Task 1 : Reading Comprehension Part 1

Andreas Kukuh Mulyadi
11114133
4KA18


Questions 1–3 are about the following passage

A new atomic clock being developed for navigation satellites will perform better than previous devices. The clock will use a new microwave cavity design to provide a compact and lightweight package and new electronic techniques to maintain long-term stability. The clock can provide precise navigation information because it is stable to one second in three million years. The differences in the time when signals from four satellites arrive at one location can be used to calculate that position to within a few yards.

1. It can be inferred from the passage that the new clock will be
A. long-lasting
B. harmful to humans
C. produced in great numbers
D. very attractive looking
Answer: A. long-lasting

2. According to the passage, signals from how many satellites will be used to calculate a position?
A. 1
B. 2
C. 3
D. 4
Answer: D.4

3. What is the primary purpose of the passage?
A. To teach a lesson
B. To sell a product
C. To support a theory
D. To provide information
Answer: D. To provide information

Questions 4–10 refer to the following story.

"Did you see that?" Joe said to his friend Bill.
"You're a great shooter!"

Bill caught the basketball and bounced it before
throwing it again. The ball flew into the net.
"Bill, you never miss!" Joe said admiringly.
"Unless I'm in a real game," Bill complained.
"Then I miss all the time."

Joe knew that Bill was right. Bill performed much
better when he was having fun with Joe in the school
yard than he did when he was playing for the school
team in front of a large crowd.

"Maybe you just need to practice more," Joe suggested.
"But I practice all the time with you!" Bill objected.
He shook his head. "I just can't play well when people are
watching me."

"You play well when I'm watching," Joe pointed out.
"That's because I've known you since we were five
years old," Bill said with a smile. "I'm just not

comfortable playing when other people are around."
Joe nodded and understood, but he also had an idea.
The next day Joe and Bill met in the school yard again
to practice. After a few minutes, Joe excused himself.
"Practice without me," Joe said to his friend. "I'll be
back in a minute."

Joe hurried through the school building, gathering

together whomever he could find—two students, a math
teacher, two secretaries, and a janitor. When Joe explained

why he needed them, everyone was happy to help.

Joe reminded the group to stay quiet as they all went
toward the school's basketball court. As Joe had hoped,
Bill was still practicing basketball. He made five
baskets in a row without noticing the silent people
standing behind him.

"Hey, Bill!" Joe called out finally.
Bill turned. A look of surprise came over his face.
"I just wanted to show you that you could play well
with people watching you," Joe said. "Now you'll have
nothing to worry about for the next game!"

4. What would be the best title for the story?
A. Joe Joins the Team
B. Practice Makes Perfect
C. Bill Wins the Big Game
D. Bill's Basketball Problem
Answer: D. Bill's Basketball Problem

5. In line 8, the word performed is closest in meaning to _______.
A. acted
B. played
C. moved
D. changed
Answer: B. played

6. Why is Bill upset?
A. He plays better in practice than he does during games.
B. The school yard is not a good place to practice.
C. Joe watches him too closely when he plays.
D. His team loses too many games.
Answer: A. He plays better in practice than he does during games.

7. Why does Bill play well when Joe is watching him?
A. He is comfortable with Joe.
B. Joe tells him how to play better.
C. He does not know that Joe is there.
D. He wants to prove to Joe that he is a good player.
Answer: A. He is comfortable with Joe.

8. Why does Joe decide to gather a group of people?
A. Because he wants more players for his team
B. Because he wants to help Bill feel less nervous
C. Because he wants to show them his talent
D. Because he wants more people to see the next game
Answer: B. Because he wants to help Bill feel less nervous

9. At the end of the story, all of the following people watch Bill practice EXCEPT _______.
A. Joe
B. a janitor
C. a math teacher
D. the basketball coach
Answer: D. the basketball coach

10. Why does the group have to be quiet when they go to the basketball court?
A. Because Joe is telling Bill what to do
B. Because they do not want Bill to know they were there
C. Because Bill likes to practice alone

D. Because the group needs to listen to Joe’s instructions
Answer: B. Because they do not want Bill to know they were there


Questions 11-20 refer to the following passage.

The Alaska pipeline starts at the frozen edge of the
Arctic Ocean. It stretches southward across the largest
and northernmost state in the United States, ending at
a remote ice-free seaport village nearly 800 miles from
where it begins. It is massive in size and extremely
complicated to operate.

The steel pipe crosses windswept
plains and endless miles of delicate tundra that tops
the frozen ground. It weaves through crooked canyons,
climbs sheer mountains, plunges over rocky crags,
makes its way through thick forests, and passes over or
under hundreds of rivers and streams. The pipe is 4 feet in
diameter, and up to 2 million barrels (or 84 million
gallons) of crude oil can be pumped through it daily.

Resting on H-shaped steel racks called "bents," long
sections of the pipeline follow a zigzag course high
above the frozen earth. Other long sections drop out of
sight beneath spongy or rocky ground and return to the
surface later on. The pattern of the pipeline's up-and-
down route is determined by the often harsh demands
of the arctic and subarctic climate, the tortuous lay of
the land, and the varied compositions of soil, rock, or
permafrost (permanently frozen ground). A little more
than half of the pipeline is elevated above the ground.
The remainder is buried anywhere from 3 to 12 feet,
depending largely upon the type of terrain and the
properties of the soil.

One of the largest in the world, the pipeline cost
approximately $8 billion and is by far the biggest
and most expensive construction project ever
undertaken by private industry. In fact, no single
business could raise that much money, so eight major oil
companies formed a consortium in order to share
the costs. Each company controlled oil rights to
particular shares of land in the oil fields and paid
into the pipeline-construction fund according to the
size of its holdings. 

Today, despite enormous
problems of climate, supply shortages, equipment
breakdowns, labor disagreements, treacherous
terrain, a certain amount of mismanagement, and
even theft, the Alaska pipeline has been completed

and is operating.

11. The passage primarily discusses the pipeline's
A. operating costs
B. employees
C. consumers
D. construction
Answer: D. construction

12. The word "it" in line 5 refers to the
A. pipeline
B. ocean
C. state
D. village
Answer: A. pipeline

13. According to the second paragraph, 84 million gallons of oil can travel through the pipeline each
A. day
B. week
C. month
D. year
Answer: A. day

14. The phrase "Resting on" in line 15 is closest in meaning to
A. Consisting of
B. Supported by
C. Passing under
D. Protected with
Answer: B. Supported by

15. The author mentions all of the following in the third paragraph as important in determining the pipeline's route EXCEPT the
A. climate
B. lay of the land itself
C. local vegetation
D. kind of soil and rock
Answer: C. local vegetation

16. The word "undertaken" in line 31 is closest in meaning to
A. removed
B. selected
C. transported
D. attempted
Answer: D. attempted

17. According to the last paragraph, how many companies shared the costs of constructing the pipeline?
A. three
B. four
C. eight
D. twelve
Answer: C. eight

18. The word "particular" in line 35 is closest in meaning to
A. peculiar
B. specific
C. exceptional
D. equal
Answer: B. specific

19. According to the last paragraph, which of the following determined what percentage of the construction costs each member of the consortium would pay?
A. How much oil field land each company owned
B. How long each company had owned land in the oil fields
C. How many people worked for each company
D. How many oil wells were located on the company's land
Answer: A. How much oil field land each company owned

20. Where in the passage does the author provide a term for a layer of soil that always remains frozen?
A. Line 4
B. Line 15
C. Line 23

D. Line 37
Answer: C. Line 23

Questions 21-25 refer to the following passage.

A distinctively American architecture began with Frank Lloyd Wright, who had taken to heart the admonition that form should follow function and who thought of buildings not as separate architectural entities but as parts of an organic whole that included the land, the community, and the society. In a very real way the houses of colonial New England and some of the southern plantations had been functional, but Wright was the first architect to make functionalism the authoritative principle for public as well as for domestic buildings. As early as 1906 he built the Unity Temple in Oak Park, Illinois, the first of those churches that did so much to revolutionize ecclesiastical architecture in the United States. Thereafter he turned his genius to such miscellaneous structures as houses, schools, office buildings, and factories, among them the famous Larkin Building in Buffalo, New York, and the Johnson Wax Company building in Racine, Wisconsin.

21. The phrase “taken to heart” in line 1 is closest in meaning to which of the following?
A. Taken seriously
B. Criticized
C. Memorized
D. Taken offence
Answer: C. Memorized

22. In what way did Wright’s public buildings differ from most of those built by earlier architects?
A. They were built on a larger scale.
B. Their materials came from the southern United States.
C. They looked more like private homes.
D. Their designs were based on how they would be used.
Answer: D. Their designs were based on how they would be used.

23. The author mentions the Unity Temple because, it
A. was Wright’s first building
B. influenced the architecture of subsequent churches
C. demonstrated traditional ecclesiastical architecture
D. was the largest church Wright ever designed
Answer: B. influenced the architecture of subsequent churches

24. The passage mentions that all of the following structures were built by Wright EXCEPT
A. factories
B. public buildings
C. offices
D. southern plantations
Answer: D. southern plantations

25. Which of the following statements best reflects one of Frank Lloyd Wright’s architectural principles?
A. Beautiful design is more important than utility.
B. Ecclesiastical architecture should be derived from traditional designs.
C. A building should fit into its surroundings.

D. The architecture of public buildings does not need to be revolutionary

Answer: C. A building should fit into its surroundings.

Sumber: 
https://www.ets.org/toefl_junior/prepare/standard_sample_questions/reading_comprehension
https://www.ets.org/toefl_itp/content/sample_questions/level1_section3_reading_comprehension
https://www.ets.org/toefl_itp/content/sample_questions/level2_section3_vocabulary_reading_comprehension
http://www.geniustoefl.com/artikel-ilmu-kunci-toefl/artikel/reading-comprehension/contoh-soal-pembahasan-reading-comprehension-tes-toefl