Reading Comprehension
By
Reski Ramadhani, S.Pd, M.Hum
General Information
• Section 3 Reading Comprehension (pemahaman membaca) umumnya
terdiri atas 5 buah teks yang menyondorkan 50 butir soal.
• Setiap teks biasanya, tapi tidak selalu, diikuti 10 butir soal.
• Alokasi waktu untuk menyelesaikan reading comprehension adalah 55
menit.
General Problems
• Yang menjadi kendala adalah waktu yang sangat sempit, selain
banyaknya kosa kata yang kurang dianggap familiar sehingga teks
kurang terpahami secara optimal.
• Acapkali topik yang dibicarakan teks adalah sesuatu diluar bidang
keahlian/keseharian para peserta test.
Lingkup Tema dalam Reading Comprehension
2. Look ahead at the questions to determine what language skills are being tested in the questions.
3. Find the section of the passage that deals with each question.
• Mind idea questions
• Pronoun questions
• Transition questions
• Vocabulary questions
• Where-in-the-passage questions
4. Read the part of the passage that contains the answer carefully.
5. Choose the best answer to each question from the four choices listed in our test book.
Skill 1: Answer main idea questions correctly
• In main idea question, you may be asked to identify topic, subject, title, primary idea, or
main idea.
• These questions are all really asking what primary point the author is trying to get across
in the passage.
• Since TOEFL passages are generally written in traditionally organized manner, it is relatively
easy to find the main ideas by studying the topic sentences, which are most probably
found at the beginning of each paragraph.
• If the passage consists of one paragraph, you should study the beginning of that paragraph
to determine the main idea.
Tips Menjawab Soal Main Idea
• Untuk teks yang terdiri dari hanya satu paragraf, bacalah kalimat
pertama dan terakhir; kemudian cari opsi yang idenya identik dengan
dua kalimat tersebut.
• Untuk teks yang terdiri atas lebih dari satu paragraf, bacalah kalimat
perama dari setiap paragraf dan kalimat terakhir dari paragraf
pertama dan terakhir; kemudian cari opsi yang merupakan
rangkuman informasi dari kalimat-kalimat tersebut.
Skill 2: Recognize the organization of the
Idea
In this question, you may be asked to determine how the ideas in one
paragraph (or paragraphs) relate to the ideas in another paragraph (or
paragraphs), such as giving definition and example, General to specific,
Inductive and deductive, contradiction, etc.
Tips Menjawab Soal Kebertalian Gagasan
(Oganization of Ideas)
Bacalah kalimat pertama dari setiap paragraf. Kemudian perhatikan kata/ungkapan
yang menunjukkan keterhubungan antar paragraf.
Misalnya:
- On the other hand perbandingan/pertentangan
- In addition menguatkan ide sebelumnya
- General information and specific
- Definition and example
- General to specific/specific to general
- A problem and a solution
- Comparison and constrast
Skill 3: Find pronoun referent
- In pronoun referent question, it is important to understand that a
noun is generally used first in the passage, and the pronoun that
refers to it comes after.
- Whenever you are asked to which noun a pronoun refers to, you
should look before the pronoun to find the noun.
Tips Menjawab Soal Rujukan Kata (Reference)
• Soal rujukan kata (reference) mengharuskan kita mencari kat benda atau gagasan yang dirujuk oleh
suatu pronoun (kata ganti). Pornoun yang umumnya ditanyakan adalah “he/ she/ it/ they/ you/ this/
that /there”.
• Cari di teks kalimat yang memiliki pronoun bersangkutan, lalu perhatikan pernyataan sebelum
pronoun tersebut. Pronoun umumnya merujuk kepada kata benda yang ada sebelum pronoun