First Reflection

 

Our first practice summary was on desert police patrols. It wasn’t that difficult. Mr. Hedley gave us lots of advice on how to make a good summary. His advice was to look at the title of the passage and understand what the topic of the passage is, then skim it for the main ideas, and look more carefully at the opening and closing paragraphs. Mr. Hedley’s advice was to get rid of any names or quotations.

The second summary we had, the first graded task, was about traffic accidents being the major cause of child death in the UAE. Mr. Hedley’s advice was to have fewer numbers and percentages in the summary, though, to include some official figures. He corrected our summary and we posted it in the blog.

The third summary, the second graded task, was about a pearl diving tour, a new eco tour in waters off Dubai. The pearl diving tour will attempt to recreate the true diving experience for locals and tourists. At first when I was writing the summary I thought I had to write a summary about the history of pearl diving, then I realized that I had to write about the new pearl diving tour. I remembered Mr. Hedley’s advice when he said to look at the title of the passage and understand the subject of the passage.

Tour provides insight into pearl diving

The Arabian Gulf was one of the largest natural diving economies in the world. By early last century, there were more than 1,000 pearling boats along the Trucial Coast employing an estimated 20,000 pearl divers. Pearl diving was still in play in the UAE but faded away as less expensive pearls became commonplace. To reconnect Emiratis and tourists with the once vibrant pearl-diving economy in the Gulf the inaugural public tour abroad a traditional dhow has now been launched officially giving a chance to travel back in time and dive in search for the pearls. The proud tradition of pearl diving in the UAE may be gone but it’s certainly not forgotten. The whole country used to do pearl diving. Pearling was once the financial lifeblood for Emiratis in the past when pearls were used to trade for goods around the world. The local pearl industry collapsed when Far East pearl farmers created the cultured pearl manually. The pearl diving tour will attempt to recreate the authentic diving experience through the offering of traditional diving clothes, fish and rice dishes cooked abroad for lunch and through the sharing of pearl stories from yesteryear.

 

Road crashes main cause of child death in UAE

                                 

Traffic accidents are the leading cause of death among infants and are responsible for 63 per cent of deaths among children in the UAE. This percentage is above the global average of child fatalities caused by vehicles. Although this is a major problem in the UAE, only one law has been passed concerning child restraint in vehicles that says children ten years and older sitting in the passenger seat must wear a seat belt. Campaigns are held annually to raise awareness of the importance of child car seats. A very small percentage of child passengers wear seat belts; this has a large impact on the traffic injury and death rate in the UAE. Child car seat restraints can reduce risks by 50-75 per cent. Child safety seats aren’t only designed for infants and toddlers. Today there are car seats made to accommodate children throughout their various stages of growth. People are unaware of how serious injuries and deaths can result from not wearing a seat belt. Campaigns teach parents and children about car seat safety. They have a goal of reducing road deaths and serious injuries. Donated car seats are distributed during workshops and lectures.