PERTEMUAN 14

Reading Comprehension Section 2:

Vocabulary Questions

Tautan Video:
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 Section Two: Vocabulary Questions

Dalam tes Toefl pertanyaan seputar kosa kata sering dipertanyakan, baik mencari sinonim
atau antonim dari kata yang dipertanyakan.

Bagaimana mengidentifikasi 1. “What is the meaning …?”

vocabulary question 2. “Which of the following is closest meaning to….?

Tips dan trik

a. Cari kata yang ditanyakan dalam teks dan terdapat di baris yang mana.
b. Cari apakah ada structural clues, word parts clues, atau context clues.
c. Baca bagian yang terdapat petunjuk (clues) dengan seksama.
d. Eliminasi jawaban yang pasti salah dan pilih jawaban yang paling tepat diantara
jawaban yang tersisa.

a. Structural Clues
Vocabulary (kata) yang ditanyakan terkadang juga dijelaskan dalam teksnya yang
terlihat dari petunjuk yang ada di struktur kalimatnya (dapat diindikasikan dari
strukturnya).

Structural Clue
Tipe-tipe petunjuk Punctuation
Comma, parentheses, dashes
yang digunakan (tanda baca)

Restatement
Or, that is, in other words, i.e.
(pengulangan)

Example (contoh) Such as, for example, e.g

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Contoh Soal:
1 The teddy bear is a child’s toy, a nice soft stuffed animal suitable for cuddling. It
is, however, a toy with an interesting history behind it.
Theodore Roosevelt, or Teddy as he was commonly called, was president of the
United States from 1901 to 1909. He was unusually active man with varied
5 pastimes, one of which was hunting. One day the president was invited to take part
in a bear hunt; and inasmuch a Teddy was president, his hosts wanted to ensure that
he caught a bear. A bear was captured, clanked over the head to knock it out, and tied
to a tree; however, Teddy, who really wanted to hunt a bear, refused to shoot the bear
and, in fact, demanded that the bear be extricated from the ropes, that is, he
10 demanded that the bear be set free.
The incident attracted a lot of attention among journalists. First a cartoon-
drawn by Clifford K. Berryman to make fun of this situation-appeared in the
Washington Post, and the cartoon was widely distributed and reprinted throughout
the country. Then toy manufacturers began producing a toy bear which they called a
15 “teddy bear.” The teddy bear became the most widely recognized symbol of
Roosevelt’s presidency.

1. According to line 1 of the passage, what is a “teddy bear”

(A) A ferocious animal (C) The president of the US
(B) A famous hunter (D) A plaything

2. Look at the word “pastimes” in line 5. This word could be best replaced by
(A) Past occurrence (C) Hunting trip
(B) Previous job (D) Leisure activity

3. Look at the word “extricated” in line 9. This word could be best replaced by
(A) Set free (C) Bear
(B) Captured (D) Demand

4. In line 11, “a cartoon” could best be described as

(A) A newspaper (C) A drawing with a message
(B) A type of teddy bear (D) A newspaper article.

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b. Word part Clues
Petunjuk untuk mengenali maksud dari kata yang dipertanyakan bisa juga terdapat
dalam kata tersebut sendiri (word parts). List di bawah ini memperlihatkan beberapa
bagian kata yang dapat menjadi acuan untuk menebak arti kata yang ditanyakan.

A short list of word part

Part Meaning Example

contra against contrast

mal bad malcontent

mis error mistake

sub under subway

dec ten decade

multi many multiple

sol one solo

tri three triple

dic say dictate

domin master dominant

jud judge judgement

mor death mortal

spec see spectator

terr earth territory

ver turn divert

viv live revive

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1 Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo was a Portuguese-born explorer who is credited with the
exploration of the coast of what is today the state of California. Sketchy military
records from the period show that early in his career he served with the Spanish
army from 1520 to 1524 in Spain’s quest for subjugation of the people in what are
5 today Cuba, Mexico, and Guatemala. Little is known on his activities over the next
decades, but apparently he succeeded in rising up through the ranks of the military;
in 1541, he was ordered by Antonio de Mendoza, the Spanish ruler of Mexico, to
explore the western coast of North America.
Cabrillo set out in June of 1542 in command of two ships, the San Salvador and
10 the Victoria; he reached San Diego Bay on September 28, 1542, and claimed the
terrain for Spain. The peninsula where he landed is today named Cabrillo Point in
his honor; the area has been established as national monument and park, and local
residents each year hold a celebration and reenactment of Cabrillo’s landing.

5. The word “subjugation” in line 4 is closest in meaning to

(A) Religion (C) Control
(B) Flag (D) Agreement

6. Look at the word “decades” in line 6. This word is closest in meaning to

(A) Months (C) Long epoch
(B) Centuries (D) Ten-years periods

7. The word “terrain” in line 11 is closest in meaning to

(A) Land (C) Minerals
(B) Population (D) prosperity

c.context clues
Selain petunjuk yang terdapat dalam struktur atau dalam bagian kata, petunjuk
dapat terlihat dari konteks. Perhatikan kalimat sebelum dan sesudah kata yang
dipertanyakan yang mungkin memberikan petunjuk arti kata. Contoh:

Mozart gave his first public recital at the age of six. By age thirteen he had
written symphonies and an operetta. He is justly called a child prodigy.

kata prodigy dapat diperkirakan sebagai orang yang luar biasa berdasarkan petunjuk dari
kalimat sebelumnya. “gave his first public recital at the age of six” dan “By age thirteen
he had written symphonies and an operetta.”

Bagaimana mengidentifikasi 1. “What is the meaning …?”

pertanyaan 2. “Which of the following is closest meaning
to….?

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Contoh Soal:
Faced with serious threat to its future, the company is taking steps to improve its
outlook. The company has brought in a new crop of trainees to staff some of its empty
positions. In addition, the company has created a new committee to research various
proposals and has appointed a key member of its management team to chair the
committee.

8. The word “steps” in line 2 could be best replaced by

(A) stairs (C) actions
(B) walks (D) footprint

Practice Reading Section Two

Quiestions 1-3
1 Ring Lardner himself was born into wealthy, educated, and cultured family. For
the bulk of his career, he worked as a reporter for newspapers in South Bend, Boston
St. Louis, and Chicago. However, it is for his short stories of lower-middle class
Americans that Ring Lardner is perhaps best known. In these stories, Lardner vividly
5 creates the Language and the, ambiance of this lower class, often using the
misspelled words grammatical errors, and incorrect diction that typified the
language of the lower middle class.

1. The word “vividly” in line 4 is closest in meaning to

(A) in a cultured way (C) in a lifelike way
(B) in a correct way (D) in a brief way

2. The word “misspelled” in line 5 is closest in meaning to

(A) highly improper (C) incorrect written
(B) quite vulgar (D) extremely long

3. The word “diction” in line 6 is closest in meaning to

(A) writing (C) form
(B) sentence (D) Speech