English: Summing Up the Passage

In a summing-up question, you read a passage. Then the question asks which sentence best sums it up, and gives you five answers. You choose the best one.

To keep the whole passage in view, the video shows it as its parts. Each box is one paragraph, in a few words. The worked example below does the same.

In GL's papers the wrong summaries are often true, but only of one part. The video above and the worked example below work through the same question, with the options in the same order.

The method

Four steps: find the span, sum it up yourself, test it against every part, pick the one that covers it all.

Worked example

This passage, When the Thames Froze, tells the story of the frost fairs, held long ago on the frozen River Thames. Here it is as its seven paragraphs, each in a few words, with its line numbers.

Lines 1–11 Fairs on the frozen river
Lines 12–23 Why it froze back then
Lines 24–29 Stalls, games and printers
Lines 30–35 Over when the ice melts
Lines 36–41 The last fair: an elephant
Lines 42–50 The river changes for good
Lines 51–54 Today, hard to imagine

Which sentence best sums up the whole passage?

A. The Thames once froze hard enough for fairs, but not any more B. The frost fairs ended when an elephant broke the ice C. London Bridge was rebuilt because the ice kept damaging its piers D. Frost fairs are still held on the Thames in very cold winters E. Printers grew rich by selling name cards at the frost fairs

1. Find the span. Check what the question is about. Here it says the whole passage. So the answer has to cover all of it, from the first line to the last.
2. Sum it up yourself. Before you look at the options, put the whole passage into a few words of your own. Most of it is about long ago: the river froze, and fairs were held on the ice. The last parts say the river changed, and has never frozen like that again. So, in a few words: it froze for fairs then, but not now.
3. Test it against every part. Take each option in turn. Option A, the Thames once froze hard enough for fairs, but not any more. Frozen, with fairs: that's the early parts. Not any more: that's the end. It fits every part. Option B, the frost fairs ended when an elephant broke the ice. The elephant is in just one part, and the passage never says it broke the ice. If the story is true, the ice was thick enough to hold it. So B is out. Option C, London Bridge was rebuilt because the ice kept damaging its piers. The bridge does come up, but nothing says the ice damaged it. The piers held the water back. So C is out. Option D, frost fairs are still held on the Thames in very cold winters. Near the end, the passage says the opposite: it has never frozen like that again. So D is out. Option E, printers grew rich by selling name cards at the frost fairs. The printers are in one small part, and nothing says they grew rich. So E is out.
4. Pick the one that covers it all. True of one part isn't enough: the best answer fits every part. Only one option does, and it says what your own summary says. So the answer is A.

Answer: A — The Thames once froze hard enough for fairs, but not any more (then and now: it covers every part)

Things to watch out for

1. True isn't enough. A wrong answer is often true of something in the passage. In the example, the printers really did sell name cards. But that's one small part, and the question asks about all of it.
2. Two moments? It must fit both. This question asks how the Giant has changed by the end. That's two moments: how he was at the start, and how he is at the end. One option says he's sorry, but he keeps the wall up. Sorry fits the end: he says how selfish he has been. But keeping the wall up only fits the start. By the end, he knocks it down. So it's out.
3. Check what really caused it. B blames an elephant for ending the fairs. But the passage gives a different reason: the old bridge was replaced, the water flowed faster, and the river never froze like that again. And the elephant story begins it is said, so it may not even be true.

Related

• The complete 11+ question-type guide
• English: Finding What the Passage Says — find one detail and prove it from the text
• English: Inference Questions — work out what the passage shows but never says
• English: The Writer's Choices — work out what a writer's words show

All example questions come from the Brainblox question bank — practise this question type inside 25+ learning games, timed mock exams and focused practice. Brainblox is an independent app: not affiliated with, endorsed by or licensed by any exam board, school or assessment publisher, and it contains no past papers.