Reading Strategies
(Unit 7, page 82)
Summarizing main ideas
Restating what the writer said in your own words is a good way to confirm your
unders tanding and focus on the main ideas of the reading.
Practice. Restate each of the following paragraphs from the reading in your own words. Each of your
restatement should be considerably shorter than the reading paragraphs.
1. Just in the last century, the way in which we consume material goods has shifted radically. For our grandparents,
and some of our parents, shopping meant buying provisions to satisfy physical needs. Today, in addition to buying
necessities, we shop to indulge ourselves in luxuries—high-priced gym shoes or the latest, most high-tech entertainment
system. And we shop for the sheer fun of it. Most of us acquire continuously—everything from groceries to cars, from
clothing to toiletries, from home furnishings to sporting equipment—and through our acquisitions, we express a sense of
identity, taste, and lifestyle.
2. But some people go overboard. Their spending becomes excessive and often carries troubling consequences. Some
people cannot resist the temptation, and very often they buy merely to acquire. This type of impulse buying can become so
obsessive that people find themselves in considerable financial debt and psychological distress. Recent studies suggest that
extreme impulse buying is on the increase, affecting an estimated 5 to 10 percent of the adult population in many countries.
. 3. We tend to define ourselves by what we buy and have. This often affects how we feel as well. For many, buying
things on impulse is a way of avoiding or hiding feelings of anxiety and loneliness.
4. However, shopping as a way of dealing with internal distress is seldom effective for long. In fact, research suggests
that people who consider shopping to be a priority in their lives tend to experience more anxiety and depression as well as a
lower level of well-being than those who don’t.
Summit 1 Unit 7
Copyright © 2006 by Pearson Education. Permission granted to reproduce for classroom use.
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