Writing › Summarize Written Text

Exercise 2

← Back to Summarize Written Text

Task reminder: Read the passage carefully, then write a one-sentence summary of 5–75 words. You have 10 minutes. Aim for 55–65 words using your own words.

1. Biodiversity Loss

Scientists have declared that Earth is currently experiencing its sixth mass extinction event, driven primarily by human activities. The current rate of species extinction is estimated to be between 100 and 1,000 times higher than natural background rates, and accelerating. The five previous mass extinctions were triggered by catastrophic natural events such as asteroid impacts and volcanic eruptions; the sixth is being caused by habitat destruction, overexploitation, pollution, invasive species, and climate change. Biodiversity loss has profound practical consequences: wild species underpin the ecosystems that provide the oxygen we breathe, the water we drink, and the food we eat. Pharmaceuticals derived from natural compounds account for a significant proportion of medicines in use today. The loss of any species may destroy natural resources, medicines, or ecological processes that humanity has not yet even discovered.


Model Summary

Earth is undergoing its sixth mass extinction event — driven by habitat destruction, overexploitation, pollution, and climate change at a rate 100 to 1,000 times higher than natural background levels — which threatens not only biodiversity itself but also the ecosystems, food systems, water supplies, and pharmaceutical resources upon which human civilisation depends.

2. Pandemic Preparedness

The COVID-19 pandemic exposed critical weaknesses in global health systems, supply chains, and international coordination mechanisms. Despite repeated warnings from epidemiologists and organisations such as the World Health Organisation that a global pandemic was not merely possible but inevitable, most governments were poorly prepared when SARS-CoV-2 emerged in late 2019. Stockpiles of personal protective equipment were inadequate, diagnostic testing capacity was limited, and international information-sharing mechanisms were slow to activate. The economic and human costs of the pandemic have prompted renewed investment in pandemic preparedness infrastructure, including vaccine manufacturing capacity, early warning surveillance systems, and international treaties governing pathogen data sharing. However, many analysts warn that political will and financial commitment tend to wane once the immediate threat has passed, leaving global health security vulnerable when the next pandemic emerges.


Model Summary

The COVID-19 pandemic revealed that despite prior warnings, most governments were critically underprepared — lacking adequate stockpiles, testing capacity, and international coordination — and while the crisis has prompted new investment in preparedness infrastructure including vaccine manufacturing and surveillance systems, analysts warn that political commitment may fade before comprehensive reforms are implemented.

3. Automation and Employment

The automation of routine cognitive and physical tasks through robotics and artificial intelligence is transforming labour markets globally. While previous waves of technological change displaced workers in specific sectors before creating new jobs elsewhere — as happened during the Industrial Revolution — economists debate whether the current wave of automation is fundamentally different. Advocates argue that, as in the past, automation will free workers from dangerous, repetitive, or demeaning tasks and create new categories of employment that we cannot yet anticipate. Critics contend that this time may be different, because AI and robotics are increasingly capable of performing not just routine tasks but also complex cognitive work — the very work that previous technological revolutions created. The distributional consequences of automation are also deeply unequal, tending to benefit highly educated workers and capital owners while threatening middle- and lower-income employment.


Model Summary

Automation through AI and robotics is transforming global labour markets, and while historical precedents suggest that technological change ultimately creates more jobs than it destroys, economists debate whether this wave is different because AI increasingly threatens complex cognitive work — not just routine tasks — with particularly severe consequences for middle- and lower-income workers.