This page provides interactive academic English exercises with sample answers. Practice paraphrasing, summarizing, quoting, and citing sources in APA and MLA style. These exercises are designed for B2-C1 learners preparing for university-level writing. For theory, see our Academic English Complete Guide.
🔄 1. Paraphrasing Exercises
Ex 1.1 Paraphrase using synonyms
Original: "The government implemented new policies to reduce carbon emissions."
Your task: Rewrite the sentence using different vocabulary and sentence structure.
"New policies were introduced by the government to lower carbon emissions."
💡 Tip: Notice how "implemented" → "were introduced", "reduce" → "lower", and the active voice was changed to passive.
Ex 1.2 Paraphrase using word form change
Original: "Researchers analysed the data carefully before drawing conclusions."
Your task: Rewrite the sentence by changing nouns to verbs (or vice versa).
"A careful analysis of the data was conducted by researchers prior to the formulation of conclusions."
Original: "Climate change is one of the most pressing issues of our time."
Version A: "Climate change is one of the most urgent issues of our time."
Version B: "Few challenges are as urgent as today's global climate crisis."
Your task: Which version is a weak paraphrase, and why?
Version A is weak — only two words were changed ("pressing" → "urgent", "our" → "our"). This is "patchwriting" and risks plagiarism. Version B is strong because the structure, vocabulary, and level of abstraction all changed while the meaning was preserved.
📄 2. Summarizing Exercises
Ex 2.1 Summarize a paragraph
Passage (85 words):
"University students often struggle with academic writing because they are unfamiliar with the conventions of formal argumentation. Many have never been taught how to structure a thesis statement, integrate evidence, or cite sources correctly. As a result, their essays frequently receive low marks not because of weak ideas, but because of poor academic style. Targeted instruction in academic English, therefore, can significantly improve student outcomes across disciplines."
Your task: Write a 1–2 sentence summary.
"Many university students underperform in academic writing due to unfamiliarity with formal conventions such as thesis construction and citation; targeted academic English instruction can therefore improve outcomes across disciplines."
💡 Tip: A good summary keeps the main idea and drops the supporting detail (specific examples).
💬 3. Quoting Exercises
Ex 3.1 Shorten a direct quote
Original: "The study demonstrates that students who employ active recall techniques perform significantly better on standardised assessments than those who rely on passive rereading."
Your task: Shorten the quote using an ellipsis (…).
"The study demonstrates that students who employ active recall techniques perform significantly better on standardised assessments…" (Smith, 2021, p. 34).
Ex 3.2 Block quote vs. in-text quote
Rule: Quotes of 40+ words (APA) or 4+ lines (MLA) must be formatted as a block quote.
Your task: Which of these requires a block quote?
A) A 15-word sentence from a journal article.
B) A 50-word paragraph from a book.
B) A 50-word paragraph requires a block quote in both APA and MLA. It should be indented, without quotation marks, and followed by the citation.
📝 4. Citation Exercises (APA & MLA)
Ex 4.1 APA in-text citation
Source: A 2021 book by Maria Gonzalez. You are quoting from page 42.
Your task: Write the APA in-text citation.
(Gonzalez, 2021, p. 42)
Ex 4.2 MLA Works Cited entry
Source: A book titled Academic Skills by John Smith, published in 2020 by Oxford University Press.
Your task: Write the MLA Works Cited entry.
Smith, John. Academic Skills. Oxford University Press, 2020.
Ex 4.3 Identify the citation style
"The study shows that students who use active recall perform better (Smith 42)."
Your task: Which citation style is being used here?
MLA (author-page style). If it were APA, it would be (Smith, 2021, p. 42). If it were Chicago, the reference would typically be in a footnote.
Ex 4.4 Build a full APA reference
Source: Journal article titled "Academic Writing Development" by Lisa Chen and Ahmed Karim, published in 2022 in Journal of Higher Education, volume 45, issue 3, pages 210–228. DOI: 10.1234/jhe.2022.003.
Your task: Write the full APA 7th edition reference.
Chen, L., & Karim, A. (2022). Academic writing development. Journal of Higher Education, 45(3), 210–228. https://doi.org/10.1234/jhe.2022.003
⚠️ 5. Error Correction
Ex 5.1 Spot the academic style errors
"A lot of researchers think that kids learn better when they don't get stressed, and it's amazing how much this stuff matters."
Your task: Rewrite in academic style (3+ corrections).
"A significant number of researchers suggest that children learn more effectively when they do not experience stress, and the impact of this factor is considerable."
💡 Corrections made: "A lot of" → "A significant number of", "kids" → "children", "don't" → "do not", "think" → "suggest", "stuff matters" → "the impact is considerable", and removed the emotional "amazing".
Ex 5.2 Fix the citation
"According to Smith, students who review their notes weekly perform better."
Your task: Add the missing citation information (assume APA, 2020, page 88).
"According to Smith (2020), students who review their notes weekly perform better (p. 88)." Or: "According to Smith (2020, p. 88), students who review their notes weekly perform better."
📥 More Practice & PDF Worksheets
Download printable worksheets with 50+ additional exercises on paraphrasing, summarizing, and citations.
Start with short sentences and rewrite them using synonyms, changed sentence structure (active to passive), and different word forms. Compare your version with the original to ensure the meaning is preserved. Practice daily with authentic academic texts.
Paraphrasing restates a specific passage in your own words at roughly the same length. Summarizing condenses the main ideas of a longer text into a much shorter form, often 20–25% of the original length.
Yes. Even if you put an idea into your own words, you must cite the original source (author and year/page) because the idea belongs to someone else. Only common knowledge (widely known facts) does not require citation.
Compare your version with the original: if more than 3–4 consecutive words match, you need to restructure. Also check that you have changed both vocabulary and sentence structure, not just swapped a few synonyms.