1. Precise writing is a very fine exercise in reading. It forces you to pay attention to what you are reading, and you cannot pay attention or retain what you read until you grasp the full meaning of what you have read. It lectures us to read with the mind as well as the eye on the page. For example, if you read a page in a casual way and are asked to reproduce what you read just this morning, it wouldn’t be reproduced accurately. Some points you may not remember. Why? Not because you have a weak memory, but simply because you read on casually without grasping the gist of the matter.

2. Precise writing is a good exercise in writing a composition. It teaches one how to express one’s thoughts clearly, concisely and effectively. It’s a splendid way of correcting loose-diffuse thinking and writing. Now look at an uneducated man, when he relates a situation, he repeats himself, brings in irrelevant matter, drags in later as an afterthought, the essential matter and takes twenty minutes to convey his message, what a trained thinker would do in five minutes. The whole effect is tedious and muddled. In précis, a certain meaning is expressed in a fixed manner, fixed number of words and within strict limits to convey the meaning in logical order.

3. Precise writing is of great value in practical life. The ability to grasp quickly, accurately, what is read, heard and to reproduce it clearly, concisely with complete fullness and brevity in any position in life is of paramount value.

So, to sum it up:

  • · Read the passage carefully. (Reread if needed)
  • · Find out the subject.
  • · What is the author saying about the subject?
  • · Find a “key sentence” to reproduce the subject without losing its main meaning.
  • · Reproduce the details briefly.
  • · Give a subtitle to the precise paragraph.

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Examples:

1. a) His courage in battle might without exaggeration be called lion-like.

b) He was very brave in battle.

2. a) There came to his recollection the events as they occurred

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b) He remembered the events.

3. a) The clerk who is now his employ,

b) His present clerk.

4. a) They acted in a manner that rendered them liable for prosecution.

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b) They acted illegally.

5. a) John fell in the river and before help could reach him he sank.

b) John drowned in the river.