Past perfect and summary writing

Past perfect

had + past participle marks the earlier of two past events: When I arrived at the station, the train had already left. It is what lets you tell events out of order without confusing the reader.

You only need it when the order matters. If two things simply happened in sequence, past simple twice is fine: She opened the door and walked in.

Summary writing

A summary keeps the main points and drops examples, repetition and detail. Write it in your own words — copying whole sentences loses marks — and never add an opinion that is not in the original.

Method: find the main idea of each paragraph, cut everything that only illustrates it, then join what remains with linking words.