What is true about summarizing?

• A. Similar to outlining; define main idea and key details
• B. It lists every detail of the text
• C. It quotes extensively without paraphrase
• D. It focuses on personal opinions

Answer: (A)

Summarizing focuses on capturing the essential idea and the key details in a concise restatement. That matches the idea of identifying the main idea and the most important supporting details, then presenting them in your own words. It’s not about listing every detail from the original text, which would be too long to be a summary. It also isn’t about quoting extensively; a summary should condense meaning into your own phrasing rather than reproducing large blocks of text. And it shouldn’t center on personal opinions—a summary reflects the source material, not the reader’s judgments. For example, a summary of a passage on photosynthesis would state that plants use light energy to convert it into chemical energy through key steps, without including all experimental specifics or side details.