15.25
Akhmad Andy Sandra
Dibagian ini terdapat 50 soal yang terdiri dari Passage 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6.
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PASSAGE 1
The early
people of Rome, the Latins, were successful farmers and traders and this
success made them rich. The neighboring cities became jealous and thus brought
the Romand into conflict. The leaders of ancient Rome invested their wealth in
an army because Rome was engaged in battles with its surrounding areas.
From 753 to 509
B.C. the city developed from a village into a city ruled by kings. Later, the
army served not only to protect Rome, but also to expand its territory into an
empire. The Romans managed to defeat many countries because they had such an
effective fighting machine. By 300 B.C., the empire controlled most of the
Italian peninsula. It eventually stretched from southern Europe to the
Mediterranean Sea and from the Atlantic Ocean to Arabia. It was the Roman Army
that made it possible for the emperors to protect Rome and to control the
people it had conquered.
Ironically,
the total size of the of the empire,
which was legendary, was also one of the causes for the collapse of the Roman
Empire. They had great difficulty in maintaining power through their army in
all of their empire. Supplying their army was a major problem as their lines of
communications were stretched to the limit. Failure to maintain the strength of
the army led to the downfall of the western empire as its Emperor Romulus
Augustus was deposedin 476 A.D.
PASSAGE 2
The Black Death, a deadly epidemic of bubonic plague, struck Europe between 1347 and 1351. A bacillus that mainly affected rodents was the cause of the plague. It was transferred to humans by fleas living on rats. Once people were infected, they infected others very rapidly. Infected rats and humans died but the fleas lived, and went on to infect still more.
It is believed
that the Black Death originated in Asia since the first outbreak of the plague
was reported in China in the early 1330’s. As trade between Asia and Europe was
growing significantly, merchant ships infested with rats, via the ports of the
Black Sea, brought the disease with them. In October 1347, Italian ships from
China, with many of those on board already dying of the plague, arrived in
Sicily, Italy. Since Italy was the center of European commerce, business, and
politics, the disease spread quickly. By August 1348, the plague had spread as
far north as England. It Struck cities first and then infected rural areas.
After five years, the plague killed 25 million people—more than one quarter of the population of Europe—before it seemed to
disappear. Cases still appeared in Europe for more than 200 years later
although these were not as widespread as before.
Symptoms of the disease include high fever,
aching limbs, vomiting blood, and swollen lymph nodes, called buboes, in the
neck, armpits and groin, red at first and then black later, before the
swellings burst. Victims died within three to four days after the first
symptoms. The name Black Death referred not only to the evil nature of the disease,
but also to the black coloring of the victims’ swollen.
PASSAGE 3
Antioxidants
are substances that slow the breakdown of other substances through an oxidation
process. Consuming fresh fruits and vegetables can prevent diseases caused by
the oxidation process because they contain nutrients that function as
anthioxidants.
Oxidation is a
chain reaction between free radicals, molecules with one or more unpaired
electrons, and other normal molecules. As free radicals are unstable, they
react very quickly with other normal molecules to gain stability. They attact the
nearest molecules by “stealing” their electrons. When the “attacked” molecules
lose their electrons, they become free radicals themselves. This starts a chain
reaction called the oxidation process. Oxidation results in the disruption of
healty living cells, causing changes leading to cancer, stroke, heart disease,
etc.
Free radicals
are normal products of metabolism, and at times, the body’s immune system
creates them on purpose to beat viruses and bacteria. Naturally, the body can
hendle these free radical if it has a stock of antioxidants. Acting as
neutralizers of free radicals by donating their own electrons, antioxidants end
the electron-stealing reaction. Since antioxidants are stable in either form,
they do not turn into free radicals. Thus, antioxidants prevent the damaging
action of free radicals.
The body produces its own antioxidants, e.g. the
enzyme superoxide dismutase, to keep free radicals in balance. However, stress,
aging, polluted air and cigarette smoke can add to the number of free radicals
in the body, causing an imbalance. Antioxidants in fresh fruits and vegetables
such as beta-carotene, which is a vitamin A precursor, vitamin C, vitamin E,
and selenium can help prevent cell and tissue damage. For example, vitamin E
and beta-carotene appear to protect cell membranes, and vitamin C removes free
radicals from inside the cell. But these antioxidants could not be produced by
the body; they must be ingested.
PASSAGE 4
The Olympics is
an international multi-sports event taking place every two years, alternating
between Summer and Winter Games. Originally held in ancietent Greece, they were
revived by Baron de Coubertin in the late nineteenth century.
The two types
of the Olympics differ in location, time, and kind of sports. The Summer Games
take place in a major city, and the Winter Games take place in a winter resort.
The Summer Games are held in various months and draw as many as five million
spectators during the 16 days of competition. Events such as athletics,
gymnastics, and swimming, as well as the Association football games, usually
attract large crowds and wide coverage by the press. A sport must be popular in
at least 75 countrieson four continents before it can be considered for the
Summer Games in men’s sports, and in ten countries on three continents in
women’s sports. The Winter Games take place in January or February. A sport
must be widely practiced in at least 25 countries on three continents before it
can be part of these games. There are seven approved sports for the Winter
Games: the biathlon, bobsledding, figure skating, ice hockey, luge, skiing, and
speed skating. The other sports have separate competitions for men and women.
The opening
ceremony is particularly impressive. The athletes of Greece march into the
Stadium first, in honor of the original Olympics, held in ancient Greece. The
other athletes follow in alphabetical order by country, depending on the
spelling of the nations’ names in the language of the host country. The
athletes of the host country enter last. The head of state of the host country
declares the games open while hundreds of doves are released into the air. They
are considered the symbol of peace.
The top three athletes in each Olympic event receive
a medal and a diploma. The next five receive only a diploma. The third place
medals are made of bronze, and the second-place medals silver, but the
first-place medals are gold-plated. The medal design for the Winter Games is
different from that of the Summer Games. It is changed for each Olympic Games.
PASSAGE 5
Community
Antenna Television (CATV) or cable television was developed to meet the demand
for television in the U.S. during the television licensing freeze in the late
1940’s. It was John Walson, an owner of an appliance shop that carried
televisions in Mahanoy City, Penn., who first developed CATV. Because of the
poor signal reception from TV stations in his area, he had a problem selling
televisions. Walson built an antenna on the top of nearby mountain and strung a
wire from it to his shop. He extended the wire to buyers of his televisions.
CATV systems
involve distributing a number of television channels collected at a central
location to subscribers within a community by means of a network of optical
fibers or coaxial cables to transmit its signals. As cable-only networks began to
appear on CATV systems, picked up via satellite rather than by antenna, the use
of the term CATV has faded and the term cable television has taken its place.
Cable TV has gained popularity among viewers.
Because cable TV carries more bandwidth than broadcast TV, subscribers are
provided with many more specialized channels offering particular genres such as
sci-fi and women’s programs. Since cable TV networks rely much less on revenue from
commercials, they can also feature programs (such as minority sports or ethnic programs)
for much smaller numbers of viewers. Moreover, cable TV has more lenient rules
regarding acceptable content, allowing greater freedom in the use of foul
language, pornography, and violence. This lack of restrictions on content has
led cable TV programs with more adult-oriented programs.
PASSAGE 6
The Declaration
of Independence, a document used by the thirteen British North American
colonies to proclaim their independence from Great Britain, has become one of
the most important documents in the political history of the world. Not only
has the document profoundly affected the United States of America but it has
also had influence on other countries.
In America, the
phrase “all men are created equal” took on a life of its own or was utilized by
groups in ways that the authors never anticipated. For example,
African-Americans quickly used the phrase to challenge slavery in the United
States. The ideal of equality led northern states to free slaves within their
borders in the 1780’s, 1790’s and early 1800’s, while black and white
abolitionists used the ideal to attack slavery in the South before the Civil War.
In the 1950’s and 1960’s, civil right supporters rallied behind Jefferson’s
words in their fight against racism. Twentieth-century feminists used the
phrase for their own goals, stating, “all men and women are created equal.”
In other countries, the Declaration of
Independence influenced political developments. Its influence was strong in the
Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, which was adopted by the
National Assembly of France in 1789. In the nineteenth century, various Latin
American movements fighting for independence from European colonial powers
adopted the principles of the declaration. Furthermore, it influenced recent
struggles for national identity. For instance, the Vietnamese communist leader
Ho Chi Minh cited the American document as one of the rationales behind his
fight to establish an independent and unified Vietnam.
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2 komentar:
bisa minta soal dan jawabannya gan ?? reading skill aja
kuncijawabannya dmn
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