03 READING

COMPREHENSION
JUMLAH SOAL : 50 SOAL | WAKTU : 55 MENIT

TIME: APPROXIMATELY 55 MINUTES (50 QUESTIONS)

NOW SET YOUR CLOCK FOR 55 MINUTES

DIRECTIONS
In this section you will read several passages. Each one is followed by several
questions about it, For this section, you are to choose the one best answer, (A), (B),
(C), or (D), to each question. Then, on your answer sheet, find the number of the
question and fill in the space that corresponds to the Letter of the answer you have
chosen.

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Now begin work on the questions.
Questions 1—10
Line
In the early 1800’s, over 80 percent of the United States labor force was
engaged in agriculture. Sophisticated technology and machinery were virtually
nonexistent. People who lived in the cities and were not directly involved in trade
often participated in small cottage industries making handcrafted goods. Others
(5) cured meats, silversmiths, candle or otherwise produced needed goods and
commodities. Blacksmiths, silversmiths, candle makers, and other artisans worked
in their homes or barns, relying on help of family.
Perhaps no single phenomenon brought more widespread and lasting
change to the United States society than the rise of industrialization. Industrial
(10) growth hinged on several economic factors. First, industry requires an abundance
of natural resources, especially coal, iron ore, water, petroleum, and timber—all
readily available on the North American continent. Second, factories demand a
large labor supply. Between the 1870’s and the First World War (1914—1918),
approximately 23 million immigrants streamed to the United States, settled in cities,
(15) and went to work in factories and mines. They also helped build the vast network
of canals and railroads that crisscrossed the continent and linked important trade
centers essential to industrial growth.
Factories also offered a reprieve from the backbreaking work and financial
unpredictability associated with farming. Many adults, poor and disillusioned
(20) with farm life, were lured to the cities by promises of steady employment,
regular paychecks, increased access to goods and services, and expanded social
opportunities. Others were pushed there when new technologies made their labor
cheap or expendable; inventions such as steel plows and mechanized harvesters
allowed one farmhand to perform work that previously had required several, thus
(25) making farming capital-intensive rather than labor-intensive.
The United States economy underwent a massive transition and the nature of
work was permanently altered. Whereas cottage industries relied on a few highly
skilled craft workers who slowly and carefully converted raw materials into finished
products from start to finish, factories relied on specialization. While factory work
(30) was less creative and more monotonous, it was also more efficient and allowed
mass production of goods at less expense.

1. What aspect of life in the United States does the passage mainly discuss?
(A) The transition from an agricultural to an industrial economy
(B) The inventions that transformed life in the nineteenth century
(C) The problems associated with the earliest factories
(D) The difficulty of farm life in the nineteenth century

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2. Blacksmiths, silversmiths, and candle makers are mentioned in lines 6 as examples of
artisans who ....
(A) maintained their businesses at home
(B) were eventually able to use sophisticated technology
(C) produced unusual goods and commodities
(D) would employ only family members

3. The phrase “hinged on” in line 10 is closest in meaning to ....

(A) recovered from
(B) depended on
(C) started on
(D) contributed to

4. Which of the following is mentioned in the passage as a reason for the industrial
growth that occurred in the United States before 1914?
(A) The availability of natural resources found only in the United States
(B) The decrease in number of farms resulting from technological advances
(C) The replacement of canals and railroads by other forms of transportation
(D) The availability of a large immigrant work force

5. The word “lured” in line 20 is closest in meaning to ....

(A) attracted
(B) assigned
(C) restricted
(D) attached

6. The word “Others” in line 22 refers to other ....

(A) adults
(B) promises
(C) goods and services
(D) social opportunities

7. The word “expendable” in line 23 is closest in meaning to ....

(A) nonproductive
(B) unacceptable
(C) nonessential
(D) unprofitable

8. It can be inferred from the passage that industrialization affected farming in that indus-
trialization ....

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 (A) increased the price of farm products
(B) limited the need for new farm machinery
(C) created new and interesting jobs on farms
(D) reduced the number of people willing to do farm work

9. What does the author mean when stating that certain inventions made farming “capi-
tal-intensive rather than labor-intensive” (lines 25)?
(A) Workers had to be trained to operate the new machines.
(B) Mechanized farming required more capital and fewer laborers.
(C) The new inventions were not helpful for all farming activities.
(D) Human labor could still accomplish as much work as the first machines.

10. According to the passage, factory workers differed from craft workers in that factory
workers ....
(A) were required to be more creative
(B) worked extensively with raw materials
(C) changed jobs frequently
(D) specialized in one aspect of the finished product only

Question 11—20

Line
Molting is one of the most involved processes of a bird’s annual life cycle.
Notwithstanding preening and constant care, the marvelously intricate structure
of a bird’s feather inevitably wears out. All adult birds molt their feathers at least
once a year, and upon close observation, one can recognize the frayed, ragged
(5) appearance of feathers that are nearing the end of their useful life. Two distinct
processes are involved in molting. The first step is when the old, worn feather is
dropped, or shed. The second is when a new feather grows in its place. When each
feather has been shed and replaced, then the molt can be said to be complete. This,
however, is an abstraction that often does not happen: incomplete, overlapping,
(10) and arrested molts are quite common.
Molt requires that a bird find and process enough protein to rebuild
approximately one-third of its body weight. It is not surprising that a bird in heavy
molt often seems listless and unwell. But far from being random, molt is controlled
by strong evolutionary forces that have established an optimal time and duration.
(15) Generally, molt occurs at the time of least stress on the bird. Many songbirds, for
instance, molt in late summer, when the hard work of breeding is done but the
weather is still warm and food still plentiful. This is why the woods in late summer
often seem so quiet, when compared with the Exuberant choruses of spring.

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 Molt of the flight feathers is the most highly organized part of the process.
(20) Some species, for example, begin by dropping the outermost primary feathers on
each side (to retain balance in the air) and wait until the replacement feathers
are about one-third grown before shedding the next outermost, and so on.
Others always start with the innermost primary feathers and work outward. Yet
other species begin in the middle and work outward on both weeks while the
(25) replacement feathers grow.

11. The passage mainly discusses how ....

(A) birds prepare for breeding
(B) bird feathers differ from species
(C) birds shed and replace their feathers
(D) birds are affected by seasonal changes

12. The word “Notwithstanding” in line 2 is closest in meaning to ....

(A) despite
(B) because of
(C) instead of
(D) regarding

13. The word “intricate” in line 2 is closest in meaning to ....

(A) regular
(B) complex
(C) interesting
(D) important

14. The word “random” in line 13 is closest in meaning to ....

(A) unfortunate
(B) unusual
(C) unobservable
(D) unpredictable

15. The word “optimal” in line 14 is closest in meaning to ....

(A) slow
(B) frequent
(C) best
(D) early

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16. Which of the following is NOT mentioned as a reason that songbirds molt in the late
summer?
(A) Fewer predators are in the woods.
(B) The weathers is still warm.
(C) The songbirds have finished breeding.
(D) Food is still available.

17. Some birds that are molting maintain balance during flight by ....
(A) constantly preening and caring for their remaining feathers
(B) dropping flight feathers on both sides at the same time
(C) adjusting the angle of their flight to compensate for lost feathers
(D) only losing one-third of their feathers

18. The word “Others” in line 23 refers to ....

(A) ducks
(B) sides
(C) species
(D) flight feathers

19. The author discusses ducks in order to provide an example of birds that ....
(A) grow replacement feathers that are very long
(B) shed all their wing feathers at one time
(C) keep their innermost feathers
(D) shed their outermost feathers first

20. It can inferred from the discussion about ducks that the molting of their flight feathers
takes ....
(A) a year
(B) a season
(C) several months
(D) a few weeks

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Question 21—30

Line
The Harlem Renaissance, a movement of the 1920’s, marked the twentieth
century’s first period of intense activity by African Americans in the field of literature,
art, and music in the United States. The philosophy of the movement combined
realism, ethnic consciousness, and Americanism. Encouraged by the example of
(5) certain Americans of European descent such as Thomas Eakins, Robert Henri, and
George Luks, who had included persons of African descent in their paintings as
serious studies rather than as trivial or sentimental stereotypes, African American
artists of this period set about creating a new portrayal of themselves and their lives
in the United States. As they began to strive for social and cultural independence,
(10) their attitudes toward themselves changed, and, to some extent, other segments of
American society began to change their attitudes toward them. Thus, thought the
Harlem Renaissance was a short-lived movement, its impact on American art and
culture continues to the present.
The district in New York City know as Harlem was the capital of the
(15) movement. In 1925 an issue of Survey Graphic magazine devoted exclusively
to Harlem and edited by philosopher Alain Locke became the manifesto of the
African American artistic movement. Locke strongly suggested that individuals,
while accepting their Americanism, take pride in their African ancestral arts and
urged artists to look to Africa for substance and inspiration. Far from advocating
(20) a withdrawal from American culture, as did some of his contemporaries, Locke
recommended a cultural pluralism through which artists could enrich the culture
of America. African Americans were urged by Locke to be collaborators and
participators with other Americans in art, literature, and music; and at the same
time to preserve, enhance, and promote their own cultural heritage.
(25) Artists and intellectuals from many parts of the United States and the Caribbean
had been attracted to Harlem by the pulse and beat of its unique and dynamic
culture. From this unity created by the convergence of artists from various social
and geographical backgrounds came a new spirit, which, particularly in densely
populated Harlem, was to result in greater group awareness and self-determination.
(30) African American graphic artists took their place beside the poets and writers of
the Harlem Renaissance and carried on efforts to increase and promote the visual
arts.

21. What does the passage mainly discuss?

(A) African American paintings in the 1920’s
(B) An arts movement of the 1920’s
(C) The influence of Alain Locke on African American art
(D) Some ways in which African culture inspired American literature, art and music

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22. According to the passage, Tomas Eakins, Robert Henri, and George Luks were impor-
tant because of ....
(A) the philosophical contributions they made to the Harlem Renaissance
(B) their development of a new style of African American art
(C) they way in which they depicted African Americans in their paintings
(D) their independence from European artistic traditions

23. The word “them” in line 11 refers to ....

(A) Americans of European descent
(B) paintings
(C) African American artists
(D) attitudes

24. According to the passage, African American artists of the 1920’s differed from earlier
African American artists in terms of their feelings about ....
(A) themselves
(B) other artists
(C) their impact on American art
(D) stereotypes

25. The word “urged” in line 22 is closest in meaning to ....

(A) prepared
(B) defined
(C) permitted
(D) encouraged

26. Alain Locke believed all of the following to be important to the African American ar-
tistic movement EXCEPT ....
(A) pride in African art
(B) cultural pluralism
(C) collaboration with other artists
(D) withdrawal from American culture

27. In mentioning “the pulse and beat” (line 26) of Harlem during the 1920’s, the author
is characterizing the district as one that ....
(A) depended greatly on its interaction with other parts of the city
(B) grew economically in a short period of time
(C) was an exciting place to be
(D) was in danger of losing population

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