Part 1 : TIPS & TRIK READING COMPREHENSION TOEFL

READING COMPREHENSION TOEFL
Question 1 - 50 (55 minutes)

Section 3 dalam ujian TOEFL adalah Reading comprehension. Ini digunakan untuk mengukur kemempuan peserta ujian dalam memahami teks tertulis dalam bahasa inggris. Bagian ini mengujikan setidaknya 5 bacaan, dimana masing-masing bacaan biasanya terdiri dari sepuluh pertanyaan. Sehingga pertanyaan pada bagian ini berjumlah limapuluh pertanyaan. Anda harus menyelesaikan semua pertanyaan dalam waktu limapuluh menit. Bagian ini hanya mengujikan teks bacaan saja, tanpa gambar, diagram, atau alat Bantu visual lainnya.

Tema bacaan yang diujikan dalam bagian ini cukup bervariasi, namun secara umum berkaitan dengan materi perkuliahan yang diajarkan oleh universitas-universitas di Amerika Serikat. Misalnya : sejarah, sastra, seni, arsitektur, geologi, biologi, kesehatan, astronomi, geografi, dan seterusnya. 

Adapun pertanyaan pada section 3 bisa dikategorikan ke dalam dua bentuk pertanyaan sebagai berikut:

1. Reading comprehension

   Pada section 3 ini anda akan diminta untuk menjawab pertanyaan-pertanyaan yang berkaitan dengan informasi yang terdapat pada teks bacaan. Mulai dari main idea, bagian bacaan yang lebih rinci, sampai inferasi atau penyimpulan atas informasi yang terdapat pada bacaan.

2. Vocabulary

   Section 3 juga meminta anda untuk menjawab arti dari kata-kata tertentu yang terdapat pada teks bacaan. Namun apabila anda sama sekali tidak tahu arti kata-kata tertentu, anda masih tetap bias mengetahui arti kata-kata tersebut dengan memahami konteks bacaan. Dengan demikian anda bias memperkirakan arti dari kata-kata yang ditanyakan dalam soal.

Permasalahan yang biasa dihadapi oleh peserta tes TOEFL dalam ujian Reading Comprehension adalah batasan waktu yang singkat. Banyak peserta tes yang tidak bias menyelesaikan semua pertanyaan ketika waktu yang disediakan telah habis. Untuk itu Berbagai kemampuan yang dibutuhkan dalam reading harus anda kuasai sebelum benar-benar menjalankan ujian TOEFL. Sekalipun demikian, Anda masih berpeluang untuk mendapatkan skor TOEFL yang lebih tinggi apabila menguasai trik-trik taktis.

Berikut disajikan beberapa kunci yang bisa membantu anda berkompetisi dengan waktu yang ketat sekaligus untuk mendapatkan hasil yang lebih baik :

TIPS UMUM (GENERAL)

1. Jangan terlalu lama membaca teks bacaan.

    Harus diingat bahwa anda tidak memiliki cukup waktu untuk membaca teks bacaan secara mendalam. Pertanyaan yang muncul dalam tes reading ini umumnya dpat dijawab secara tepat dengan tanpa langsung membaca bacaan secara rinci. Anda dapat mengalokasikan satu atau dua menit untuk membaca main idea pada masing-masing paragraph dari sebuah bacaan sebelum mulai membaca pertanyaan. Dengan demikian anda sudah mendapatkan gambaran sekilas tentang informasi yang disampaikan oleh bacaan.

2. Perhatikan semua pertanyaan yang terdapat pada sebuah bacaaan dan ingat-ingat kata kuncinya.

   Setelah membaca sekilas main idea masing-masing paragraph, selanjutnya anda harus segera membaca pertanyaan pada soal-soal yang terdapat pada bacaan tersebut. Rekamlah kata-kata kunci pada masing-masing pertanyaan pada pikiran anda sehingga anda dapat mencari jawabannya pada bacaan dengan sekali tempo untuk beberapa pertanyaan. Anda juga dapat memeberi tanda pada kata kunci di lembar soal, karena anda tidak dilarang memberikan coretan. Cara ini sangat efektif untuk menghemat waktu, sehingga pandangan anda tidak bolak-balik antara teks bacaan dengan pertanyaaan.

3. Jangan panic apabila tema bacaan bukan merupakan disiplin yang anda kuasai..

   Ujian TOEFL sudah didisai sedemikian rupa sehingga peserta ujian tidak dipersyaratkan untuk menguasai tema-tema dari disiplin ilmu tertentu. Semua informasi yang ditanyakan dalam soal section 3 sudah tersedia dalam teks bacaan. Sehingga apapun latar belakang keilmuan yang anda kuasai anda akan tetap dapat menjawab soal-soal pada bacaan yang sama sekali berbeda dari disiplin anda.

TIPS KHUSUS (SPECIFIC)

Materi yang diujikan dalam tes reading biasanya memiliki pola-pola dan standar tertentu. Biasanya anda diminta untuk mengetahui tema bacaaan, menentukan main idea, mengetahui arti dari kosakata tertentu, mengetahui informasi tertentu, melakukan penyimpulan, melakukan identifikasi ats pengecualian-pengecualian dan mengetahui rujukan dari pronoun tertentu.

Untuk membekali diri anda dalam mengahadapi are apersoalan yang diujikan dalam reading tes, perhatikan kunci-kunci berikut ini :

4. Lakukan previewing untuk mengetahui topic bacaan.

  Topik merupakan salah satu item yang hampir dapat dipastikan keluar pada setiap tes TOEFL. Untuk mengetahui topic sebuah bacaan, anda tidak perlu membaca secara detail dan mendalam. Anda cukup membaca kalimat pertama dan terakhir pada tiap-tiap paragraph bacaan. Anda tidak dituntut untuk memahami bacaan secara rinci melainkan hanya untuk menentukan topic, oleh karena nya anda harus membaca secepat mungkin.

5. Perhatikan kalimat pertama dari sebuah paragraph untuk mengetahui main idea.

   Tes reading sering kali mengujikan pertanyaan-pertanyaan yang berkaitan dengan main idea. Main idea biasanya terdapat pada kalimat pertama dari sebuah paragraph. Dengan mengetahuinya, anda dapat memahami pesan apa yang ingin disampaikan oleh penulis. Main Idea dari sebuah bacaan biasanya terdapat pada dua kalimat pertama.

6. Pahamilah konteks yang terdapat pada bacaan untuk mengetahui arti kata tertentu.

   Konteks dalam bacaan bahasa Inggris adalah kombinasi dari kosakata dan grammar yang digunakan pada sebuah kata. Ia dapat berupa sebuah kalimat, paragraph, atau bacaan. Dengan memahami sebuah konteks anda akan dapat memperkirakan arti sebuah kata. Karena dengan mengetahui arti secara umum dari sebuah kalimat berarti anda juga memahami arti kata-kata yang terdapt pada kalimat tersebut.

7. Lakukan scanning untuk menemukan informasi tertentu yang berkaitan dengan permintaan soal.

   Sebuah teks bacaan dalam ujian TOEFL biasanya diikuti dengan sepuluh pertanyaan, karena batasan waktu yang sangat mendesak sebaiknya anada membaca kesepuluh pertanyaan tersebut. Ketika membaca semua pertanyaan anda harus menemukan kata kunci dari sebuah pertanyaan dan merekamnya dalam pikiran. Bacalah secara cepat dengan cara scanning untuk menemukan kata-kata tertentu yang menjadi kata kunci dari sebuah pertanyaan. Hal ini sngat berguna dalam melakukan klarifikasi pada teks bacaan untuk menemukan informasi yang ditanyakan. Dengan mengingat semua kata kunci pertanyaan, pandangan, dan focus anda tidak perlu terpecah untuk mencocokkan pertanyaan dengan teks. Karena biasanya urutan nomor soal tidak menanyakan kalimat atau bagian dari teks secara berurutan. Sehingga bila anda hnaya membaca satu pertanyaan kemudian mencarinya di teks bacaan akan menghabiskan banyak waktu karena anda perlu melakukan hal yang sama berkali-kali.

8. Kumpulkan fakta dan data dalam bacaan untuk melakukan inferasi atau penyimpulan.
   Tidak semua jawaban dari sebuah pertanyaan dalam tes TOEFL dapat ditemukan secara langsung dalam teks bacaan. Hal ini karena informasi yang dimaksud tidak secara eksklusif disebutkan dalam sebuah pernyataan langsung. Sering kali dlam ujian reading anda diminta untuk membuat kesimpulan mengenai informasi tertentu. Untuk itu ketika membaca teks sebaiknya anda memberikan perhatian khusus terhada data atau fakta tertentu yang mengarah pada sebuah kesimpulan yang informative. Lagi-lagi dalam hal ini mengetahui kata kunci dari sebuah pertanyaan terlebih dahulu merupakan sebuah keuntungan tersendiri. Dengan berbekal kata kunci anda akan menentukan data dan fakta apa yang patut and apilih dan kump[ulkan untuk membuat sebuah kesimpulan.

9. Berkonsentrasi selama membaca teks bacaan.

   Konsentrasi sangat diperlukan dan merupakan salah satu kunci keberhasilan yang paling menentukan dalam reading test. Sering kali peserta ujian lupa dengan apa yang telah disampaikan oleh kalimat atau paragraph sebelumnya ketika ia mula membaca kalimat atau paragraph baru. Akhirnya ia membaca ulang lagi kalimat tersebut. 

Apabila ini juga terjadi pada anda, langlah berikut dapat dimanfaatkan untuk meminimalisasi kesalahan tersebut.

• Ketika anada membaca sebuah kalimat, latihlah diri anda untuk menerka atau memperkirakan apa isi atau informasi yang akan disampaikan oleh kalimat selanjutnya.

• Perhatikan kesesuaian sebuah teks dengan judul atau main idea yang sudah anda ketahui sebelumnya, dengan cara ini anda tetap dapat menangkap pesan untama yang diasampaikan oleh masing-masing kalimat sekalipun anda sudah beranjak pada kalimat-kalimat berikutnya.

10. Tingkatkan kecepatan membaca anda.

    Dengan keterbatasan waktu ujian yang singkat, maka kemampuan anda untuk membaca secara cepat dan singkat sangat penting dalam ujian TOEFL. Memang kecepatan membaca ini tidaklah sesuatu yang instant. Melainkan ia harus dilatih secara terus menerus apalagi membaca teks yang bukan bahasa asli kita. Salah satu caranya adalah dengan memilih kata-kata yang paling penting dalam sebuah kalimat, yang mana hal ini akan memberikan anda ringkasan atas arti sebuah bacaan.

RECOGNIZE THE ORGANIZATION OF IDEAS

Dalam tes reading seringkali akan ada pertanyaan tentang pengorganisasian ide-ide dalam teks pada jenis pertanyaan ini anda akan diminta untuk menentukan bagaimana ide-ide dalam paragraph berhubungan dengan ide-ide lain dalam paragraph lain.

Example The passage :

If asked who invented the game of baseball, most Americans would probably reply that it was Abher Doubleday. At the beginning of this century, there was some disagreement over how the game of baseball had actually originated, so sporting-goods manufacturer Spalding inaugurated a commission to research the question. In 1908 a report was published by the commission in which Abner Doubleday, a U.S Army officer from Cooperstown, New York, was given credit for the invention of the game. The National Baseball Hall of Fame was established in Cooperstown in honor of Doubleday., most sports historians are in agreement that Doubleday really did not have much to do with the development of baseball. Instead, baseball seems to be a close relation to the English game of rounders and probably has English rather than American roots.

The question The second paragraph :

(A) provides examples to support the ideas in the first paragraph

(B) precedes the ideas in the first paragraph

(C) outlines the effects of ideas in the first paragraph

(D) refuses the ideas in the first paragraph

TOEFL EXERCISE

PASSAGE ONE (QUESTIONS 1-2) :

Conflict within an organization is not always viewed as undesirable, various managers have widely divergent ideas on the value that conflict can have. According to the traditional view of conflict, conflict is harmful to an organization. Managers with this traditional view of conflict see it as their role in an organization to rid the organization of any possible sources of conflict.

The interactionist view of conflict on the other hand, holds that conflict can serve an important function in an organization by reducing complacency among workers and causing positive changes to occur. Managers who hold an interactionist view of conflict may actually take steps to stimulate within the organization.

1. How is the information in the passage organized?

    (A) The origin of ideas about conflict is presented.

    (B) Contrasting views of conflicts are presented.

    (C) Two theorists discuss the strength and weaknesses of their views on conflict.

    (D) Examples of conflict within organizations are presented

2. What type of information is included in the third paragraph?

    (A) A comparison of the interactionist and traditional views of conflict

    (B) A discussion of the weaknesses of the interactionist view of conflict

    (C) An outline of the type of manager who prefers the interactionist view of conflict

    (D) A description of one of the opposing views of conflict

PASSAGE TWO (Questions 3-4) :

IQ, or intelligence Quotient as the radio of a patron’s mental age to chronological age, with the radio multiplied by 100 remove the decimal. Chronological age is easily determined; mental age is generally measured by some kind of standard test and is not so simple to define.

In theory, a standardized IQ test is set up to measure an individual’s ability to perform intellectual operations such as reasoning and problem solving. These intellectual operations are considered to represent intelligence.

In practice, it has been impossible to arrive at consensus at to which types of intellectual operations demonstrate intelligence. Furthermore, it has been impossible to devise a test without cultural bias, which is to say that any IQ tests so far proposed have been shown to reflect the culture of the test makers. Test makers from that culture would, it follows, score higher on such a test than test takers from a different culture with equal intelligence.

3. What type of information is included in the first paragraph

    (A) An argument

    (B) A definition

    (C) An opinion

    (D) A theory

4. How does the information in the third paragraph differ from that in the second paragraph?

    (A) It presents a contrasting point of view.

    (B) It follows chronologically from the ideas in the second paragraph.

    (C) It presents real information rather than a premise.

    (D) It presents an example of the ideas in the second paragraph

PASSAGE THREE (Questions 5-6)

The largest lake in the western United sates in the Great Salt Lake, an island saltwater lake in northwestern Utah, is just outside the state capital of Salt Lake City. Rivers and streams feed into the Great Salt Lake, but none drain out of it, this has a major influence on both the salt content and the size of the lake.

Although the Great Lake was fed by freshwater streams, it is actually saltier than the oceans of the world. The salt comes from the more than two million tons of minerals that flow into the lake each year from the rivers and creeks that feed it. Sodium and chloride-the components of salt- comprise the large majority of the lake’s mineral content.

The Great Salt Lake can vary tremendously from its normal size of 1,700 square miles, depending on long term weather conditions. During periods of heavy rains, the size of the lake can swell tremendously from the huge amount of water flowing into the lake from its Feeder Rivers and streams; in 1980 the lake even reached a size of 2,400 square miles. During periods of dry weather, the size of the lake decreases, sometimes drastically, due to evaporation.

5. How is the information in the passage organized?

    (A) Two unusual characteristics of the Great Lake are discussed.

    (B) Contrasting theories about the Great Salt Lake’s salt levels are presented.

    (C) The process by which the Great Salt Lake gets its salt is outlined.

    (D) The reasons for the variation in the Great Salt Lake’s size are given.

6. The third paragraph contains information on …

    (A) how the size of the lake affects weather conditions

    (B) the effects of contrasting weather conditions on the size of the lake

    (C) the effects of changes in the size of the lake

    (D) the causes of the varied weather conditions in the area of the lake

Common types of calendars can be based on the Sun or on the Moon. The solar calendar is based on the solar year. Since the solar year is 362.2422 days long, solar calendars consist of regular years of 365 days and have an extra day every fourth year, or leap year, to make up for the additional fractional amount. In a solar calendar, the waxing and waning of the moon can take place at various stages of each month.

lunar calendar is synchronized to the lunar month rather than the solar year. Since the lunar month is twenty-nine and thirty days. A twelve-month lunar year thus has 354 days, 11 days shorter than a solar year.

Solar eclipse & Lunar eclipse

1. What is the main idea of the passage?

    (A) All calendars are the same.

    (B) The solar calendar is based on the sun.

    (C) Different calendars have dissimilar bases.

    (D) The lunar month is twenty-nine and a half days long.

2. How is the information in the passage organized?

    (A) Characteristics of the solar calendar are outlined.

    (B) Two types of calendars are described.

    (C) The strengths and weakness of the lunar calendar are described.

    (D) The length of each existing calendar is contrasted.

Vaccines are prepared from harmful viruses or bacteria and administered to patients to provide immunity to specific diseases. The various types of vaccines are classified according to the method by which they are derived.

The most basic class of vaccines actually contains disease-causing microorganisms that have been killed with a solution containing formaldehyde. In this type of vaccine, the microorganisms are dead and therefore cannot cause disease; however, the antigens found in and on the microorganisms can still stimulate the formation of antibodies. Examples of this type of vaccine are the ones that fight influenza, typhoid fever, and cholera.

A second type of vaccine contains the toxins produced by the microorganisms rather than the microorganisms themselves. This type of vaccine is prepared when the microorganism itself does little damage but the toxin within microorganism is extremely harmful. For example, the bacteria that cause diphtheria can thrive without much harm, but when toxins are released from the bacteria, muscles can become paralyzed and death can ensure.

A final type of toxin contains living microorganisms that have been rendered harmless. With this type of vaccine, a large number of antigen molecules are produced and the immunity that results is generally longer lasting than the immunity from other types of vaccines. The Sabin oral antipolio vaccine and BCG vaccine against tuberculosis are examples of this type of vaccine.

3. Which of the following expresses the main idea of the passage?

    (A) Vaccines provide immunity to specific diseases.

    (B) Vaccines contain disease-causing microorganisms.

    (C) Vaccines are derived in different ways.

    (D) New approaches in administering vaccines are being developed.

4. How many types of vaccines are presented in the passage?

    (A) two

    (B) three

    (C) four

    (D) five

FIND “UNSTATED” DETAILS

Dalam tes reading anda seringkali akan diminta untuk menentukan jawaban yang tidak disebutkan atau tidak benar dalam teks. Jenis pertanyaan ini berarti bahwa ada tiga pilihan yang disebutkan atau benar dalam teks, sementara satu pilihan tidak. Jadi tugas anda adlah menemukan tiga pilihan yang benar kemudian memilih satu pilihan yang tersisa yang menjadi jawaban pada soal.

Anda harus memperhatikan bahwa ada dua macam pilihan atas pertanyaan ini :

1. Tiga pilihan benar dan satu tidak dibahas dalam teks.

2. tiga jawaban benar dan satu salah menurut teks.

The passage :

In English there are many different kinds of expressions that people use to give a name to anything whose name is unknown or momentarily forgotten. The word gadget is one such word. It was first used by British sailors in the 1850’s and probably came from the French word gachette, which was a small hook. In everyday use, the word has a more general meaning. Other words are also used to give a name to something, unnamed or unknown and these words tend to be somewhat imaginative. Some of the more commonly used expressions are a what-d’ye-call-it, a whatsis, a thingamabob, a thingamajig, a doodad, or a doohickey.

1. Which of the following is NOT true about the word “gadget” ?

    (A) It is used to name something when the name is not known

    (B) It was used at the beginning of the nineteenth century

    (C) It most likely came from a word in the French language.

    (D) It’s first known use was by British sailors.

2. Which of the following is NOT mentioned in the passage as an expression for something that is not known?

    (A) a thingamabob

    (B) gadget

    (C) A doohickey

    (D) A what-is-it

Passage one (question 1-2) :

Blood plasma is a clear, almost colorless liquid. It consists of blood from which the red and white blood cells have been removed. It is often used in transfusions because a patient generally needs the plasma portion of the blood more than the other components.

Plasma differs in several important ways from whole blood. First of all, plasma can be mixed for all donors and does not have to be from the right blood group, as whole blood does. In addition, plasma can be dried and stored, while whole blood cannot.

1. All of the following are true about blood plasma EXCEPT…

    (A). it is a deeply colored liquid

    (B). blood cells have taken out of it

    (C). patients are often transfused with it

    (D). it is generally more important to the patient than other part of whole blood’

2. Which of the following is NOT stated about whole blood?

    (A). it is different from plasma

    (B). it cannot be dried

    (C). it is impossible to keep in storage for a long time.

    (D). it is a clear, colorless liquid.

Passage two (question 3-4) :

Elizabeth Cochrane Seaman was an American journalist at the turn of the century who wrote for the newspaper New York World under the pen name Nellie Bly, a name which was taken from the Stephen, Foster song Nellie Bly. She achieved fame for her exposes and in particular for the bold and adventuresome way that she obtained her stories.

She felt that the best way to get the real story was from the inside rather than as an outside observer who could be treated to a prettified version of reality. On one occasion she pretended to be a thief so that she would get a nested and see for herself how female prisoners were really treated. On another occasion she faked mental illness in order to be admitted to a mental hospital to get the real picture on the treatment of mental patients.

3. Which of the following is NOT true about Nellie Bly?

    (A). Nelly Bly’s real name was Elizabeth Cochrane seaman.

    (B). Nellie Bly was mentally ill

    (C). The name Nellie Bly came from a song.

    (D). The name Nellie Bly was used on articles that Seaman wrote.

4. Which of the following is NOT mentioned as something that Nellie Bly did to get a good story?

    (A). she acted like a thief

    (B). she got arrested by the police.

    (C). she pretended to be ill.

    (D). she worked as a doctor in a mental hospital.

FIND PRONOUN REFERENTS

Dalam tes reading seringkali anda diminta untuk menentukan sebuah pronoun mengacu pada noun yang mana?

Cara menjawab pertanyaan ini adalah dengan melihat kalimat /kata-kata sebelum pronoun. Anda akan mendapatkan noun yang dimaksud disana.

Example, The passage :

Carnivorous plants, such as the sundew and the Venus Flytrap are generally found in the humid areas where there is an inadequate supply of nitrogen in the soil. In order to survive, these plants have developed mechanisms to trap insects within their foliage. They have digestive fluids to obtain the necessary nitrogen from the insects. These plants trap the insects in a variety of ways. The sundew has sticky hairs on its leaves; when an insect lands on these leaves, it gets caught up in the sticky hairs, and the leaf wraps itself around the insect. The leaves of the Venus-Flytrap function more like a trap, snapping suddenly and forcefully shut around an insect.

The questions :

1. The pronoun ‘they’ in line 4 refers to

    (A) humid areas

    (B) these plants

    (C) insects

    (D) digestive fluids.

2. The pronoun ‘it’ in line 6 refers to …

    (A) a variety

    (B) the sundew

    (C) An insect

    (D) the leaf

INDIRECTLY ANSWERED QUESTIONS

Beberapa pertanyaan dalam tes TOEFL akan meminta jawaban yang tidak secara langsung disebutkan dalam teks. Untuk menjawab pertanyaan ini anda harus menarik kesimpulan dari informasi yang di berikan dalam teks.

Pertanyaan jenis ini meliputi dua : 
(1) implied detailed questions and 
(2) transitions questions.

ANSWER IMPLIED DETAILED QUESTIONS CORRECTLY

Example, The passage :

The Hawaiian language is a melodious language in which all words are derived from an Alphabet of only twelve letters, the five vowels, A,E,I,O,U and the seven consonants H,K,L,M,N,P,W. Each syllable in the language ends in a vowel, and two consonants never appear together, so vowels have a much higher frequency in the Hawaiian language than they do in English.

This musical sounding language can be heard regularly by visitors to the islands. Most Hawaiians speak English, but it is quite common to hear English that is liberally spiced with words and expressions from the traditional language of the culture. A visitor may be greeted with the expression aloha, and may be referred to as a malihini because he is a new comer to the island. This visitor may attend an outside luau where everyone eats too much and be invited afterwards to dance the hula.

The questions :

1. Which of the following is probably NOT a Hawaiian word?

    (A) mahalo

    (B) mahimahi

    (C) meklea

    (D) moana

2. It is implied a luau is …

    (A) a dance

    (B) a feast

    (C) a concert

    (D) a language

TOEFL EXERCISE

PASSAGE ONE (Questions 1) :

Eskimos need efficient and adequate means to travel across water in that the areas where they live are surrounded by oceans, bays, and inlets and dotted with lakes and seas. Two different types of boats have been developed by the Eskimo, each constructed to meet specific needs.

The Kayak is something like a canoe that has been covered by deck. A kayak is generally constructed with one opening in the deck for one rider, however, some kayaks are made for two, Because the deck of a kayak is covered over except for the hole (or holes) for its rider (or riders), a kayak can tip over in the water and roll back without filling with water and sinking. One of the primary uses of the kayak is for hunting.

The umiak is not closed over, as is in the kayak, instead it is an open boat that is built to hold ten to twelve passengers. Eskimos have numerous uses for the umiak which reflect the size of the boat; e.g. the umiak is used to haul belongings from campsite to campsite, and it is used for hunting larger animals that are too big to be hunted in a kayak.

1. It can be inferred from the passage that an example of the animal mentioned in lines 12-13 might be …

(A) a kangaroo

(B) a snake

(C) a whale

(D) a salmon

PASSAGE TWO (Questions 2-5)

Two types of trees from the same family of trees share honors in certain respects as the most impressive of trees. Both evergreen conifers, the California redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) and the giant sequoia (Sequoiandendrom gigantteum) are found growing natively only in the state of California. The California redwood is found along the northern coast of the state, while the giant sequoia is found inland and at a higher elevations, along the western slopes of the Sierra Nevadas.

The California redwood is the tallest living tree and is in fact the tallest living thing on the face of the earth; the height of the tallest redwood on the record is 385 feet (120 meters). Though not quite as tall as the California redwood, with the height of 320 feet ( 100 meters), the giant sequoia is nonetheless the largest and the most massive of living things ; giant sequoias have been measured at more than 100 feet (30 meters) around the base, with weights of more than 6,000 tons.

2. It is implied in the passage that

(A) the leaves of only California redwood turn brown in the autum

(B) the leaves of only the giant sequoia turn brown in the winter

(C) the leaves of both types of trees in the passage turn brown in the winter

(D) the leaves of neither types of tree in the passage turn brown in the winter

3. It can be inferred from the passage that the Siera Nevadas are …

(A) a type of giant redwood

(B) a coastal community

(C) a group of lakes

(D) a mountain range

4. Which of the following is implied in the passage?

(A) The giant sequoia is taller than the California redwood.

(B) The California redwood is not as big around as the giant sequoia.

(C) The California redwood weighs more than the giant sequoia.

(D) Other living things are larger than the giant sequoia.