Paraphrasing Excercises

1. "The Antarctic is the vast source of cold on our planet, just as the sun is the source of our heat, and it exerts tremendous control on our climate," [Jacques] Cousteau told the camera. "The cold ocean water around Antarctica flows north to mix with warmer water from the tropics, and its upwellings help to cool both the surface water and our atmosphere. Yet the fragility of this regulating system is now threatened by human activity." From "Captain Cousteau," Audubon (May 1990):17.

Paraphrase: The Antartic is the Earth's largest source of coolness. Its cold water migrates north and merges with the hot tropical water, which helps to cool both our water and the atmosphere. Unfortunately, humans are now starting to damage this delicate system.

2. The twenties were the years when drinking was against the law, and the law was a bad joke because everyone knew of a local bar where liquor could be had. They were the years when organized crime ruled the cities, and the police seemed powerless to do anything against it. Classical music was forgotten while jazz spread throughout the land, and men like Bix Beiderbecke, Louis Armstrong, and Count Basie became the heroes of the young. The flapper was born in the twenties, and with her bobbed hair and short skirts, she symbolized, perhaps more than anyone or anything else, America's break with the past. From Kathleen Yancey, English 102 Supplemental Guide (1989): 25.

Paraphrase: The early nineteenth century was the time where unruliness ruled America, police men didn't know how to enforce the law, people drank even though it was illegal, jazz became hugely populars and great musicians, such as Bix Beiderbecke and Count Basie, became the idols of the kids in America. More than anything, women began wearing short hair and revealing skirts, the biggest sign that America was changing its traditional way of life.

3. Of the more than 1000 bicycling deaths each year, three-fourths are caused by head injuries. Half of those killed are school-age children. One study concluded that wearing a bike helmet can reduce the risk of head injury by 85 percent. In an accident, a bike helmet absorbs the shock and cushions the head. From "Bike Helmets: Unused Lifesavers," Consumer Reports (May 1990): 348.

Paraphrase: Most of the many hundreds bicycling accidents every year, half of which kill school-age children, are caused by injuries to the head which could be avoided if people wore helmets. There has even been a study that proved that helmets reduce the risk of your head being hurt by more than three fourths . In an accident, the helmets absorbs most of the impact, and softens the blow to your head.

4. Matisse is the best painter ever at putting the viewer at the scene. He's the most realistic of all modern artists, if you admit the feel of the breeze as necessary to a landscape and the smell of oranges as essential to a still life. "The Casbah Gate" depicts the well-known gateway Bab el Aassa, which pierces the southern wall of the city near the sultan's palace. With scrubby coats of ivory, aqua, blue, and rose delicately fenced by the liveliest gray outline in art history, Matisse gets the essence of a Tangier afternoon, including the subtle presence of the bowaab, the sentry who sits and surveys those who pass through the gate. From Peter Plagens, "Bright Lights." Newsweek (26 March 1990): 50.

Paraphrase: The painter Henri Matisse is excellent at making people feel as they´re close to what they see being painted due to his incredible realism. His famous ¨The Casbah Gate¨is a great example of this. His use of color and texture makes you feel like you're at the scene of the painting.

5. While the Sears Tower is arguably the greatest achievement in skyscraper engineering so far, it's unlikely that architects and engineers have abandoned the quest for the world's tallest building. The question is: Just how high can a building go? Structural engineer William LeMessurier has designed a skyscraper nearly one-half mile high, twice as tall as the Sears Tower. And architect Robert Sobel claims that existing technology could produce a 500-story building. From Ron Bachman, "Reaching for the Sky." Dial (May 1990): 15.

Paraphrase: Though the Sears Tower is known as one of the best-designed skyscraper that has yet to be built, architects are still trying to make bigger buildings. Yet people wonder how tall it is possible to build a building. Architect Robert Sobel insists that it could be possible to build a skyscraper a couple of hundred of stories tall, and engineer William LeMessurier has already designed a building two times as tall as the Sears Tower.