IELTS Reading Summary Completion Topic 4

Caveat Scriptor

A. People think that writing as a profession is glamorous; that it is just about sitting down and churning out words on a page, or more likely these days on a computer screen. If only it were! So what exactly does writing a book entail? Being a writer is about managing a galaxy of contradictory feelings. Of course, it also involves carrying out detailed research: first to establish whether there is a market for the planned publication, and second into the content of the book.  Once the publication has been embarked upon, there is a long period of turmoil as the text takes shape. A first draft is rarely the final text of the book. While some people might think that with new technology the checking and editing process is speeded up, the experienced writer would hardly agree.

B. After the trauma of self-editing and looking for howlers, it is time to show the text to other people, friends perhaps, for appraisal. It also helps, at this stage, to offer a synopsis of the book, if it is a novel, or an outline if it is a textbook. The lucky few are taken on by publishers or agents, then have their books subjected to a number of readers, whose job it is to vet a book: deciding whether it is worth publishing and whether the text as it stands is acceptable or not. After a book has finally been accepted by a publisher, one of the greatest difficulties for the writer lies in taking on board the publisher’s alterations to the text. A book’s creation period is complex and unnerving, but the publisher’s reworkings and text amputations can also be a tortuous process. Abandon writing? Nonsense. Once smitten, it is not easy to escape the compulsion to create and write, despite the roller-coaster ride of contradictory emotions.

Answers

1. Glamour
2. Research
3. Editing process
4. Summary
5. Readers

For the second question, the answer is in the first paragraph. While there are other words surrounding “research” in the passage, in the box, you can only find this one word fitting the question. 

For the third question, the answer is in paragraph 1. The phrase “the first draft” does not fit here, as the sentence would not then reflect the meaning of the passage. Nor is the word “writing correctly” for the same reason. And it would not fit the grammar of the summary; the article in the summary would have to be omitted, as the writer is talking about his work and not himself.

For the fourth question, the answer is at the start of the second paragraph. Note the word summary is a synonym for synopsis/outline.

For the fifth question, the answer is in the second paragraph, it says that readers (not publishers) vet books.