Reading Toefl Detail Pembahasan
Reading Toefl Detail Pembahasan
Reading Toefl Detail Pembahasan
expert
Questions 1 – 10
The growth of cities, the construction of hundreds of new factories, and the spread of
railroads in the United States before 1850 had increased the need for better illumination.
But the lighting in American homes had improved very little over that of ancient times.
Through the colonial period, homes were lit with tallow candles or with a lamp of the
(5) kind used in ancient Rome — a dish of fish oil or other animal or vegetable oil in which a
twisted rag served as a wick. Some people used lard, but they had to heat charcoal
underneath to keep it soft and burnable. The sperm whale provided a superior burning oil,
but this was expensive. In 1830 a new substance called "camphene" was patented, and it
proved to be an excellent illuminant. But while camphene gave a bright light it too
(10) remained expensive, had an unpleasant odor, and also was dangerously explosive.
Between 1830 and 1850 it seemed that the only hope for cheaper illumination in the
United States was in the wider use of gas. In the 1840's American gas manufacturers
adopted improved British techniques for producing illuminating gas from coal. But the
expense of piping gas to the consumer remained so high that until midcentury gaslighting
(15) was feasible only in urban areas, and only for public buildings or for the wealthy.
In 1854 a Canadian doctor, Abraham Gesner, patented a process for distilling a
pitchlike mineral found in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia that produced illuminating gas
and an oil that he called "kerosene" (from "keros," the Greek word for wax, and "ene"
because it resembled camphene). Kerosene, though cheaper than camphene, had an
(20) unpleasant odor, and Gesner never made his fortune from it. But Gesner had aroused a
new hope for making an illuminating oil from a product coming out of North American
mines.
1. Which of the following is NOT mentioned as a reason why better lighting had become necessary
by the mid-nineteenth century?
(A) Development of railroads
(B) Demand for better medical facilities
(C) Increases in the number of new factories
(D) Growth of cities
Tipe soal ; Negative question (NOT, LEAST, EXCEPT)
Jawaban ; B
5. What can be inferred about the illuminating gas described in the second paragraph?
(A) It was first developed in the United States.
(B) It was not allowed to be used in public buildings.
(C) It was not widely available until midcentury.
(D) It had an unpleasant smell.
Tipe soal ; Inference question (infer / imply)
Jawaban ; C
7. According to the passage, what advantage did the kerosene patented by Gesner have over
camphene?
(A) Kerosene had a more pleasant smell.
(B) Kerosene was less expensive.
(C) Kerosene burned more brightly.
(D) Kerosene was safer to use.
Tipe soal ; Factual question
Jawaban ; B
10. Where in the passage does the author mention the origin of a word?
(A) Lines 4-6
(B) Lines 7-8
(C) Lines 12-13
(D) Lines 16-19
Tipe soal ; Scanning question
Jawaban ; D
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Questions 11-20
Beads were probably the first durable ornaments humans possessed, and the
intimate relationship they had with their owners is reflected in the fact that beads are
among the most common items found in ancient archaeological sites. In the past, as
today, men, women, and children adorned themselves with beads. In some cultures
(5) still, certain beads are often worn from birth until death, and then are buried with their
owners for the afterlife. Abrasion due to daily wear alters the surface features of beads,
and if they are buried for long, the effects of corrosion can further change their
appearance. Thus, interest is imparted to the bead both by use and the effects of time.
Besides their wearability, either as jewelry or incorporated into articles of attire,
(10) beads possess the desirable characteristics of every collectible: they are durable,
portable, available in infinite variety, and often valuable in their original cultural
context as well as in today's market. Pleasing to look at and touch, beads come in
shapes, colors, and materials that almost compel one to handle them and to sort them.
Beads are miniature bundles of secrets waiting to be revealed: their history,
(15) manufacture, cultural context, economic role, and ornamental use are all points of
information one hopes to unravel. Even the most mundane beads may have traveled
great distances and been exposed to many human experiences. The bead researcher
must gather information from many diverse fields. In addition to having to be a
generalist while specializing in what may seem to be a narrow field, the researcher is
(20) faced with the problem of primary materials that have little or no documentation. Many
ancient beads that are of ethnographic interest have often been separated from their
original cultural context.
The special attractions of beads contribute to the uniqueness of bead research. While
often regarded as the "small change of civi lizations,” beads are a part of every culture,
(25) and they can often be used to date archaeological sites and to designate the degree of
mercantile, technological, and cultural sophistication.
14. All of the following are given as characteristics of collectible objects EXCEPT
(A) durability
(B) portability
(C) value
(D) scarcity
Tipe soal ;Negative question
Jawaban ; D
15. According to the passage, all of the following are factors that make people want to touch beads
EXCEPT the
(A) shape
(B) color
(C) material
(D) odor
Tipe soal ;Negative question
Jawaban ; D
18. It is difficult to trace the history of certain ancient beads because they
(A) are small in size
(B) have been buried underground
(C) have been moved from their original locations
(D) are frequently lost
Tipe soal ; Factual question
Jawaban ; C
19. Knowledge of the history of some beads may be useful in the studies done by which of the
following?
(A) Anthropologist
(B) Agricultural experts
(C) Medical researchers
(D) Economists
Tipe soal ; Factual question
@toefl.ielts.expert
Jawaban ; A
20. Where in the passage does the author describe why the appearance beads may change?
(A) Lines 3-4
(B) Lines 6-8
(C) Lines 12-13
(D) Lines 20-22
Tipe soal ; Scanning question
Jawaban ; B
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Questions 21 – 33
21. What aspect of broad-tailed hummingbird behavior does the passage mainly discuss?
(A) Migration routes
(B) Mating habits
(C) Caring for the young
(D) Selection of nest sites
Tipe soal ; Main topic question
Jawaban ; D
22. According to the passage, in what circumstances do hummingbirds build a second nest?
(A) If the winter is unusually warm
(B) If the chicks in the first nest hatch early
(C) If there is an unusually large supply of food
(D) If the eggs are destroyed early in the season
Tipe soal ; Factual question
Jawaban ; D
26. According to the passage, which of the following is true of the male broad-tailed hummingbird?
(A) It finds food for the female and the chicks.
(B) It protects the nest while the female searches for food.
(C) It is not involved in caring for the chicks.
(D) It shares nesting duties equally with the female.
Tipe soal ; Factual question
Jawaban ; C
27. It can be inferred from the passage that the broad-tailed hummingbirds' eggs and chicks are
most vulnerable to attacks by
(A) insects
(B) humans
(C) birds
(D) squirrels
Tipe soal ; Inference question
Jawaban ; C
28. Which of the following would be a good location for a broad-tailed hummingbird to
build its nest?
(A) A branch near the top of a tree
(B) The longest branch of a tree
(C) A thick branch
(D) A protected branch
Tipe soal ; Factual question
Jawaban ; C
30. Which of the following was NOT mentioned in the passage as a nest-building material of the
broad-tailed hummingbird?
(A) Paper
(B) Plant down
(C) Spiderwebs
(D) Tree bark
Tipe soal ; Negative question
Jawaban ; A
31. The author compares the size of the broad-tailed hummingbird's nest to
(A) a pea
(B) a golf ball
(C) a spiderweb
(D) an egg
Tipe soal ; Factual question
Jawaban ; B
32. According to the passage, how long does it take for broad-tailed hummingbird eggs to hatch?
(A) Less than a week
(B) Two to three weeks
(C) One month
(D) More than six weeks
Tipe soal ; Factual question
Jawaban ; B
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33. Where in the passage does the author mention the number of eggs generally found in the nests
of broad-tailed hummingbirds?
(A) Line 5
(B) Lines 10-11
(C) Lines 15-17
(D) Lines 20-22
Tipe soal ; Scanning question
Jawaban ; D
Question 34 – 41
Before the mid-nineteenth century, people in the United States ate most foods only
in season. Drying, smoking, and salting could preserve meat for a short time, but the
availability of fresh meat, like that of fresh milk, was very limited; there was no way to
prevent spoilage. But in 1810 a French inventor named Nicolas Appert developed the
(5) cooking-and-sealing process of canning. And in the 1850's an American named Gail
Borden developed a means of condensing and preserving milk. Canned goods and
condensed milk became more common during the 1860's, but supplies remained low
because cans had to be made by hand. By 1880, however, inventors had fashioned
stamping and soldering machines that mass-produced cans from tinplate. Suddenly all
(10) kinds of food could be preserved and bought at all times of the year.
Other trends and inventions had also helped make it possible for Americans to vary
their daily diets. Growing urban populations created demand that encouraged fruit and
vegetable farmers to raise more produce. Railroad refrigerator cars enabled growers
and meat packers to ship perishables great distances and to preserve them for longer
(15) periods. Thus, by the 1890's, northern city dwellers could enjoy southern and western
strawberries, grapes, and tomatoes, previously available for a month at most, for up to
six months of the year. In addition, increased use of iceboxes enabled families to store
perishables. An easy means of producing ice commercially had been invented in the
1870's, and by 1900 the nation had more than two thousand commercial ice plants,
(20) most of which made home deliveries. The icebox became a fixture in most homes and
remained so until the mechanized refrigerator replaced it in the 1920's and 1930's.
Almost everyone now had a more diversified diet. Some people continued to eat
mainly foods that were heavy in starches or carbohydrates, and not everyone could
afford meat. Nevertheless, many families could take advantage of previously
unavailable fruits, vegetables, and dairy products to achieve more varied fare.
Jawaban ; B
38. It can be inferred that railroad refrigerator cars came into use
(A) before 1860
(B) before 1890
(C) after 1900
(D) after 1920
Tipe soal ; Inference question
Jawaban ; B
40. The author implies that in the 1920's and 1930's home deliveries of ice
(A) decreased in number
(B) were on an irregular schedule
(C) increased in cost
(D) occurred only in the summer
Tipe soal ; Inference question
Jawaban ; A
Questions 42 – 50
In the two decades between 1929 and 1949, sculpture in the United States sustained
what was probably the greatest expansion in sheet technique to occur in many centuries.
There was, first of all, the incorporation of welding into sculptural practice, with the result
that it was possible to form a new kind of metal object. For sculptors working with metal,
(5) earlier restricted to the dense solidity of the bronze cast, it was possible to add a type of
work assembled from paper-thin metal sheets or sinuously curved rods. Sculpture could
take the form of a linear, two-dimensional frame and still remain physically self-supporting.
Along with the innovation of welding came a correlative departure: freestanding sculpture
that was shockingly flat.
(10) Yet another technical expansion of the options for sculpture appeared in the guise of
motion. The individual parts of a sculpture were no longer understood as necessarily fixed
in relation to one another, but could be made to change position within a work constructed
as a moving object. Motorizing the sculpture was only one of many possibilities taken up
in the 1930's. Other strategies for getting the work to move involved structuring it in such
(15) a way that external forces, like air movements or the touch of a viewer, could initiate
motion. Movement brought with it a new attitude toward the issue of sculptural unity: a
work might be made of widely diverse and even discordant elements; their formal unity
would be achieved through the arc of a particular motion completing itself through time.
Like the use of welding and movement, the third of these major technical ex pansions
(20) to develop in the 1930's and 1940's addressed the issues of sculptural materials and
sculptural unity. But its medium for doing so was the found object, an item not intended
for use in a piece of artwork, such as a newspaper or metal pipe. To create a sculpture by
assembling parts that had been fabricated originally for a quite different context did not
necessarily involve a new technology. But it did mean a change in sculptural practice, for
(25) it raised the possibility that making sculpture might involve more a conceptual shift than a
physical transformation of the material from which it is composed.
42. It could be inferred that between 1929 and 1949 sculptors changed in what way?
(A) They depended less on patrons to finance their work.
(B) They were less imaginative in their designs.
(C) They exhibited sculpture more often outside than in galleries.
(D) They used a wider variety of materials and techniques.
Tipe soal ; Inference question
Jawaban ; D
43. It can be inferred that which of the following happened when sculptors began to use welding as
a technique?
(A) Some sculpture became lighter and thinner.
(B) Sculpture became more expensive to create.
(C) Sculptors took more time to complete their work.
(D) Sculpture became more ornate.
Tipe soal ; Inference question
Jawaban ; A
(D) prolong
Tipe soal ; Vocabulary question
Jawaban ; A
46. According to the passage, how did the use of motion affect sculpture?
(A) It caused the old materials to be discarded.
(B) It required sculptors to collaborate with engineers.
(C) It changed the concept of sculptural unity.
(D) It forced sculptors to weld all parts permanently.
Tipe soal ; Factual question
Jawaban ; C
50. Which of the following was NOT a new technique developed during this period?
(A) Creating sculptures that move
(B) Welding metal pieces together
(C) Including found objects in sculpture
(D) Making a bronze cast
Tipe soal ; Negative question
Jawaban ; D