? Obviously, you won’t be reading down the whole text. Question yourself what is the main idea of the text. However, don’t include your idea in it. This will lead to a reduction in the marks. Stick to what is mentioned in the passage.  

Additionally, learn to paraphrase and use synonyms. As I already mentioned in the point above that you can use synonyms to make your answer as shorter as possible. Further, use conjunctions to merge sentences. At the beginning of this article itself, I discussed that you must use compound and complex sentences. This can be done only if you use conjunctions.  

Try to write only 30-35 words. Wondering why am I telling you this, when you have a word limit of 75 words? See, what happens is when you write more words your answer will be prone to more mistakes. Therefore, fewer words, and lesser chances of errors. Your number of words won’t be affecting the marks. You will still be getting 1 mark, whether you write 30-35 words or 70-75 words. So why not be on the safer side. Right? 

Ignore Details

Continuing with step 3, see the keywords noted down in step 2. So here, ignore the details. In Summarize written text tasks, it is very important to learn to ignore the details. Just focus on the keywords and the main idea. In the image above, you can see the second box, which has the canceled out part in red color.  

Combining the keywords, you will get the draft.  

Prepare the draft

Step 4: Edit and refine the draft you prepared in the last step 

Edit and refine the draft you prepared in the last step

Take 2 minutes to edit the text you got after ignoring the details. They are not expecting you to write each and everything, it will be practically impossible then to summarize the text. Just focus on the main topic and the central idea. Don’t make too long sentences, otherwise, you will make more mistakes. Refine it further, and add punctuation in the required places. As you know that punctuations too affect your marks. For more details, you can read: “PTE Writing: Ways to Improve? ” 

Summarize Written Text Template

Summarize Written Text Template 1: For students with average English skills (60 to 80)

The below Summarize Written Text template has been designed in order for you to fit the keywords and keyphrases into it. Firstly, you still need to note down the main idea of the given text. Then, you also need to note down some important keywords and/ or key phrases. Once you have done that, you can use the below Summarize Written Text template to form your response. Remember, there is no guarantee that this template will fetch you the desired scores that you need. For this template to succeed, your grasp of the main idea and important keywords and/or key phrases are equally important.

Understanding the Summarize Written Text Template 1

The Summarize Written Text Template 1 uses a well-developed structure and it is elaborated here. The first part of the template – “The text provides information about …“, introduces the sentence and you need to add the central idea after this, to ascertain that you understood the passage well. The second part is -“which suggests that …“, which makes the sentence complex, that has been cleverly inserted to add the subordinate clause. Once you have added the main and the subordinate clause, you can further elaborate it by adding the third part, which is -“furthermore, the distinctive aspects of …” and/ or the fourth part – “however/moreover, the importance of …“.

Remember, you may choose to modify this template as you feel comfortable, but if you stick to this template, you will be sure to add more than enough information from the Summarize Written Text paragraph into one single sentence, which is complex in nature. And don’t forget to ignore the details when you note down the keywords and key phrases. Also, try to note down smaller phrases from the Summarize Written Text paragraph, of around 5 to 6 words. This will help you to keep the grammatical errors to a minimum.

Let’s take a look at an example. Take the below text and use it in the template.

Step 1: Note down the central/ main idea.

If you read the above text thoroughly, you will understand that the central idea is a “comparison of conventional rocket engines and rotating detonation engines”.

Step 2: Note down the keywords and key phrases.

• conventional engines – complex, high amount of fuel
• new engine – lightweight, fuel-efficient, less complicated, more stable
• conventional engines – burns propellant to create thrust
• new engine – uses heat and shock waves to create high pressure.

Step 3: Fit the central idea and keywords into template 1

So, you can formulate a model answer like shown below.

As you can see, you still need to fit the correct word type, which means that you need to fit the words’ noun or verb form as required per the given Summarize Written Text template.

Template 2: For students with poor English skills (40 to 60)

The second Summarize Written Text template that we have designed for students who are not well versed in English and just need a moderate score. Well, you can always try to improve your English and use the template above targeted for higher scores.

Understanding the Summarize Written Text Template 2

The Summarize Written Text template 2 asks you to add 3 sentences from different paragraphs, but you still need to make a judgment on which sentence has more important keywords with respect to the text. If you are struggling, you can use the Summarize Written Text template below. Remember, you should use this template if nothing else has worked for you. Before making this decision, you should definitely get some of your responses evaluated by PTE Experts at Edutrainex, so that they can help you appropriately and help you decide.

• Sentence 1 – A new type of engine called a rotating detonation engine promises to make rockets not only more fuel-efficient but also more lightweight and less complicated to construct.
• Sentence 2 – A conventional rocket engine works by burning propellant and then pushing it out of the back of the engine to create thrust.
• Sentence 3 – But in a rotating detonation engine, the shock wave naturally does everything without needing additional help from engine parts.

Using the Template 2

Now, let’s use the sentences in the Summarize Written Text template. So, our answer will be something like this:

I hope by the example you must have got it all clear now! Before putting this article to an end, let me highlight the points that you should keep in mind: 

Do’s for Summarize Written Text: 

• Don’t merge two sentences using commas, use conjunctions instead. Like- though, however, moreover, etc. 
• Recommended to write only 30-35 words. 
• Use the information ONLY that is in the text. Do NOT add your own. 
• Very Important: Learn to ignore the details and just focus on the key ideas/ words. 

PTE Summarize Written Text Examples 

On the Edutrainex PTE Learning application, PTE Summarize Written Text examples and sample answers are provided for each question you have for practice. You need to follow these Summarize Written Text examples and try to learn and improve overall. We also provide a detailed assessment and feedback on each of your submitted responses, so that you understand what are your strengths, and weaknesses and how you can improve them. Every student has a different target date and score in their mind and we don’t force anyone to use any particular strategy. The best way is to follow the summarize written text examples provided on the application and also judge your skills and then chose a strategy that suits you.

What next for the PTE Summarize Written Text task? 

There’s a famous proverb- “Practice daily because the quality of your practice will determine the caliber of your performance”. Therefore, going by this saying, you must practice 3-4 sets of PTE Summarize written text questions. Where to get it from? Well, well, well, Edutrainex is here at your service. At Edutrainex you can get ample practice questions and, mock tests. Whatever your mistakes will be, whichever areas you need improvement, you will get to know everything. 

Furthermore, you can take a 1:1 consultation from our PTE experts, who will guide you through your PTE journey. Not only this, but you can also avail the facility of our exclusive feature Intelli-assist. It will constantly guide you through your mock tests and preparation even when no one will be by your side.  

So what are you waiting for, start preparing today? Enroll yourself at Edurainex, the PTE online training platform, and see the difference.