Terbaru - Soal Dan Pembahasan Transition Questions, Tone, Course, Author’S Opinion, And Organization Of The Text

TEXT 1
The information and communication technology revolution can be easily recognized as the latest revolution in the history of mankind, impacting every facet of business, society, and life worldwide with a speed beyond imagination. The last centuries have seen a continuous evolution process which started with the industrial revolution at the end of eighteenth century. This revolution has its roots in the invention of the first electronic computers in the 1940s, continued with the development of information technology during the following decades and exploded in the early ’90s. In the 1960s and ’70s, computer technology was mainly utilized in business data processing and scientific applications of a mostly number crunching nature. As a result, the use of this technology was limited to those who had a good command of these systems and computer programming languages. With the invention of microprocessors a new idea of distributed information established itself and computers became available on a personal basis. The contemporary development of networking both on a local and a wide area (LAN and WAN) merged computer and information technology with telecommunication. In the 1980s the matching of the two technologies led to the information communication technology, with a strong focus on the management and dissemination of information by both providers and users.

The most noticeable explosion in the information and communication technology revolution was the creation of the World Wide Web (WWW) and its potential in the early 1990s. During the past two decades, WWW technologies have become the driving force in allowing people worldwide to communicate and exchange information in ways that have created a totally new dimension for mankind, at such a point that “global village” are the words today better describing our planet. In recent years, through the use of web-enabled technologies, organizations of all types and sizes around the world have managed to utilize these technologies to conduct both information processing and dissemination with their prospective customers, suppliers, students, and governments. These technologies, now allowing readily available information for everyone regardless of their geographic location, bring the true meaning of the information age to its full realization and prepare a new era for mankind: the knowledge society.

In recent years, the science of understanding the nature of information processing and management combined with computer and telecommunication technologies to process, disseminate, and manage information has become known as “Information and Communication Science and Technology.” It has many resources and components and originated many new disciplines but, what’s more, it intervened in changing the mankind’s habits and lifestyle.

1. The author organizes the ideas in the text by ….
A. contrasting the technology of earlier year to that of recent years
B. showing the revolution of technology in different area
C. explaining the cause and its effects of technology across different area
D. emphasizing the characteristics of technology in each period
E. presenting the development of technology chronologically.
Pembahasan:
Berdasarkan bacaan di atas, teks tersebut menjelaskan perkembangan teknologi secara urut. Jawaban bisa didapat dengan menganalisis ide pokok dan juga struktur teks tersebut. Di situ tertera penjelasan perkembangan teknologi dari tahun ke tahun secara urut.  Jawaban: E

TEXT 2
Non-verbal communication is defined Communication between people by means other than speech. * Non-verbal communication (NVC) derives from the following major sources: (1) eye contact (amount of looking at another person’s body and face) (2) mouth (especially smiling or grimacing in relation to eye contact) (3) posture (for example, sitting forwards or backwards) (4) gesture (as with the use of arm movements when talking) (5) orientation (of the body to the addressee) (6) body distance (as when we stand too close or too far away from others) (7) smell (including perfumes) (8) skin (including pigmentation, blushing and texture) (9) hair (including length, texture and style) (10) clothes (with particular reference to fashion).

Non-verbal communication is not quite the same as ‘body language’ because any claim about a language must refer to an agreed and identifiable grammar and syntax. NVC is not always so precise or advanced; the vocabulary of non-verbal signs is more limited than speech. Even so, it is a mistake to consider NVC as isolated from speech. Instead, some complex interaction is envisaged between word and body signal, and one that is not always complementary. Imagine yourself interviewing job applicants. You might not offer employment to a candidate who refuses to look at you, always frowns, hunches both shoulders, sweats a lot, and has a Mohican haircut – despite the fact that he or she gives thoughtful and interesting replies to your questions.

Take eye contact as an example for discussion. Mutual eye contact (where both people look into each other’s eyes) can be a sign of liking, but prolonged gaze leads to discomfort. Goffman (1969), for example, describes the sustained ‘hate stare’ as exhibited by bigoted white Americans to blacks. The directed eye contact violates a code of looking, where eye contact is frequently broken but returned to, and leads to depersonalization of the victim because an aggressor deliberately breaks the rules which the victim adheres to. Eye contact is often enhanced by size of pupils, eyebrow inflection and movement, and smiling.

2. The author organizes the idea in the text by ….
A. Classifying types of nonverbal communication
B. Differentiating nonverbal communication from body language
C. Defining nonverbal communication and giving examples
D. Exposing problems in defining non verbal communication
E. Ordering sources of nonverbal communication chronologically
Pembahasan:
Dari kalimat pertama di paragraf pertama “ Non-verbal communication is define ....” menunjukan bahwa bacaan di atas disusun dengan memberi definisi tentang komunikasi nonverbal dan juga memberi contoh. Jawaban: C

TEXT 3
Ecotourism is defined as 'purposeful travel that creates an understanding of cultural and natural history, while safeguarding the integrity of the ecosystem and producing economic benefits that encourage conservation'. The definition recognizes that ecotourism is an important educational tool. Real life exposure to a natural situation in the accompaniment of an experienced guide leads a greater increase in knowledge than real life exposure without a guide, or exposure to a knowledgeable guide in an artificial setting.

More than 50 years ago, Swiss psychologist Jean Piaget studied the development of human cognitive capability and its dynamic relationship with the physical world. He viewed cognitive development as an interaction between physical maturation of the brain and environmentally induced changes in learning. He observed that, as children grow, they proceed through a series of increasingly abstract thinking styles. Piaget demonstrated that a primary motivation for learning is resolution of cognitive conflict, which he described as 'disequilibrium'.

Borrowing upon principles of cognitive psychology, my colleagues and I have developed an interpretive model for presenting information about marine mammals and their ocean environment during whalewatch excursions in Hawaii and Australia. The model has more recently been extended to include snorkeling excursions to coral reef areas near Maui, Hawaii.

Its application can be examined in the context of a typical 2.5 h commercial whale-watch trip aboard a Pacific Whale Foundation passenger vessel to observe humpback whales in Hawaii. Each whale-watch trip is a different venture, controlled by such variable factors as the number and type of passengers, weather conditions, what the whales choose to do (or not to do, as the case may be), the type of vessel, and the experience of the captain. Nonetheless, it is possible to view the trip as a structured experience, and to guide participants through an educational sequence that has very clear goals and objectives that can be monitored and evaluated over time.

3. Paragraph 4 implies that …
A. an education is fore fun
B. the guide is the instructor
C. the captain organizes the trip
D. learning is to experiencing
E. participants are evaluated at the end of the trip.
Pembahasan:
Soal tersebut menanyakan kesimpulan dari paragraf ke empat. Dari paragraf tersebut dapat disimpulkan bahwa kapten mengatur trip dari perjalanan tersebut. Jawaban bisa dicari dengan memahami ide pokok dari paragraf tersebut.  Jawaban: C

TEXT 4
Forget lions, tigers, and bears. When it comes to the art of war, army ants are among the most frightening creatures on earth.

With powerful mouth parts, these fighters can skillfully cut creatures much larger than themselves into pieces. Acting together in great numbers, army ant colonies succeed at making tens of thousands of such kills each day. Their capabilities do have limits, though. Contrary to popular belief, they almost never take down large animals or people. One of the best places to observe army ants is Barro Colorado, an island in a lake created by the Panama Canal. The island is home to as many as 50 colonies of Eciton burchellii, the most studied army ant in the world. It is one of 150 types of army ants in the New World; more than 170 other types live in Asia, Africa, and Australia.

The colonies of this army ant are huge, ranging from 300,000 to 700,000 ants. They never stay in one place long, moving from nest site to nest site. Linking legs together, they use their own bodies to form enormous nests called bivouacs, which they hang beneath a fallen tree. There they stay for about 20 days as the queen lays as many as 300,000 eggs. When the ants go hunting, as many as 200,000 of them leave the nest in a group that broadens into a fan as wide as 14 meters. This swarm raid takes a slightly different course each day, allowing the hunters to cover fresh ground each time.

Protecting the ants wherever they go are the soldiers, recognizable by their oversized jaws. If their frightening looks don’t scare enemies away, soldiers also have a powerful bite and the attack is often suicidal. Because their jaws are shaped like fishhooks, the soldiers can’t pull them out again. Amazonian tribes have used soldier ants to close wounds, breaking off the bodies and leaving the heads in place.

Eciton burchellii are blind and can’t see what’s ahead of them, but they move together in such great numbers that they easily kill the non-army ants, insects, and other small creatures that constitute their prey. When the group happens upon a break in the path, ants immediately link legs together and form a living bridge so that the group can move forward without any delay.

In Japanese the word ant is written by linking two characters one meaning “insect,” the other meaning “loyalty.” Indeed, individual ants are completely loyal to their fellow ants. They display many examples of selfless cooperation that, while certainly extreme, can’t fail to win human admiration. (adapted from www.nationalgeographic.com)

4. How is the information in the last paragraph organized? a. A statement is followed by examples and explanation
b. A statement is followed by research findings.
c. A statement is followed by explanation organized in cause and effect
d. A statement is followed by definition and explanation.
e. A statement is followed by definetion.
Pembahasan:
Berdasarkan bacaan di atas, paragraf terakhir terseut memaparkan definisi kemudian diikuti penjelasaan. Jawaban tersebut dapat dilihat dari ‘In Japanese the word ant is written by linking two characters one meanin .... ‘ Jawaban: D

TEXT 5
A Spanish researcher and a Paraguayan scientist have presented the most complete and detailed European study into the repertoire of sounds used by bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) to communicate. The study reveals the complexity and our lack of understanding about the communication of these marine mammals.

Until now, the scientific community had thought that whistles were the main sounds made by these mammals, and were unaware of the importance and use of burst-pulsed sounds. Researchers from the Bottlenose Dolphin Research Institute (BDRI), based in Sardinia (Italy) have now shown that these sounds are vital to the animals' social life and mirror their behaviour.

"Burst-pulsed sounds are used in the life of bottlenose dolphins to socialise and maintain their position in the social hierarchy in order to prevent physical conflict, and this also represents a significant energy saving," Bruno Díaz, lead author of the study and a researcher at the BDRI, which he also manages, said

According to the experts, the tonal whistle sounds (the most melodious ones) allow dolphins to stay in contact with each other (above all mothers and offspring), and to coordinate hunting strategies. The burst-pulsed sounds (which are more complex and varied than the whistles) are used "to avoid physical aggression in situations of high excitement, such as when they are competing for the same piece of food, for example," explains Díaz. According to Díaz, bottlenose dolphins make longer burstpulsed sounds when they are hunting and at times of high aggression: "These are what can be heard best and over the longest period of time," and make it possible for each individual to maintain its position in the hierarchy.

The dolphins emit these strident sounds when in the presence of other individuals moving towards the same prey. The "least dominant" one soon moves away in order to avoid confrontation. "The surprising thing about these sounds is that they have a high level of uni-directionality, unlike human sounds. One dolphin can send a sound to another that it sees as a competitor, and this one clearly knows it is being addressed," explains the Spanish scientist.

5. The paragraph following the text most probably discusses …
A. Dolphin’s most favorite preys
B. “least dominant” dolphin’s eating habits
C. Another kind of sounds made by dolphin
D. The characteristics of burst- pulsesound
E. Hunting dolphins’ use of sounds to communicate.
Pembahasan :
Soal di atas menanyakan membahas tentang apakah paragraf selanjutnya itu. Berdasarkan paragraf sebelumnya, paragraf selanjutnya kemungkinan besar membahas tentang bunyi lain yang dibuat oleh lumba- lumba. Jawaban bisa didapat dengan memahami paragraf terakir dibacaan tersebut. Jawaban: C

TEXT 6
Many modern educational experts claim that teaching facts and academic skills is less important than achieving other social objectives. For some liberals, the schools must first change attitudes or provide nurturing in place of failed families or help establish equality and social justice. For some conservatives, the schools must first prepare kids for the workplace by molding them into supple corporate citizens, while others want the focus to be on family values, a competitive spirit, or other social or behavioral objectives. But the idea of simply educating kids seems to have taken a backseat to most educational experts and administrators. They miss the point that kids with real academic skills, especially skills in reading, writing, and mathematics, are more likely to overcome social barriers, more likely to have genuine self esteem, and most likely to be genuinely prepared for the challenges of life and the workplace. By emphasizing so many things besides a genuine, classical education, the educational establishment tends to sell our kids short and bring about many of the problems they claim to be solving.

Consider the case of Wesley Elementary School in Houston. According to Richard Nadler in the article, "Failing Grade", Wesley has all the demographic markers of a school bound for failure. Over 80% of the students qualify for subsidized lunches, and nearly all are minorities (92% black. 7% Hispanic). Yet it ranks 15 among the best schools of Houston, with first-graders placing at the 82nd percentile level in reading tests which is 50 points higher than the expected level for similar at-risk schools.

What has made Wesley so successful? The answer is classical education in the form of Direct Instruction curriculum designed by Siegfried Engelmann, an example of the much ridiculed "sage-on-the-stage" approach. This Direct Instruction system boosts reading, writing, and math scores by 30 to 40 percentile points in at risk schools. Sadly, Engelmann, like others who successfully challenge popular fads in educational reform, has been rejected by much of the educational establishment. His success is an embarrasssment to them.

6. Which of the following best reflects the author’s opinion about schools?
A. Teaching social skill is more important that academic skills
B. Schools must be able to change the attitude of the students
C. Teaching academic skills is more important than social skills
D. Teaching social skills should use conventional methods
E. Teaching academic skills is somehow contemporary.
Pembahasan:
Dengan menganalisis hasil opini penulis, dapat disimpulkan bahwa bacaan tersebut merefleksikan bahwa mengajarkan keterampilan akademik lebih penting daripada keterampilan sosial. Jawaban bisa didapat dengan menganalisis hasil opini penulis.  Jawaban: C

7. The second paragraph is related to the first paragraph in which the second paragraph presents …. A. an elaboration of purpose of an effective schools
B. a discussion on the requirement for the good school
C. a real example rather than an opinion of good school
D. an illustration to support the opinions on school subject
E. evidence in favor of the value of social objectives.
Pembahasan:
Berdasarkan bacaan di atas, paragraf kedua berhubungan dengan paragraf pertama di mana paragraf kedua membahas tentang contoh nyata daripada sebuah pendapat yang bagus tentang sekolah. Jawaban: C

8. In writing the text, the writer’s tone could be best described as ….
A. persuasive
B. descriptive
C. informative
D. evaluative
E. conservative
Pembahasan :
Penulis menuliskan teks tersebut terlihat memberi informasi yang bagus tentang sekolah. Jadi, tone yang tepat adalah ‘informative’.  Jawaban: C

9. From the second paragraph, it can be inferred that ….
A. Wesley is a successful prestigious school
B. the students at Wesley are from the haves
C. the students at Wesley are mostly colored
D. the colored students usually perform better
E. Wesley curriculum is adopted by other school.
Pembahasan :
Berdasarkan ide pokok dari paragraf kedua dapat disimpulkan bahwa Wesly adalah sekolah yang bergengsi dan sukses. Jawaban: A

TEXT 7
John Apollos is losing weight the old-fashioned way - by eating less. A whole lot less. As a volunteer in the two year Comprehensive Assessment of Long-Term Effects of Reducing Intake of Energy (CALERIE) study at Tufts University in Boston, Apollos has lowered his daily calorie intake 25% over the past eight months. The fat, not surprisingly, has melted away; the 52-year-old physical trainer has lost more than 11 kg since the study began 5 and is down to his high school weight.

Yet, that's not the real reason Apollos and the other participants in the program are eating only three quarters of what they used to. The researchers running the multicenter CALERIE study are trying to determine whether restricting food intake can slow the aging process and extend our life span. "I feel better and lighter and healthier," says Apollos. "But if it could help you live longer, that would be pretty amazing." The idea is counter intuitive: If we eat to live, how can starving ourselves add years to our lives? Yet. decades of calorie restriction studies involving organisms ranging from microscopic yeast to rats have shown just that, extending the life spans of the semi starved as much as 50%. Last July a long-term study led by researchers at the University of Wisconsin nudged the implications of this a bit closer to our species, finding that calorie restriction seemed to extend the lives of humanlike rhesus monkeys as well. The hungry primates fell victim to diabetes, heart and brain disease and cancer much less frequently than their well-fed counterparts did.

However, there may be more than just the absence of disease operating here. Anytime you go on a diet, after all, you stand a good chance of lowering your blood pressure, cholesterol level and risk of diabetes and other health woes. All that can translate into extra years. With calorie restriction, usually defined as a diet with 25% to 30% fewer calories than normal but still containing essential nutrients, something else appears to be at work to extend longevity.

10. As mentioned in the text, the study held at the multi center CALERIE, Tufts University in Boston has employed a research method that seems to be ….
A. conventional
B. complicated
C. temporary
D. ultramodern
E. methodological
Pembahasan:
Bacaan di atas menjelaskan bahwa penelitian yang diadakan di sentra CALERIE Universitas Tufts di Boston telah mempekerjakan sebuah metode penelitian secara metodologi. Jawaban: E

Bagikan Artikel ini