15. Read about the main principles of writing an abstract for a text:
An abstract / a summary / an annotation is the expression (reproduction, representation) in a condensed form of the content of any piece of scientific writing in a limited number of sentences. The student must briefly formulate the main ideas in his own words excluding and omitting the unnecessary details. Facts must become plain statements. An abstract consists of a) an introduction, i. e., data (the printed source, the author's name, the title); b) principal part; c) conclusion. Writing an abstract you must:
a) Give your abstract a suitable title;
b) Begin the abstract with the introductory general phrase:
The text deals with...
The text presents, shows, points out, throws light on …
The text discusses, describes, relates, gives some comments of …
The text sketches, reviews, surveys…
The text traces the history of, outlines the development of …
c) The principle part must not exceed 5-6 plain statements generalizing the main ideas of the text in a logical sequence:
The text gives figures (facts, data, diagrams, pictures, examples) illustrating smth…
The text contains the description (information, examination, investigation) of some process (properties, problems) concerning smth…
The text describes methods of / types (of programs) / features (of software)
The main idea of the text is…
In my opinion… It should be mentioned…
d) Conclude the abstract with your personal viewpoint (opinion, judgement, critical comments, etc.) of both the content and the language of the text, using the given phrases:
The meaning of the unfamiliar words can (not) be grasped from the context ...
The information is up-to-date (out-of-date)...
The reading of the text (does not) gives some satisfaction and pleasure ...