“Reading Task”
Softskill_Meeting 3
In 776 B.C.,
the first Olympic Games were held at the foot of Mount Olympus to honor the
Greeks’ chief god, Zeus. The warm climate for outdoor activities, the need for
preparedness in war, and their lifestyle caused the Greeks to create
competitive sports. Only the elite and military could participate at first, but
later the games were open to all free Greek males who had no criminal record.
The Greeks emphasized physical fitness and strength in their education of
youth. Therefore, contest in running, jumping, discuss and javelin throwing,
boxing, and horse and chariot racing were held in individual cities, and the
winners competed every four years at Mount Olympus. Winners were greatly
honored by having olive wreaths placed on their heads and having poems sung
about their deeds. Originally these contests were held as games of friendship,
and any wars in progress were halted to allow the games to take place. They
also helped to strengthen bonds among competitors and the different cities
represented.
The Greeks
attached so much importance to the games that they calculated time in four-year
cycles called “Olympiads,” dating from 776 B.C. The contest coincided with
religious festivities and constituted an all-out effort on the part of the
participants to please the gods. Any who disobeyed the rules were dismissed and
seriously punished. These athletes brought shame not only to themselves, but
also to the cities they represented.
1. Which of the
following is NOT true?
a. Winners placed olive
wreaths on their own heads
b. The games were held in Greece
every four years
c. Battles were
interrupted to participate in the games
d. Poem glorified the
winners in song
Answer:
c. Battles were interrupted to participate in the games
Reason:
In the first paragraph is written “and any wars in progress were halted to
allow the games to take place”. So the battles not were interrupted
but halted or stopped.
2. The word
“elite” in line 5 is closest in meaning to…
a. Aristocracy
b. Brave
c. Intellectuals
d. Muscular
Answer:
a. Aristocracy
Reason: Elite
and aristocracy have the same meaning “the most powerful members of a society”.
3. Why were the
Olympic Games held?
a. To stop wars
b. To honor Zeus
c. To crown the best
athletes
d. To sing songs about the
athletes
Answer:
b. To honor Zeus
Reason:
In the first sentence of the first paragraph is written “In 776 B.C., the
first Olympic Games were held at the foot of Mount Olympus to honor the Greeks
chief god, Zeus”.
4. Approximately
how many years ago did these games originate?
a. 800 years
b. 1200 years
c. 2300 years
d. 2800 years
Answer:
d. 2800 years
Reason:
If we count from the first year the games held in 776 b.c to the present by
2012, the results is 2788 years old or about 2800 years.
5. What conclusion
can we draw about the ancient Greeks?
a. They were pacifists
b. They believed athletic
events were important
c. They were very simple
d. They couldn’t count, so
they used “Olympiads” for dates
Answer:
b. They believed athletic events were important
Reason:
In the first paragraph is written “The Greeks emphasized physical fitness
and strength in their education of youth”. So they believed athletic
event like Olympic Games were important.
6. What is the
main idea of this passage?
a. Physical fitness was an
integral part of the lives of the ancient Greeks
b. The Greeks severely
punished those who did not participate in physical fitness programs
c. The Greeks had always
encouraged everyone to participate in the games
d. The Greeks had the
games coincide with religious festivities so that they could go back to war
when the games were over
Answer:
a. Physical fitness was an integral part of the lives of the ancient
Greeks
Reason:
The best answer because this article narrating about Olympic Games which
important for the ancient Greeks.
7. In line 14, the
word “deeds” is closest in meaning to
a. Accomplishments
b. Ancestors
c. Documents
d. Property
Answer:
a. Accomplishments
Reason:
In Indonesian, deeds and accomplishments have the same meaning “prestasi”.
8. Which of the
following was ultimately required of all athletes competing in the Olympics?
a. They must have
completed military service
b. They had to attend
special training sessions
c. They had to be Greek
males with no criminal record
d. They had to be very
religious
Answer:
c. They had to be Greek males with no criminal record
Reason:
In the first paragraph is written “the games were open to all free Greek
males who had no criminal record”.
9. The word
“halted” in line 16 means most nearly the same as…
a. Encourages
b. Started
c. Curtailed
d. Fixed
Answer:
c. Curtailed
Reason:
In Indonesian, encourages means “menyemangati”, started means “dimulai”,
curtailed means “dibatasi” and fixed “masih atau tetap”. So curtailed is
the most nearly the same as halted.
10. What is an
“Olympiad”?
a. The time it took to
finish the games
b. The time between games
c. The it took to finish a
war
d. The time it took the
athletes to train
Answer:
b. The time between games
Reason:
In the second paragraph is written “The Greeks attached so much importance
to the games that they calculated time in four year cycles called “Olympiads”,
dating from 776 b.c”.
STYLISTIC PROBLEMS
1. The defendant
refused to answer the prosecutor’s questions …..
a. Because he was afraid
it would incriminate him
b. For fear that they will
incriminate him
c. Because he was afraid
that his answers would incriminate him
d. Fearing that he will be
incriminated by it
Answer:
c. Because he was afraid that his answers would incriminate him
Reason:
The sentence composition more complete than others, so the information that is
given more clearly. And there is match in tenses well.
2. Mrs. Walker has
returned …..
a. A wallet back to its
original owner
b. To its original owner
the wallet
c. The wallet to its
originally owner
d. The wallet to its
original owner
Answer:
d. The wallet to its original owner
Reason:
The sentence composition more complete than others, so the information that is
given more clearly. The difference of option c and d is in Indonesian,
originally means “semula or awalnya” but original means “asli”. So the
best answer is d. The wallet to its original owner.
3. The hospital
owes …… for the construction of the new wing.
a. The government twenty
million dollars
b. For the government
twenty million dollars
c. To the government
twenty million dollars
d. Twenty million of
dollars to the government
Answer:
d. Twenty million of dollars to the government
Reason:
In Indonesian, it means “Rumah sakit berhutang dua puluh juta dollar pada
pemerintah untuk membangun sayap yang baru”. There is a complete
independent and dependent clause.
4. Sarah ….. that
she could not attend classes next week
a. Told to her professors
b. Said her professors
c. Told her professors
d. Is telling her
professors
Answer:
c. Told her professors
Reason:
The tenses is must be past tense because the event was happened.
5. The artist was
asked to show some paintings at the contest because …..
a. He painted very good
b. They believed he
painted well
c. Of their belief that he
was an good artist
d. The judges had been
told of his talents
Answer:
d. The judges had been told of his talents
Reason:
Because the context is right and there is a sequence of tense “past tense with
past perfect tense”.
For number 6 to 10, each color of word is
representatives the option.
RED (A) , YELLOW (B) , GREEN
(C) , BLUE (D).
6. If motorists do not observe the traffic
regulations, they will be stopped,
ticketed, and have to pay a fine.
The incorrect word: have to pay a fine
(D)
The reason:
The sentence must be parallelism. “stopped” and “ticketed” is verb, so
must be followed by verb too but “have to pay a fine” is a clause. Then
change it with verb “fined”.
The correct sentence:
If motorists do not observe the traffic
regulations, they will be stopped, ticketed, and fined.
7. Fred, who usually
conducts the choir rehearsals, did
not show up last night because
he had an accident on his way to the
practice.
The incorrect word: had (C)
The reason:
We should use the past perfect tense to emphasize that an action in the past
finished before another action in the past started. And the accident is
already happen before he show up conducts the choir rehearsals.
The correct sentence:
Fred, who usually conducts the choir rehearsals, did not show
up last night because he had had an accident on his
way to the practice.
8. A short time before her operation last month, Mrs. Carlyle dreams of her daughter who lives overseas.
The incorrect word: dreams (C)
The reason:
Same with number 7, we should use the past perfect tense because the dream is
already happen before her operation.
The correct sentence:
A short time before her operation last month, Mrs. Carlyle had dreamed
of her daughter who lives overseas.
9. The atmosphere in Andalucia is open, warm, and gives a welcome feeling to all who have the good fortune to visit
there.
The incorrect word: gives a welcome feeling (B)
The reason:
The sentence must be parallelism. “open” and “warm” is adjective, so must
be followed by adjective too but “gives a welcome feeling” is a clause.
Then change it with adjective “welcome”.
The correct sentence:
The atmosphere in Andalucia is open, warm, and welcome to all who have
the good fortune to visit there.
10. Some of the people were standing in
the street watched the parade,
while others were
singing songs.
The incorrect word:
watched (c)
The reason:
The sentence must be parallelism. “standing” and “singing” is verb in
past continuous tenses, so must be followed by verb in past continuous tense
too but “watched” is verb in past tenses. Then change it with verb in
past continuous tenses “were watching”. But this is a parallelism just
use “watching” because “were” has been used on “standing”, we could use “were”
only one.
The correct sentence:
Some of the people were standing in the street watching
the parade, while others were singing songs.
