TASK DEFINITION: Given a text, write a compressed version of it in a single sentence.
PROBLEM: Then again nobody attending an open house to discuss legal aid funding and service issues in the state knew exactly what Thomas A. Balmer went through to give a speech on the subject.

SOLUTION: Nobody involved in legal aid funding and service issues in the state knew Thomas A. Balmer's struggle in giving a speech on the subject.

PROBLEM: We 're determined to conserve the Northern Forest of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont and New York, as well as the White and Berkshire ranges, and the countryside surrounding the Appalachian Trail. We 're working to keep our air clean and healthy, our waterfalls clear, our rivers running free, and recreational activities open.

SOLUTION: We 're determined to conserve the Northern Forest of Maine, NH, VT and NY as well as the White and Berkshire ranges, and the Appalachian Trail. We 're working to keep our air clean and healthy, our waterfalls clear, our rivers running free.

PROBLEM: Vygotsky maintained that in detaching symbols from objects and actions, make-believe play helps children use thought to choose deliberately among alternative courses of behavior. In play, Alison thinks about paint colors, which need not be the color of her real room.

SOLUTION:
Vygotsky maintained that in detaching symbols from objects and actions, make-believe play helps children use thought to choose deliberately among alternative courses of behavior.