PRACTICAL ENGLISH

READING COMPREHENSION
Soal soal reading comprehension sangat mendominasi pada Ujian Naisonal 2008. Dalam menyelesaikan soal soal reading comprehension, para siswa sering merasa grogi, takut dan juga malas sebelum memulai mengerjakannya dikarenakan akan terbentur oleh penguasaan vocabulary yang sedikit sedangkan biasanya teks yang ada sangat panjang. sehingga tidak dapat berkonsentrasi akibatnya banyak membuat kesalahan yang merugikan diri sendiri. Untuk menghindari hal tersebut, perlu diperhatikan langkah langkah sebagai berikut:
1. Teks yang panjang tidak perlu dibaca semua, tetapi pahami saja inti dari bacaan tersebut melalui judul atau kalimat pertama pada paragraph pertama. Setelah itu pahami pertanyaan pertanyaannya (tidak termasuk alternatif jawabannya) sebelum membaca wacana. Tentukan kata / kalimat kunci / informasi informasi penting yang ditanyakan pada setiap pertanyaan Yakin bahwa semua jawaban atas pertanyaan pertanyaan tersebut terdapat dalam text. Bacalah kalimat per kalimat dalam teks dengan tidak perlu memahami / mengartikan setiap kata namun hanya menghubungkannya dengan kata kunci / informasi penting yang ada dalam pertanyaan. Beri tanda akan informasi informasi yang berhubungan dengan pertanyaan (yang telah dibaca terlebih dahulu) dengan cara menggarisbawahi informasi tersebut dan kalau perlu diberi nomor sesuai dengan nomor soal. Tidak merasa panik apabila terdapat kata kata sulit yang belum diketahuhi makananya, teruskan membaca text dan tebak makna kata sulit tersebut. Perhatikan bila dalam text mendapati kata ganti (pronoun) karena kata kata ini pasti memberikan penjelasan pada kelimat sebelumnya. Example : Nowadays, people become busier and busier. Sometimes they have to do some important businesses in many towns at the same day. Kata ganti they pada kalimat diatas menggantikan/refers to kata people. Note: Pertanyaan pertanyaan yang sering di tanyakan pada soal soal reading comprehension:  - What is the main idea of the text/paragraph one/two ?.(apa ide/pokok pikiran utama pada text/paragraph?) - The text is about? (text tersebut membicarakan tentang)  Ide/pokok pikiran utama dalam text kemungkinan besar terdapat pada kalimat pertama pada setiap paragraph. (it/they/he (kata ganti) pada

2.

3. 4.

5.

6.

it/they/he (kata ganti) in the line/paragraph. Refers to baris/paragraph menggantikan apa/siapa) 

Jawabannya kemungkinan besar adalah yang posisinya sebagai Subjek pada kalimat sebelumnya

Pertanyaan pertanyaan yang berhubungan dengan penguasaan vocabulary, seperti:

- Synonym (persamaan kata) - Antonym/opposite (lawan kata) - The underlined/italic word mean? (kata yang bergasrisbawah/dicetak miring berarti?)  Kalau tidak mengetahui arti dari vocabulary yang dimaksud, kamu akan merasa kesulitan dalam mencari jawaban, tapi cobalah menebak arti kata sulit tersebut sesuai dengan kenteks kalimat yang ada pada bacaan.

Which of the following statements is NOT TRUE according to the text? (manakah pernyataan pernyataan berikut yang tidak sesuai dengan isi text)  Yang pertama kali dilakukan dalam menjawab pertanyaan seperti di atas dengan cara memahami pernyataan pernyataan yang terdapat dalam pilihan ganda terlebih dahulu kemudian baca text kembali.

What is the purpose of the text? (Tujuan dibuatnya teks)  Teks narrative (dongeng/cerita khayalan) -> to entertain the reader (untuk menghibur pembaca) Teks recount (menceritakan peristiwa lampau) -> to retell the story (menceritakan kembali pengalaman pribadi / kejadian di masa lalu) Teks descriptive (deskripsi) -> describing a particular and special thing (mendeskripsikan / menggambarkan sesuatu secara khusus) Teks report (laporan) -> Describing something in general (mendeskripsikan / menggambarkan sesuatu secara umum / luas) Teks procedure -> To inform something, explain how to use / make something (menjelaskan tata cara menggunakan / membuat suatu hal)

Questions:
1. No. 11,12,13 and 14/UN/2005 Read the following text and answer questions 11 to 14. The Crisye concert was great. It was held last Sunday in Jakarta Convention Center, Senayan Jakarta. The concert was accompanied by an orchestra lead by Erwin Gutawa. It was a wonderful orchestra and Erwin conducted excellently. Besides Chrisye, there were some other singers, such as Sophia Latjuba, Ari Lasso, and A Rafiq. They did very amazing performances and sang beautifully. The audience was satisfied with the concert. 11. The singer in the concert sang very a. b. satisfyingly b. beautifully c. proudly d. happily

12. What is the main idea of the text above? a. b. The Chrisye concert was last Sunday The concert was in the Convention Hall

c. d.

The orchestra was wonderful The Chrisye concert was great

13.

How many singers were there in the concert?

a. Two b. Three c. Four d. Five

14. Erwin conducted excellently

What is the synonym of the underlined word above?

a. Dominated b. Directed c. Included d. Concluded

2.

No. 22, 23, 24 dan 25/UN/2006 Read the letter bellow to answer question 22 to 25.

January 2th, 2005 Hi, Ria. I am inSydneynow. It is a fantastic city. I havent started work yet so I am a tourist.I want to see everything thatSydneyoffers. The transport system here is great, cheap and fast. I haveonlybeen here for a few days and I have seen the Opera House. It isjustamazing and guided tour was terrific. Manly beach is gloriouswith lots ofclean, golden sand and has good waves to play in. Istayed there for hours.The ferries onSydneyHarbourare the realtreat and I thought, what a great way to go to workeveryday. Tomorrow Iam going to see the Olympic Stadium, and thenext day I am going to climbup theSydneyHarborBridge.That will surely be exiting. Love, Andy

22. What is the text about? a. Andys work in Sydney b. Travelling in Sydney 23. What will Andy do at the end of this tour? a. Visit the Opera House b. See the Olympic Stadium c. Start to work in Sydney d. Climb up the Harbour Bridge in Sydney c. The Olympic Stadium d. Transport system on Sydney

24. Based on the text, which statements is NOT True? a. Sydney is really amazing place b. Andy really loves his tour in Sydney

c. The travelling to Sydney was very exiting d. Its discouraging to work everyday in Sydney 25. Manly Beach is glorious with lots of clean, golden sand and good waves to play in. (Line 5 and 6) The underlined word means a. beautiful b. clean c. good d. nice

3.

No. 31, 32 dan 33/UN/2007

EPE BANANA Ingredients: 1 bunch of kapokbananas (not too ripe) 1 liter of water 2 kg brown sugar 50 gr white sugar 10 gr vanillaessence Preparation: y Peel the bananas, then roast the overcharcoal until somewhat soft and brown. y Flattenwith a special wooden clamp or, ifyou dont own one, use a largeflat wooden spoon to flatten the bananas ona cutting board. y Sauce:Boil the water with the brown sugar,white sugar and vanillaessence until it dissolves into thick syrup, thenpour over thebananas. For 10 portions

31. What does the last thing we do in making Epe bananas? a. Peel a bund of bananas b. Flatten the bananas c. Roast the bananas d. Make sauce of Epe banana.

32. Who much white sugar do we need to make Epe banana? a. 10 grams b. 50 grams 33. Flatten them with a special wooden clamp c. 1 kilogram d. 2 kilograms

The underlined word means a. fry b. cook c. cook d. steam

4.

No. 10, 11, 12 dan 12/UN/2008/A Vanessa Mae Vanakorn Nicholson is a musician.

She is onlynineteen years old, but she is a world-famous violinist. When sheplays classical

violin concertos on her electric violin, the worldlistens.

Vanessa Mae isThai-Chinese. Her mother is Chinese and her mother father is Thai. She isfromSingapore, but shenow lives inLondonwith her mother and her English step father. Shes got cousins, aunts,uncles and grandparents inThailand,Singapore,ChinaandEngland. (Adapted fromSnapshot, Starter page 46)

10. What is the text about? a. a violinist b. a musician 11. Vanessa plays violin a. badly b. carefully 12. From the text we know that people a. in the world are interested in all violinist b. Like to listen to Vanessas playing violin c. are eager to play violin with Vanessa d. play the violin well in concert 13. , but she now lives in London with her mother and her English step father. (Paragraph 3) The word stepfather means a male whos married to a. ones aunt b. ones sister c. ones mother d. ones daughter c. classically d. wonderfully c. a pianist d. an artist