Task 1 : Reading comprehension Part 1
Nama : Romi sanubari
NPM : 19114794
Kelas : 4ka18
Questions 1-12
The first two decades of this century were dominated by the microbe
hunters. These hunters had tracked down one after another of the
microbes responsible for the most dreaded scourges of many centuries:
tuberculosis, cholera, diphtheria. But there, remained some terrible
diseases for which no microbe could be incriminated: scurvy, pellagra,
rickets, beriberi. Then it was discovered that these diseases were
caused by the lack of vitamins, a trace substance in the diet. The
diseases could be prevented or cured by consuming foods that contained
the vitamins. And so in the decades of the 1920’s and 1930’s, nutrition
became a science and the vitamin hunters replaced the microbe hunters.
In
the 1940’s and 1950’s, biochemists strived to learn why each of the
vitamins was essential for health. They discovered that key enzymes in
metabolism depend on one or another of the vitamins as coenzymes to
perform the chemistry that provides cells with energy for growth and
function. Now, these enzyme hunters occupied center stage.
You are
aware that the enzyme hunters have been replaced by a new breed of
hunters who are tracking genes-the blueprints for each of the
enzymes-and are discovering the defective genes that cause inherited
diseases-diabetes, cystic fibrosis. These gene hunters, or genetic
engineers, use recombinant DNA technology to identify and clone genes
and introduce them into bacterial cells and plants to create factories
for the massive production of hormones and vaccines for medicine and for
better crops for agriculture. Biotechnology has become a
multibillion-dollar industry.
In view of the inexorable progress in
science, we can expect that the gene hunters will be replaced in the
spotlight. When and by whom? Which kind of hunter will dominate the
scene in the last decade of our waning century and in the early decades
of the next? I wonder whether the hunters who will occupy the spotlight
will be neurobiologists who apply the techniques of the enzyme and gene
hunters to the functions of the brain: What to call them? The head
hunters. I will return to them later.
1. What is the main topic of the passage?
(A) The microbe hunters
(B) The potential of genetic engineering
(C) The progress of modem medical research
(D) The discovery of enzymes
Jawab : C
2. The word “which” in line 4 refers to
(A) diseases
(B) microbe
(C) cholera
(D) diphtheria
Jawab : A
3. The word “incriminated” in line 4 is closest in meaning to
(A) investigated
(B) blamed
(C) eliminated
(D) produced
Jawab : B
4. Which of the following can be cured by a change in diet?
(A) Tuberculosis
(B) Cholera
(C) Cystic fibrosis
(D) Pellagra
Jawab : D
5. The word “strived” in line 9 is closest in meaning to
(A) failed
(B) tried
(C) experimented
(D) studied
Jawab : B
6. How do vitamins influence health?
(A) They are necessary for some enzymes to function.
(B) They protect the body from microbes.
(C) They keep food from spoiling.
(D) They are broken down by cells to produce energy.
Jawab : A
7. In the third paragraph, the author compares cells that have been genetically altered by biotechnicians to
(A) gardens
(B) factories
(C) hunters
(D) spotlights
Jawab : B
8. The word “them” in line 16 refers to
(A) cells and plants
(B) hormones
(C) genes
(D) gene hunters or genetic engineers
Jawab : C
9. The phrase “occupy the spotlight” in line 22 is closest in meaning to
(A) receive the most attention
(B) go the furthest
(C) conquer territory
(D) lighten the load
Jawab : A
10. The author implies that the most important medical research topic of the future will be
(A) the functions of the brain
(B) inherited diseases
(C) the operation of vitamins
(D) the structure of genes
Jawab : A
11. Which of the following best describes the author’stone in the last paragraph of the passage?
(A) Critical
(B) Speculative
(C) Appreciative
(D) Emotional
Jawab : B
12. With which of the following statements would the author be most likely to agree?
(A) The focus of medical research will change in the next two decades.
(B) Medical breakthroughs often depend on luck.
(C) Medical research throughout the twentieth century has been dominated by microbe hunters.
(D) Most diseases are caused by defective genes.
Jawab : B
Questions 13-17
A distinctively American architecture began with Frank Lloyd Wright,
who had taken to heart the admonition that form should follow function
and who thought of buildings not as separate architectural entities but
as parts of an organic whole that included the land, the community, and
the society. In a very real way the houses of colonial New England and
some of the southern plantations had been functional, but Wright was the
first architect to make functionalism the authoritative principle for
public as well as for domestic buildings. As early as 1906 he built the
Unity Temple in Oak Park, Illinois, the first of those churches that did
so much to revolutionize ecclesiastical architecture in the United
States. Thereafter he turned his genius to such miscellaneous structures
as houses, schools, office buildings, and factories, among them the
famous Larkin Building in Buffalo, New York, and the Johnson Wax Company
building in Racine, Wisconsin.
13. The phrase “taken to heart” in line 1 is closest in meaning to which of the following?
(A) Taken seriously
(B) Criticized
(C) Memorized
(D) Taken offence
Jawab : A
14. In what way did Wright’s public buildings differ from most of those built by earlier architects?
(A) They were built on a larger scale.
(B) Their materials came from the southern United States.
(C) They looked more like private homes.
(D) Their designs were based on how they would be used.
Jawab : D
15. The author mentions the Unity Temple because, it
(A) was Wright’s first building
(B) influenced the architecture of subsequent churches
(C) demonstrated traditional ecclesiastical architecture
(D) was the largest church Wright ever designed
Jawab : B
16. The passage mentions that all of the following structures were built by Wright EXCEPT
(A) factories
(B) public buildings
(C) offices
(D) southern plantations
Jawab : D
17. Which of the following statements best reflects one of Frank Lloyd Wright’s architectural principles?
(A) Beautiful design is more important than utility.
(B) Ecclesiastical architecture should be derived from traditional designs.
(C) A building should fit into its surroundings.
(D) The architecture of public buildings does not need to be revolutionary
Jawab : C
Questions 18 - 25
Tools and hand bones excavated from the Swartkrans cave complex in
South Africa suggest that a close relative of early humans known as
Australopithecus robustus may have made and used primitive tools long
before the species became extinct I million Line years ago. It may even
have made and used primitive tools long before humanity’s direct
ancestor, Homo habilis, or “handy man,” began doing so. Homo habilis and
its successor, Homo erectus, coexisted with Australopithecus robustus
on the plains of South Africa for more than a million years.
The
Swartkrans cave in South Africa has been under excavation since the
1940’s. The earliest fossil-containing layers of sedimentary rock in the
cave date from about 1.9 million years ago and contain extensive
remains of animals, primitive tools, and two or more species of apelike
hominids. The key recent discovery involved bones from the hand of
Australopithecus robustus, the first time such bones have been found.
The
most important feature of the Australopithecus robustus hand was the
pollical distal thumb tip, the last bone in the thumb. The bone had an
attachment point for a “uniquely human” muscle, the flexor pollicis
longus, that had previously been found only in more recent ancestors.
That muscle gave Australopithecus robustutJ an opposable thumb, a
feature that would allow them to grip objects, including tools. The
researchers also found primitive bone and stone implements, especially
digging tools, in the same layers of sediments.
Australopithecus
robustus were more heavily built- more “robust” in anthropological
terms-than their successors. They had broad faces, heavy jaws, and
massive crushing and grinding teeth that were used for eating hard
fruits, seeds, and fibrous underground plant parts. They walked upright,
which would have allowed them to carry and use tools. Most experts had
previously believed that Homo habilis were able to supplant
Australopithecus robustus because the former’s ability to use tools gave
them an innate superiority. The discovery that Australopithecus
robustus also used tools means that researchers will have to seek other
explanations for their extinction. Perhaps their reliance on naturally
occurring plants led to their downfall as the climate became drier and
cooler, or perhaps Homo habilis, with their bigger brains, were simply
able tomake more sophisticated tools.
18. It can be inferred from the first paragraph that all of the following may have made and used tools EXCEPT.
(A) Australopithecus robustus
(B) Homo erectus
(C) Homo habilis
(D) Australopithecus robustus’ ancestors
Jawab : D
19. The word “extensive” in line 9 is closest in meaning to
(A) numerous
(B) exposed
(C) ancient
(D) valuable
Jawab : A
20. Which of the following does the author mention as the most important recent discovery made in the Swartkrans cave?
(A) Tools
(B) Teeth
(C) Plant fossils
(D) Hand bones
Jawab : D
21. What does the third paragraph ‘mainly discuss?
(A) Features of Australopithecus robustus’ hand
(B) Purposes for which hominids used tools
(C) Methods used to determine the age of fossils
(D) Significant plant fossils found in layers of sediment
Jawab : A
22. It can be inferred from the description in the last paragraph
that Australopithecus robustus was so named because of the species’
(A) ancestors
(B) thumb
(C) build
(D) diet
Jawab : C
23. The word “supplant” in line 22 is closest in meaning to
(A) exploit
(B) displace
(C) understand
(D) imitate
Jawab : B
24. The word “them” in line 23 refers to
(A) tools
(B) Homo habilis
(C) Australopithecus robustus
(D) experts
Jawab : B
25. What does the author suggest is unclear about Australopithecus robustus?
(A) Whether they used tools
(B) What they most likely ate
(C) Whether they are closely related to humans
(D) Why they became extinct
Jawab : D
Sumber 
