goesaward

Vocabulary Learning Strategies

2009-02-08T15:03:00.000-08:00

BACKGROUND QUESTIONNAIRE
Please complete this part of the questionnaire first.
(1) Gender (circle): in – f/m
(2) Grade______
(3) School____________
(4) What was your half-term grade in the foreign language you are learning?
(5) How long have you been learning this foreign language?________
(6) If you have TV with programmes in the foreign language you are learning at school answer the following questions:
a. How often do you watch programmes in the foreign language you are learning at school?
b. What programmes do you usually watch?_____________
Foreign languages can be learnt in various ways. The aim of this questionnaire is to find out how YOU learn foreign language words. Please answer how you really learn and not how you think you should learn or how somebody else learns.

Vocabulary Learning Strategy QuestionnaireSecondary School
For each statement you can choose one of the following responses:
1-never 2-sometimes 3 - always

Circle the response that best describes how you learn. There are no right or wrong answers to these statements.

1. I use new words in a sentence in order to remember them.
2. I make word lists and write their translations in my mother tongue.
3. I review words regularly outside the classroom.
4. I test myself to check if I remember the words.
5. I pick up words from films and TV programmes I watch.
6. I use familiar words in various ways in new situations in order to remember them.
7. I ask the teacher to explain the meaning of the word.
8. I remember a word by remembering its location in the notebook, textbook, or on the board.
9. If I cannot remember a word in conversations, I use another one with a similar meaning.
10. I use rhyme in order to remember a word.
11. I remember a word by remembering its initial letter.
12. If I do not understand a word, I look it up in a bilingual dictionary.
13. I remember words that are in some way similar.
14. If I hear a new word in class, I immediately write it down.
15. I like to be corrected if I misuse a word.
16. I analyse word parts in order to guess the meaning of a word.
17. I write down words while I read books and magazines for pleasure.
18. I make word cards.
19. I look (or similarities in sound and meaning between words in my mother tongue and foreign words (cognates) in order to guess the meaning.
20. I plan for vocabulary learning in advance.
21. I remember a word if I see it written down.
22. I try to use a word in a sentence correctly.
23. I say a word out loud repeatedly in order to remember it.
24. I connect an image with a word's meaning in order to remember it.
25. If I do not understand a word, I look it up in a monolingual dictionary.
26. If I cannot remember a word in conversations, I use gestures.
27. I associate new words with the ones I already know.
28. I tape record the words and then listen to the tape.
29. I write down words when I watch films and TV programmes.
30. If I do not understand a word, I ask for help.
31. I write down words repeatedly to remember them.
32. I read and leaf through a dictionary to learn some new words.
33. I remember 'complicated' words because they stand out.
34. I make a mental picture of a word's written form in order to remember it.
35. If I cannot remember a word in a conversation, I describe it in my own words in the foreign language.
36. I imagine a context in which a word could be used in order to remember it.
37. I translate the words into my mother tongue to understand them.
38. I use colours and highlighters to mark new words in a text.
39. I group words together in order to remember them.
40. If I cannot remember a word in the foreign language I make one up.
41. I remember a word if I encounter it many times.
42. I 'act out' the meaning of a new word to remember it.
43. I try to use the new words I learn immediately in conversations or writing.
44. I repeat the word mentally in order to remember it.
45. I try to guess the meaning of a new word from the context.
46. I remember a word it I associate it with pictures, drawings
or illustrations.
47. I listen to songs in the foreign language and try to understand the words.
48. I pick up words while reading books and magazines in the foreign language.
49. I use spaced word practice in order to remember work.
50. When I test myself I try to give the word's definition in the foreign language.
51. If I cannot remember a word in conversations; I use a word in my mother tongue.
52. I remember a word if l remember the context in which I heard it.
53. I connect new words with words in another foreign language to remember them.
54. I pick up words from computer games.
55. If I cannot remember a word in conversations, I ask for help.
56. I remember a word if I connect it with my personal experience.
57. I connect words with other words with similar or opposite
meanings.
58. I connect words to physical objects to remember them
59. I ask somebody to test me on words (e.g. parent, sibling, friend).
60. If I cannot remember a word in conversations, I don't say anything.

Vocabulary Learning Strategy Questionnairefor Primary Schools

Foreign languages can be learnt in various ways. The aim of this questionnaire is to find out how YOU learn foreign language words. Please answer how you really learn and not how you think you should learn or how somebody else learns.
For each statement you can choose one of the following responses:

1-never 2-sometimes 3-always
Circle the response that best describes how you learn. There are no right or wrong answers to these statements.

1. I use new words in a sentence in order to remember them.

2. I make word lists and write their translations in my mother tongue

3. I review words regularly outside the classroom.

4. I test myself to check if I remember the words.

5. I pick up words from films and TV programmes I watch.

6. If I cannot remember a word in a conversation, I use another one with a similar meaning.

7. I write down words while I read books and magazines for pleasure.

8. I plan for vocabulary learning in advance.

9. I remember a word if I see it written down.

10. I say a word out loud repeatedly in order to remember it.

11. I connect an image with a word's meaning in order to remember it.

12. I associate new words with the ones I already know.

13. I write clown words when I watch films and TV programmes.

14. I write down words repeatedly to remember them.

15. I read and leaf through a dictionary to learn some new words.

16. I make a mental image a word's written form in order to remember it.

17. If I cannot remember a word in a conversation, I describe it
in my own words in the foreign language.

18. I imagine a context in which a word could be used in order to remember it.

19. I translate the words into my mother tongue to understand them.

20. I group words together in order to remember them.

21. I repeat the word mentally in order to remember it.

22. I listen to songs in the foreign language and try to understand the words

23. I pick up words while reading books and magazines in the foreign language.

24. I use spaced word practice in order to remember words.

25. I connect words to physical objects to remember them

26. I test myself with word lists to check if I remember the words

27. I pick up words from the Internet.

28. If I don’t understand new words I ask my parents

29. I remember a word if I read folklore

30. I remember a word when I play game card/flash card

31. I pick up words from electronic dictionary

Supplement
The aim of (his part of the questionnaire is to find out what vocabulary work you do in class, i.e. what your teacher does.
Compiled by: agus wardhono

Research Methodology

2008-10-24T22:45:00.000-07:00

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Agus Wardhono

A. Introduction

What is research? According to Tuckman (1987, 1) “Research is a systematic attempt to provide answers to questions”. Such answers may be abstract and general as is often the case in basic research, or may be concrete as is often the case in demonstration or applied research.

Basic research is concerned with the relationship between two or more variables. It does not often provide immediately usable information for altering the environment. Its purpose is to develop a theory that indentifies all the relevant variables in a particular environment and hypothesizes about their relationship. Then, using the findings of basic research, it is possible to develop a product, such as: a curriculum, a teacher-training program, a textbook, or an audio visual aid.

A further step is to test the product, the province of applied research. In effect, applied research is a a test or tryout that includes systematic evaluation.

B. Research Problem
1. Some Critical Criteria in Choosing a Problem
a. Workability
1) Is study within the limits and range of your resource
and time?
2) Will you have access to the necessary samples in the number required
3) Is there reason to believe you can come up with an answer to the problems?
4) Is there required methodology manageable and understandable?

b. Critical Data
1) Is the problem of sufficient scope to fulfill the requirement that has motivated the study?
2) Are there enough variables?
3) Are there enough results to write a thesis?

c. Interest
1) Are you interested in the problem areas, specific problems, and potential solution?
2) Does it relate to your background?
3) Does it relate to your career?
4) Will you learn useful skills from pursuing it?

d. Theoretical Value
1) Does the problem fill a gap in the literature?
2) Will others recognize its importance?
3) Will it contribute to advancement in your field?
4) Will it be publishable?

e. Practical Value
1) Will the solution to the problem improve language learning practice?
2) Are the student likely to be interested in the results
3) Will language learning be changed by the out came?
4) Will your own language learning practices be likely to change as a result?
C. Variable
1. Definition
A variable is an attribute of a person or of an project which varies from person to person or from object to object.
Examples:
a. Variables of persons : age, sex, intelligence, personal pronunciation, linguistic repertoire, etc.
b. Variables of objects : size, stability, quantity, quality, plot, conflict, style, etc.
Phonological, morphological, syntactic and semantic components of language are variables, but each of them is a very broad variable. Any of the eight inflectional bound morphemes, such as: {-Z1} (= the English plural morpheme) or {-D1} (= the past tense English morpheme), is a variable. A child’s language acquisition is also a broad variable. In can be broken down into narrow ones, such as: lexical, phonological, morphological and syntactic acquisitions

D. Educational Research

Ary et al.(1992:33) classify educational research as fallows:
1. Experimental: One or more independent variables are manipulated in a controlled setting in order to determine the effect on the dependent variable(s).

Example:
a. The effects of students’ reading activities on their reading ability
b. The effect of Outline and Headings on Readers’ Recall of Text
2. Causal – comparative: This category is similar to experimental method, except the researcher cannot directly manipulate the independent variables, because the variables have occurred naturally.
Excamples:
a. The relationship of language students’ language backgrounds and their academic achievements.
b. The effects of language students’ learning facilities and their language talents on their academic achievements.
3. Descriptive: Its major purpose is to tell what. It is subdivided into: 1) survey, 2) developmental studies, 3) follow-up studies, 4) documentary analysis, 5) trend analysis, and 6) correlational studies.
Examples:
a. A survey of language teachers’ needs.
b. The development of a child’s language acquisition.

4. Qualitative research: the researcher observes persons or objects in their natural setting. Its major purpose is to understand the influence of the particular context on the ecvents. This methodology includes case studies and other naturalistic approaches.

Examples:
a. A participant observation study of a sixth-grade English classroom.
b. A qualitative study of language teachers’ beliefs and practice at elementary schools.

5. Historical: This category involves the collection of data from the past to understand past events. Its marjo purpose is to tell what was.

Examples:
a. A lexical study of the Indonesian language in 1945.
b. A study of word-classification based on the Traditional Grammar.

E. The Natural of Problem (Ary et al., 1992: 45)
1. Experimental research
In this kind of research the researcher addresses his questions concerning relationhips among variabeles. The researcher manipulates the independent variables (the cause) while controlling all other variables and observe any subsequence changes in the dependent variable (the effect).

2. Causal-comparative research.
It also seeks to determine the relationships among tow or more variables, but in this type of research manipulation of the independent is not possible. The independent variable has already occurred.

3. Descriptive research
It asks question about the nature, incidence, or distribution of educational variables and /or the relationships among those variables. No manipulation of variables is attempted-only description of variables and their relationships as they occur naturally.

F. Formulating Hypothesis
In educational research he next step after selecting problems is to state a hypothesis (Tackman, 1978: 25). A hypothesis, a ‘suggested answer to the problem, has the following characteristics:
1. It should conjecture upon a relationship between two or more variables
2. It should be stated clearly and unambiguously in the form of declarative sentence
3. It should be testable; that is, it should be possible to restate it in an operational form that can be evaluated based on data.
Examples:
a. I.Q. and reading skill are positively related
b. Directive language teachers are more effective than nondirective language teachers.
c. The ability to discriminate among parts of speech inceases with chronological age and educational level.

G. Two logical processes in developing a hypothesis
1. Induction process
It begins with data and observations (empirical events) and proceed toward hypothesis and theories. In this process the researcher starts with specific observations and combines them to produce a more general statement of relationship, namely hypothesis. Many researchers begin by searching the literature for relevant specific findings in order to induce a hypothesis, and other often run a series of exploratory studies before attempting to induce a hypothetical statement about the relationship between variables in question. The findings that obese people eat as much immediately after a meal as they do some hours after a meal, that they much less unappealing food than appealing food, that they eat more than they think it is dinner time even though little time had elapsed since their previous meal led Schacter (1968) to induce that for obese persons hunger is controlled externally rather internally as it is for persons of normal weight.

2. Deduction process
Deduction process begins with theories and general hypothesis and proceeds toward specific hypothesis. Deduction is a procees that goes from general to the specific. For example, it can be generally satated that the amount of time spent on writing a composition will be shorter as the person’s writing ability increases.

H. Constructing Alternative Hypothesis

From any problem statement, it is generally possible to derive more than one hypothesis. Look at the following example:
Problem: What is the combined effect of student personality and instructional procedure on the amount of language learning achieved?
There are three possible hypotheses:
1. More structured instructional procedures will provoke greater achievement among concrete students while more structured instructional approaches will provoke greater achievement among abstract students.
2. less structured instructional procedures will provoke greater achievement among concrete students while more structured instructional approaches will provoke greater achievement among abstract students
3. more structured and less structured instructional procedures will provoke equal achievement among abstract students as among concrete students.

Both induction and deduction are needed to chose among these possibilities (Tuckman,1978, 28)

I. Testing a Hypothesis.
The purpose of testing hypothesis is to determine the probability that it is supported by fact. However, because a hypothesis is a general expectation about the relationship between variables, there is extremely large number of instances under which it can be tasted, and it would be impractical to attempt to gain support in all these instances.

Since it is difficult to obtain unequivocal support for a hypothesis, the researcher instead attempt to test and disprove its negation. The negative or “no difference” version of a hypothesis is called a null hypothesis.

Examples:
a. Nondirective language teachers are more effective than directive language teachers.
b. Directive language teachers are more effective that nondirective language teachers.
c. Nondirective and directive language teachers are equally effective.

Hypothesis (c) is the null hypothesis or no differences hypothesis

Exercise:
1. Select a suitable research title in language teaching.
2. Formulate a hypothesis for that title
3. formulate a null hypothesis for that hypothesis

Action Research

( By Geoffrey E. Mills Second Editition,2003)

A. Definition
Action research is any systematic inquiry conducted by teacher researchers, principles, school counselors, or other stakeholders in the teacing learning environment to gather information about how their particular schools operate, how they teach, and how well their students learn. This information is gathered with the goals of gaining insight, developing effective practice, effective positive changes in the school environment, and improving student outcomes and the lives of those involved.
Action research engages teachers in a four-step process:
1. Identify an area of focus
2. Collect data
3. Analyze and interpret data
4. Develop an action plan.

B. Critical Prespective Components of Action research
1. Action research is participatory and democratic
2. Action research is socially responsive and takes place in context.
3. Action research helps teacher researchers examine the everyday, taken-for-grented ways in which they carry out professional practice.
4. Knowledge gained through action research can liberate students, teachers, and administrators and enhance learning, teaching, and policy making.
5. Teacher researchers have decision-making authority.
6. Teacher researchers are committed to continued professional development and school improvement.
7. Teacher researchers want to reflect on their practices.
8. Teacher researchers will use a systematic approach for reflecting on their practices.
9. Teacher researchers will choose an area of focus, determine data collection techniques, analyze and interpret data, and develop action plan (Mills, 2003: 8-9)

C. Justifying Action Research
1. Action Research is Persuasive and Authoritative
Research done by teachers for teachers involves collection of persuasive data. The data are persuasive because teachers are invested in the legitimacy of the data collection, that is, they have identified data sauces that provide persuasive insights into the impact of an imervention on student’s outcomes. Similarly, the findings of action research and the actions recommended by these findings are authoritative for teacher researchers. In doing action research, teacher researchers have develop solution for their own problems. Teachers – not outside experts – are the authorities on what works in their classroom.

2. Action Research is Relevant
Kennedy (1997) argues that one of the aims of research is to increase certainity by creating predictability within the classroom, because routines increase predictability and decrease anxiety for both teachers and students.
One of the outcomes of action research is that it satisfies the desire of all teachers to increase the predictability of what happens in their classroom.

3. Action Research allows Teachers Access to Research Findings
Kennedy believes that apparent lack of connection between research and practice is due to teachers’ poor access to research findings.

4. Action Research Challenge the Intractability of Reform of the Education system
Action research gives teacher researchers the opportunity to embrace a problem – solving philosophy and practice as an integral part of the culture of their school and their professional disposition, and to challenge the intracbility of educational reform.

5. Action Research is not a Fad
Mills (2003, 13-14) believes that action research is decidedly not a fad for one simple reason: Good teachers have always systematically looked at the effect of their teaching and students’ learning.

D. Steps in the Action Research Process
1. Identifying an area of focus
2. Collecting data
3. Analyzing and interpreting the data
4. Action planning

Action Research
By Michael J. Wallace 1998

I. Introduction
A. Research, inquiry and professional development
Wallace (1991) proposed a model for a teacher education at the core of which is a process of reflection on professional action. He suggested a process (called the reflective cycle) which provided the momentum for increased professional competence. The process involved could be summarized by the following representation
( Wallace, 1998:13)

B. Research, Inquiry and the reflective cycle
The following figure shows that there is more than one way into the reflective cycle; this is in line with the fact that the process of professional development varies from one person to another. Teachers all have their own different kinds of professional experience, knowledge, background, and expertise. Strengths an dneeds may vary from one individual to another.
In that figure there is a fork after ‘Strategies for PD’. On the right-hand side are listed a few of the strategies which many of the teachers have used (e.g. attending conferences, informal discussion with colleagues, etc.). Such activities very often give them information or ideas which cause them to reflect on their practice, and perhaps change it.

C. Action research is problem- focused
Some of the teachers’ professional development is openended and relatively unfocused. They sometimes skim through professional journals just to see if there is anything interesting. We occasionally even enroll on training programs without a very clears idea what the criteria will be in terms of our professional development
Action research is different from this: it nearly arises from some problem or issue (Wallace, 1998: 15) arising out of their professional practice. It is therefore very problemfocused it its approach and very practical in its intended outcomes.

C. Action research and the reflective cycle
Action research involves the collection and analysis of data related to some aspect of teachers’ professional practice. This is done so that teachers can reflect on what they have discovered and apply it to their professional action. This is where it differs from other more traditional kinds of research, which are much more concerned withy what is universally true, or at least generalisable to other contexts.
This is a loop process, in the sense that the process can be repeated (reframing the problem, collecting fresh data, rethingking our analysis, etc.) until they have found a satisfactory solution.

D. The status of action research
It is likely that the attitude of the majority of teachers varies between indifference and downringht hostility. So it has to be made clear precisely what is being argued for here.

It has been assumed here that it is natural, and appropriate, for teachers to develop their expertise by reflecting, on their practice. But it is not being argued that every teacher can be, or should be, a ‘researcher’ in any traditional sense of that word.

Action research has been proposed as an ‘empowering’ procedure. But if becomes top-down requirements, it turns into the reverse. Therefore various conditions have been laid down from time to time. Some writers recommend that action research should be collaborative or team-based. It has also been suggested that the same stringent requiriements of validity, reliability and and verification for conventional research should also apply to action research.

If reflection is to be of any real value it must be valid (i.e. the data analysis must be relevant and appropriate). But since the position of action research in this discussion is primarlly an approach relaing to individual or small group professional development, the generality of the findings to other contexts will not mostly be important. Wht is important is theat the processes involved are helpful to the practicing teacher’s reflection, irrespective of wether they can be verified by someone else.

Action research overlaps the areas of professional development and conventional research, and for some teachers may will form a bridge between the two. But the aim is not to turn the teacher into a researcher, but to help the teacher to continue to develop as a teacher, using action research as a tool in this process.

E. Professional Problems and Alvailable Data
Problems areas:
1) Problems of classroom management
2) Problems of appropriate materials
3) Problems related to particular teaching areas(e.g. reading, oral skills)
4) Problems relating to student behavior, achievement, or motivation
5) Problems relating to management issues (e. g. time management, relationships with colleagues/higher management)

Number Problem Kind of data that might be available and how it might be collected
1.
2.
3.

II. Selecting and Developing Topic
A. Eight Important points.
Wallace, 1998: 21) states that there are eight important points
1. Purpose. Why are you engaging in this action research?
2. Topic. What are you going to investigate?
3. Focus. What are the precise questions?
4. Product. What is the likely outcome of the research?
5. Mode. How are you going to conduct the research?
6. Timing. Is there a deadline for its completion?
7. Resources. What are the human and material resources?
8. Refocusing. As you procced, will you have to rethink your
original questions?

1. Purpose
The topic you have chosen should relate in some direct way to your professional needs, otherwise it is or not action research.

2. Topic
The topic could cover:
a. The problems of classroom management
b. Problems of appropriate materials
c. Problems related to particural teaching areas
d. Problems related to student behavior, achievement, or motivation
e. Problems relating to personal management issues.
3. Focus
If you have to choose between importance and interest, you should go for interest. If you are doing action research for dissertation, this focus has to be expressed in the form of working title. Try to make the focus of your topic as specific as you can.

4. Product
What is the intended outcome of your research? Some possible answer are: article, thesis, dissertation.

5. Research Modes
How are you going to conduct the research? One of the purposes of studying action research is to widen your range of choices.

6. Timing
The availability of time in which to a research is a major issue, and it will influence the scope of what you can do. A further issue is whether or not you be working to a deadline.

7. Resources
Apart from your own energy, interest, and time, you may also need other resources to help you to do the research, material and people.
8. Refocusing
There should be a dynamic relationship between the problem and your conceptualization of that problem as the research proceeds. From time you should go back to your initial statement. Did you ask yourself the right questions? Should the problem be reframed?

III. Collecting

A. Categorizing Research action Research
Most action research techniques can be implemented in various ways
Cat/Tech Quan/ Qual Intro/ Emp Ind/ Coll Intro/ Comp Illumination
Heuristic
Verbal.
Reports Usually.
qualitative Introspect Individual Usually Complement Usually
Heuristic
Observat… Either Either Usually collabor Usually Introspective Usually
Heuristic
Interview. Usually
qualitative Introspective Either Either Usually
Illumination
Question Either Introspec. Either Either
Usually
Illumination
Case studies Usually qualitative Either Usually Individual Either Usually
Evaluation Usually quant Usually empirical Either Either Either
Trialing Usually quant Usually empirical Either Either Either

B. Reliability
Reliability means if the research procedures used by A are exactly fallowed by B, will th3e findings be the same each time? Or, is the research exactly replicable?

C. Validity
Validity means testing what you are supposed are supposed to test, and not something else.

D. Introspective and empirical data
Research techniques can also be classified into whether the data is generated by “looking inward” (introspective data), or by “looking outward: (empirical data)’

E. Individual and collaborative approaches
Individual approaches to action research are those which do not directly involve anyone else; obvious examples are writing field – notes and keeping a diary. The advantages of such approaches are that they tend to be more flexible, less professionally risky, and more easily implemented than others.
Collaborative approaches involve others; an example is sitting in on a colleague’s lesson to observe it, or tape – recording discussions about various aspects of teaching.

KEY RESEARCH TERMS
Access
In a field research context, the ability to make contact with potential informants.
Analytic induction
In qualitative research, developing a "working hypothesis" as a result of collecting and analyzing data.
Anonymity
Insuring that the names of research study participants are not disclosed.
Applied research
Research aimed as solving a specific, pragmatic problem--better understanding of the marketplace, determination of why a strategy or tactic failed, reduction of uncertainty in managerial decision making.
Assumption
A non-testable theoretical statement about the possible relationship between a presumed cause and effect.
Basic research
Research aimed at expanding the frontiers of knowledge rather than solving a specific pragmatic problem.
Bias
In sampling, an influence that systemically prevents obtaining a representative sample.
Bimodal distribution
A symmetrical frequency distribution with two predominant peaks.
Borderline case
A case used in qualitative conceptual analysis to help define the boundaries of the terms being defined.
Case
In qualitative research, a careful, in-depth study of an individual or situation.
Categorical variable
A variable whose values represent theoretically discrete categories that cannot be further deconstructed.
Census
Data obtained from every member of the population of interest.
Cluster sampling
Random samples of units organized on some prior basis.
Communism
Research data must be shared among community of researchers. One of Merton's four norms of scientific conduct.
Concept
An abstraction that describes a phenomenon, generally formed by generalization from particulars.
Confounding
Reflecting the fact that two or more variables that might have caused a particular effect were simultaneously present, so that we don't know to which to attribute the effect.
Construct
A concept of which we have a mental image but that has no direct physical referents.
Continuous variable
A variable whose values represent a theoretical continuum.
Convenience sampling
Samples obtained primarily because they are readily available.
Correlation
The relationship between two variables.
Deductive reasoning
"Reasoning down" from hypothesis to data.
Dependent variable
A variable presumed to be explained or caused by an independent variable.
Descriptive study
Research that addresses the question who, what, when,where, and how.
Dimension
A continuous variable that represent information about the differences among the categories of a categorical variable.
Disinterestedness
Disregarding one's own personal considerations when interpreting research data. One of Merton's four norms of scientific conduct.
Ethnography
Qualitative research method in which researcher attempts to understand research situation from inside research subjects' perspective.
Evaluation study
Research to determine the effectiveness and efficiency of specific programs.
Experiment
Research approach in which one variable is manipulated and the effect on another variable is observed.
Explanatory study
Research that explains relationships among phenomena with the goal of formulating accurate predictions.
Exploratory study
Preliminary research that attempts to clarify the exact nature of the problem to be studied.
External validity
The extent to which causal relationships measured in an experiment can be generalized to the environment outside the experiment.
Falsifiability
Sir Karl Popper's celebrated edict that a hypothesis can never be proven "true"... just "not falsified as yet".
Field experiment
Experiment conducted outside the laboratory environment.
Fieldwork
In qualitative research, the relationship established by the researcher and the subjects in the research situation.
Frequency distribution
Graphical depiction of data value distribution
Garbologist
Researcher who sorts through people's garbage to analyze household consumption patterns.
Gatekeeper
One who helps to channel the flow of research information.
Grounded theory approach
Research approach developed by Glaser and Strauss in which the researcher "grounds" self in empirical data before developing theoretical framework
Hypothesis
A testable theoretical statement of the relationship between two concepts or constructs.
Independent variable
A variable believed to be a cause of an effect.
Inductive reasoning
"Reasoning up" from data to hypothesis.
Informant
Person selected by qualitative researcher for willingness to share insights into the research situation in which both find themselves.
Informed consent Insuring that all potential participants in a research study should have full details about the research project and possible consequences before agreeing to take part in it.
Internal validity
The extent to which competing explanations for the research results obtained can be reasonably excluded from consideration.
Interval level of measurement
Use of a scale with equal intervals between units to describe data.
Invented case
A case that releases the restrictions of reality to see what kind of characteristics might ideally apply to a term being examined in qualitative conceptual analysis.
Invisible college
A group of researchers interested in the same problem area which communicate regularly with one another. Term popularized by Derek de Solla Price and Diana Crane.
Judgmental sampling
Non-random samples chosen according to some researcher-selected criterion of population representativeness.
Kurtosis
The degree of peakedness or flatness shown by a frequency distribution.
Levels of measurement
Standard rules for determining which statistical analysis techniques may be applied to various types of variables.
Linear relationship
A relationship between an independent and dependent variable best described by a straight line.
Manipulated variable
An independent variable that the researcher can manipulate (usually, vary across treatment groups in an experimental design.)
Mean
The sum of the values for all observations of a variable divided by the number of observations. A measure of central tendency.
Measured variable
An independent variable that can't be manipulated by researcher, only measured.
Measures of central tendency
Important descriptive statistics: mean, median, mode.
Measures of dispersion
Important descriptive statistics: range,semi-interquartile range, variance, and standard deviation.
Measurement
Process of assigning numbers or labels to things in accordance with specific rules to represent qualities or quantities of attributes.
Median
The observation below which 50 percent of the observed values of a variable fall. A measure of central tendency.
Method of authority
Acceptance of an idea because it appears to be accepted by experts.
Method of intuition
Acceptance of an idea because it appears to be self-evident.
Method of science
Acceptance of an idea for testing because it appears to be testable.
Method of tenacity
Acceptance of an idea because it appears to be an accepted idea.
Mode
The value of a variable which occurs most frequently. A measure of central tendency.
Model case
Clear and unquestioned example of a >construct in qualitative research conceptual analysis.
Multistage sampling
Sampling at different stages in a process.
Nominal level of measurement
Creation of mutually exclusive and exhaustive categories to describe data.
Non-probability sampling
Any sampling procedure that does not involve random sampling at some stage to insure a representative cross-section of the population of interest is obtained.
Normal distribution
A continuous distribution that is bell shaped and symmetrical around the mean: mean, mode, and median are equal. 68% of the observations fall within plus one or minus one standard deviation of the mean. Approximately 95% fall within plus or minus two standard deviations, and approximately 99.5% fall within plus or minus three standard deviations.
Norms of science
Four ideal standards for researcher behavior first described by Merton
Null hypothesis
The idea that the observed value is the result of randomness and chance error.
Ordinal level of measurement
Use of a ranking scale to describe data.
Organized skepticism
Responsibility of community of researchers to challenge research findings for validity. One of Merton's four norms of science.
Paradigm
Thomas Kuhn's description of how "normal science" is practiced until inability to address relevant new scientific issues with existing ideas forces a "paradigm shift" in "The Structure of Scientific Revolutions."
Parameter
A statistic descriptive of some characteristic of a population, such as the mean or standard deviation.
Population
The total group to which a researcher expects to be able to generalize and which is to be represented by the sample taken.
Probability sampling
Sampling procedures through which every element of the population has a known, non-zero chance of selection.
Purposive sampling
Samples chosen by intentionally seeking individuals or situations likely to provide greater understanding of a concept of research interest.
Qualitative research
Research that "qualifies" phenomena in words rather than numbers.
Quantitative research
Research that "quantifies" phenomena in numbers rather than words.
Quota sampling
Samples chosen by using frequency distribution of population characteristics to determine proportion of characteristic to be represented in sample.
Random sampling
Choosing samples by chance in such a way that every sample has an equal chance of being selected each time a sample is drawn. Used to minimize bias.
Range
Distance between smallest and largest observed values of a variable. A measure of dispersion.
Ratio scale
An interval scale with a true zero point which represents the complete lack of what is being measured.
Related case
A case that is almost the same as but not quite the same as the model case in qualitative conceptual analysis.
Reliability
Evidence that that a measurement is consistent upon repetition.
Research design
Plan to be followed to answer the research question; structure or framework to solve a specific problem.
Research front
Area in which majority of a science's advances are taking place. Term popularized by Derek de Solla Price in "Networks of Scientific Papers."
Sample
A means by which units are taken from a population in such a way as to represent the characteristics of interest in that population.
Sampling frame
A list of all the units in a population from which the sample is to be drawn.
Saturation
Describes a situation in qualitative research in which so many examples of a concept of interest have been gathered that nothing new is being learned by researcher.
Semi-interquartile range
Half the distance between the first quartile and the third quartile of a distribution. A measure of dispersion.
Skewness
Lack of symmetry in a frequency distribution.
Snowball sampling
Samples in which selection of additional respondents is based on referrals from the the initial respondents, continuing until no new respondents are identified.
Social sciences
The disciplines (e.g., psychology) concerned with the study of people
Spurious association
A variable or variables besides the independent variable being studied which may cause change in the dependent variable being studied.
Standard deviation
A measure of dispersion calculated by subtracting the mean of series from each value in a series, squaring each result, summing them, dividing the sum by the number of items minus one, and taking the square root of this value.
Stratified sampling
Dividing a population into groups (strata) on the basis of some variable such that the groups are more homogeneous on the variable of interest than in a simple random sample. Random samples are taken from all strata, usually in proportion to the size of that stratum in relation to the total sample.
Systematic sampling
Choosing every nth unit from the sampling frame.
Theory
Any potential explanation of the relationship between a presumed cause and effect. A testable theory is known as a hypothesis. A non-testable theory is known as an assumption.
Treatment
Any potential cause of an effect controlled by researcher.

Triangulation
Determining the consistency of evidence gathered from different sources of data and/or different research methods about a particular research question of interest.
Type one error
In hypothesis testing, incorrectly rejecting a true null hypothesis.
Type two error
In hypothesis testing, failing to reject the null hypothesis when it should be rejected.
Universalism
Research to be judged by quality of work alone. One of Merton's four scientific norms.
Validation study
Research to evaluate accuracy of prior explanatory studies.
Variance
The sum of the square deviations from the mean divided by the number of observations minus one.

Reading 01 Full

2008-10-22T14:48:00.000-07:00

gold 0
POLITICS CAN WAIT

DIFFICULT WORDS
1. officially declared = secara resmi dinyatakan
2. rescuer = penolong
3. slipped = tergelincir
4. risking = membahayakan, mempertaruhkan
5. pot-holer = orang yang pekerjaannya memasuki lu¬bang karang
6. rocky twists = lekukan-lekukan karang
7. mud = lumpur
8. weeping = terisak-isak
9. heartbeats = detak jantung
10. amplified = diperkeras (suaranya)
11. grief = rasa sedih

TRIGGERING QUESTIONS
1. Why can politics wait?
2. What does it wait for?
3. Where did the story happen?
PASSAGE
(1) Sunday, 14 June 1981, Alfredo Rampi, six, was officially declared dead. He fell into a long narrow hole at the village of Vermicino, 40 kilometres from Rome last Wednesday. He fell 36 metres down the hole. Unfortunately, when rescuers came near him, Friday, he slipped further, 30 metres.
(2) The Fire Brigade chief was in charge of the rescue operation. He said, "It is useless to go on risking lives." A pot-holer had tried to save Alfredo but failed. Saturday afternoon he tried to pass through one of the rocky twists of the hole, but he could not. It was only a little more than 30 centimetres wide. One of the pot-holers described Alfredo as being covered with mud. The boy was powerless to move in such a small place. At 2 a.m. Saturday Alfredo was heard weeping and calling weakly, "Mamma, mamma. I am so cold."
(3) Before he was declared dead, tests of his heartbeats were made. An amplified stethoscope was lowered down, but failed to register a sound. A camera was also lowered down the hole. It showed that Alfredo was almost totally covered with mud. His head rested on his arm.
(4) This accident attracted millions of people's attention all over the world. Three Italian televisions showed the rescue efforts. The Italian President, Sandro Pertini, himself spent the night by the well-head. He said, “Politics can wait.” Pope John Paul watched television. He sent his hope prayer for the success of the rescue. When he found out it had failed, he sent his full grief.

bronze 1
LONELY GIRL

DIFFICULT WORDS
1. attracted = menarik perhatian
2. vast = sangat luas
3. reluctantly = dengan enggan
4. enhanced = menambah
5. princess = puteri raja
6. struck = berdentang
7. sighed = menghela napas
8. booming = berdentak
9. imprisoned = terkurung dalam penjara

TRIGGERING QUESTIONS
1. Is the story about a school girl?
2. Was she broken-hearted?
PASSAGE
(1) The latest models of tape-recorder, record players and colour television set were all in her living-room. On the shelves there were hundreds of cassettes, records and video cassettes. None, however, attracted her. Loneliness was like being imprisoned in tons of stone. This made it hard for her to breathe. It also left her in a vast ice ground; frightening and cold.
(2) Reluctantly Ester walked to one of the shelves. She took a disco cassette and played it. Ester turned the volume louder and louder, to t he highest volume. Then, she stood in front of a large gold trained mirror.
(3) She saw herself in the mirror. Ester was just over seventeen. Her white long dress enhanced her beauty. She was a hit thinner now. But, her lips, nose, eyes and hair were still perfect. They were similar to those of a princess.
(4) The clock struck twelve. She looked at it. She sighed and a tear rolled down her cheek.
(5) Slowly Ester went to the garage to get her newly-bought Mercedes Benz. She herself did not know where to go. The only thing she wanted to do was drive and drive. Along the way she always hit her lower lip in the darkness of the night. She left the disco music booming in t he living-room life it on to welcome her ever busy parents when they got home.

bronze 2
ONE INVENTION MEANS A LOT
DIFFICULT WORDS
1. invention = penemuan
2. hose = pipa
3. graduate student = mahasiswa program sarjana
4. slippery = licin
5. enables = memungkinkan
6. beads = manik-manik
7. necklace = kalung
8. slide = tergelincir
9. coated = dilapisi
10. source = sumber

TRIGGERING QUESTIONS
1. 'One Invention Means a Lot', why does the writer say so?
2. How does he prove it?
PASSAGE
(1) Just imagine. One day you are pumping water from your well. The water is too slow to come out of your pump. Isn't it a very hard job? A fireman will probably have the same problem. There is fire. The water, however, does not run out of the hose fast enough. Won't he be frustrated?
(2) A new great invention has been made by Dr. Carl Gryte and graduate student Jay Chapman of Columbia University in New York. They found that polymers cause solid surfaces to become more slippery. It enables water to run 70 percent faster on those solid surfaces than usual. Next to that this water will also travel twice as far under the same pressure.
(3) Let us see what polymers look like. Take polyethylene oxide, for example. It is one such polymer. It looks like beads on a necklace. Each bead, one molecule. So, a polymer actually consists of these molecules.
(4) Hopefully, in the future the inside part of pipes will be coated with polymers. This will not only make water slide faster and further than usual. But more important, it will save energy. The easier the water runs out through the pipe, the less energy your pump needs to draw the water from its source.
(5) Doesn’t one invention mean a lot to us? It makes life easier and better.
What do you think?

bronze 3
SAVE CHEN CHEN, SAVE PANDAS

I. DIFFICULT WORDS

1. pregnant = hamil
2. fund = dana
3. natural reserve = cagar alam
4. conservation = perlindungan, pemeliharaan
5. existence = keberadaan
6. burst = turnbuh
7. endangered = terancam
8. reproduction rate = tingkat kelahiran
9. adapted = menyesuaikan diri
10. survive = bertahan hidup
II. TRIGGERING QUESTIONS
1. What is the relationship between Chen Chen and Pandas?
2. Do they have anything to do with us?
3. Who will save them? How?
III. PASSAGE
(1) One day Chen Chen, a panda in a London zoo, was getting pregnant. Scientists paid great attention to her. Televisions broadcast this news.
(2) What is interesting about this mammal? Nowadays there are only more or less 1,000 pandas left. The Chinese government needs US $ 1 1,000,000 for the Panda Conservation Programme. They plan to build t he (instruction of a research and conservation centre in Wolong Natural Reserve in Sichuan Province. It is the largest panda reserve. The World Wildlife Fund has also decided to save this attracting species. They plan to rive US $ 1,000,000 out of the US $ 3,000,000.
(3) The pandas' existence is endangered. Pandas only eat the young shoots of the umbrella bamboos of central China. The supply of this kind of bamboo has been very difficult to maintain. These bamboo forests only burst into flowers once every eighty to a hundred years. After that the plants die off. They leave the pandas with little food. On the other hand, the animals need a great quantity of young bamboo shoots. Other serious problems are the panda's low reproduction rate and internal parasites.
(4) To save the pandas, scientists plan to monitor the pandas' living habit. Hopefully, they can learn how these animals have adapted themselves to the loss of bamboo. In other words, they want to learn how pandas survive in the wild.

bronze 4
AN EDUCATIONAL MACHINE

I. DIFFICULT WORDS
1. fun = kesenangan
2. inventor = penemu
3. cheer up = menggembirakan
4. snore = mendengkur
5. bored = bosan
6. congratulations = selamat
7. riddles = teka-teki
8. nevertheless = sekalipun begitu
9. replace = menggantikan
10. remain = masih ada

II. TRIGGERING QUESTIONS
1. How does the machine work?
2. Can it really be as our teacher?
III. PASSAGE
(1) Do you wish to have an educational machine? It would really give you .1 lot of fun. The kind of machine would give you answers to any ques¬tion of yours and give you questions to answer.
(2) Suppose you want to know the inventor of the telephone, printing machine, or the highest mountain in the world and so forth. You can exercise yourself by answering his questions. You need time to think of the answer of course. Meanwhile 2 XL can cheer you up with his jokes and song. On the other hand, if you do not answer, 2 XL will snore. He gets bored waiting for you.
(3) All the questions in 2 XL are mostly programmed on cassette tapes. Those questions are usually in the form of objective tests. 2 XL will say, “congratulations and that's right" for your correct answers to his questions. If wrong, he will tell you the right answers and say, "Better luck next time." The 2 XL can also tell you jokes, riddles and sing songs. So, simple choose any of which you want to listen to. And, what do you have to do next? You just have to buy the cassettes.
(4) Nevertheless, one big question remains. Can the machine really replace ole of a teacher? Does education involve intellectual training only or another aspect such as moral training, too?
(5) The machine can be fun. That is all right. Even so, can it help us a lot in our learning problems? Particularly, when the problems are more psychological rather than intellectual.

bronze 5
TRUE LOVE
I. DIFFICULT WORDS
1. spirit = semangat
2. to be charged with = tuduh
3. liberation = pembebasan
4. bouquets = karangan bunga
5. donations = sumbangan
6. authorities = pejabat-pejabat
7. municipal clerk = pegawai kotapraja
8. newlyweds = pengantin baru
9. heart-touching = menyentuh hati
10. ceremony = upacara

II. TRIGGERING QUESTIONS
1. Isn't it just another story of 'true love'?
2. It not, what is new here?
III. PASSAGE
(1) Love can always grow at any place and any time. People say true love will never die. It has great power to overcome any difficulty. It blows man’s spirit to its highest and greatest state. Having love in your heart is nothing less than opening your heart to God Himself. One of love's finest from is love between a man and a woman.
(2) Just consider the following love story. Prof. Arif Bilgin and Aylin Uyanik were two prisoners. They were charged with being members of the leftist Turkish People's Liberation Party-Front. They loved each other so mach. This finally brought them to marriage. The wedding ceremony itself was held in the Mamak military prison, Ankara. All took place within the normal prison conditions, though. The wedding cake and bouquets were just donations of the prison authorities. The ceremony itself was led by a municipal clerk.
(3) You can imagine, Mr. Bilgin was a university professor. The wedding was too simple for his position. Don't you think so? Nevertheless, it seemed that their love was still above such limits. Right after the wedding, the newlyweds were left by themselves for just a ten minute honeymoon. Soon after this, they were taken to their cells again. It was really the most heart-touching view.

bronze 6
WHO IS SUPERIOR?
I. DIFFICULT WORDS
1. inferior (x superior) = lebih rendah ( x lebih unggul)
2. take it for granted = menerima begitu saja
3. in line with nature = sesuai dengan kodratnya
4. authority = kekuasaan
5. civilization = peradaban
6. tasks = tugas-tugas
7. supposed = seyogyanya
8. patrilineal (patriarchal) = bapak sebagai kepala keluarga/suku
9. firmer = lebih kuat, lebih kokoh

II. TRIGGERING QUESTIONS
1. What is compared in the story?
2. What does the writer really want to stress here?
III. PASSAGE
(1) Why should Betty be inferior to John? Everybody will just take it for granted. No further questions are asked. Everybody thinks that it has been in line with Nature.
(2) Psychological and biological reasons are most frequently given. Women are more emotional. Men are more rational. Physically women and men are different by nature. These are facts, all right. But, aren't there any other reasons that make women inferior to men? Social and cultural reasons, for example?
(3) Some theorists believe that in the old days women actually had more authority than men. Later men came to a little higher civilization. Since then, men had to go hunting. Women were left at home. Hunting is more risky and dangerous. In addition, they began to realize the need of functional division of tasks. Women were supposed to take care of children or planting. Men, on the other hand, went out hunting. By going out hunting, got wider experience. Later men became much more powerful. Therefore, they were more authoritative than women. To keep this superiority, in later development, men began to create the patrilineal and patriarchal systems. These systems, directly or not, have made the superiority of men to women firmer. Not only did men wish to have sons, but so did women.

bronze 7
WHAT IS LIFE FOR?

I. DIFFICULT WORDS
1. Unseparable = tak terpisahkan
2. Essence = hakikat
3. Lack of = kekurangan
4. Self-konfidence = kepercayaan pada diri sendiri
5. Self-prestige = harga diri
6. Achievement = pencapaian
7. Worth = berharga
8. Lessen = mengurangi
9. Tense nerves = syaraf-syaraf yang tegang
10. Last but not least = terakhir tapi bukannya yang terjelek
II. TRIGGERING QUESTIONS
1. Well, so what is life for?
2. Why is it so?
III. PASSAGE
1. Have you ever thought what life is for? Once a genius gave us this formula: LIFE = working + enjoying yourself + resting. Please, consider this.
2. Working, enjoying yourself and resting are one. They are almost unseparable for you to get to the essence of life. Together the three of them build the happiness of your life. Isn't that the essence of life itself? What is life for after all?
3. A person cannot work all day long without resting or enjoying himself. He would be a machine-like person, then. On the other hand, he cannot enjoy himself by doing whatever he likes such as hobbies and traveling or just rest all the time either. Some achievement has to be made. By then, one may feel that it is worth living in this world. Otherwise, he will suffer from lack of self-confidence and self-prestige. No job means no money. No money and no job will be hard for him to be accepted in his society. This will truly lessen his confidence and prestige as a member of society. All of this is not just a materialistic view but rather a fact.
4. Last but not least, relaxation is, of course, very important too. It can calm down all your tense nerves after hard work. With afresh body and mind, you are ready to do other jobs. Only after then, would it be reasonable to expect better results.

bronze 8
CANNIBALS
II. DIFFICULT WORDS
1. navigator = nahkoda
2. adventurer = petualang
3. fertile = subur
4. naked = telanjang
5. induce = membujuk
6. astonished = heran
7. satisfied = puas
8. wondering at = terheran-heran
9. dragged = menyeret
10. roasted = memanggang
III. TRIGGERING QUESTIONS
1. Who were the cannibals?
2. What the cannibals eat? Why?
IV. PASSAGE
(1) What we know as America today is named after Amerigo Vespucci (1454 — 1512). He was an Italian navigator and also an adventurer.
(2) Once Amerigo Vespucci an adventurer came to a place. He described the place as very pleasant and fertile. His men were in great need water and wood. They went to the shore and found the natives looking at them from the top of a hill. They were naked.
(3) Vespucci's men tried to induce the natives to get along with them but failed. Another effort was made. They left many bells and mirrors on shore. The natives saw them. They came down the hill. They were all astonished at these things. In return Vespucci's men got water.
(4) Next morning those natives made much smoke. Vespuccio thought it was a signal for them to go on shore. He sent two of his men to see
what kind of people the natives were. He also wanted to know how rich the natives were. A few hours later, his men came back. They gave him a report. Vespuccio was very satisfied. Then, he bartered with the natives.
(5) On the seventh day, the shipmen saw native women being arranged on shore. It seemed that those women were sent to speak with them. To assure the natives, a strong, handsome young man was sent. Soon the women began to touch and feel him, wondering at him. But, suddenly a woman came down the hill. She knocked down the young man with a stick. The other women soon dragged him to the hill. There the young man was torn to pieces by those women. They roasted him in a great fire, and then ate him. All of this took place just before his friends.

bronze 9
BARNACLES
I. DIFFICULT WORDS
1. fasten = melekatkan
2. regarded = dianggap
3. attach = menempel
4. glue = lem, perekat
5. liquid = cairan
6. stick = menempel
7. antenna = sungut
8. shell = rumah kerang
9. splashing = deburan
10. dentistry = kedokteran gigi

II TRIGGERING QUESTIONS
1. Is the story just about the life of these small sea-animals?
2. What is interesting then?

III. PASSAGE
(1) Barnacles are small sea-animals. They belong to the subclass Cirripedia, some members of the group are parasites, but barnacles are not. They fasten themselves head downwards to things under water such as rocks and the bottoms of ships. Usually they are regarded troublesome. A captain of a ship will certainly never let barnacles attach themselves to his ship.

(2) No matter how useless they seem to be, barnacles have become objects of interest. Scientists try hard to make
a kind of glue out of these sea animal. This glue is, of course, supposed to be very strong. They think that
the way the barnacles produce a clear liquid cement might be an inspiration.

(3) This process usually takes place as a barnacle comes to its final larval form. At this stage the barnacle will be free swimming and look for a place to attach itself. Then, it will stick to that place by producing that liquid cement from its antenna. At this new place it starts to form its shell and complete its development. The older the barnacle, the more liquid cement it produces. It seems that the liquid strongly holds the barnacle in place. Nothing can remove it. The splashing of big waves, the heat of the sun and even bacteria cannot move it away.
(4) The discovery of the components of barnacle glue will be a great contribution to dentistry and the medical world. By using this kind of glue, we can have a better glue for tooth fillings. Also broken bones probably will
not have to be fastened with metal anymore.

bronze 10
NOSTALGIA

1. bald = botak

2. spectacles = kacamata
3. aware = sadar
4. cheeks = pipi
5. pavement = trotoar
6. stared = memandang, menatap
7. peak = puncak
8. sighing = menghela napas
9. permission = ijin
10. tend = cenderung
TRIGGERING QUESTIONS
1. Who felt nostalgic?
2. Why did the person have such a feeling?
3. What did the person do then?
PASSAGE
(1) One evening there was an old man walking down the main street of this town. He was bald. The old man was wearing spectacles and using a walking stick, passed a row of big office buildings. He seemed to recall something. Then he stopped in front of one of those offices He looked up at the windows on the top floor. They were closed and just lit with a 10 watt
neon light. Some drops of tears rolled down his cheeks. He was not aware of it. A minute later, he was moved to see the windows more clearly. He walked to the other side of the street and sat on the pavement. He held the stick with one hand and the spectacles with the other. He stared at the windows.
(2) In another building of about two kilometres from that street, people were busy looking for somebody. These people were Nursing House
workers. At the peak of their search, suddenly there came a police patrol car every searcher was sighing. At last they found what they were looking for. It was Mr. Scammon.
(3) The police told the story. They found Mr. Scammon sitting near the office building that night. The Nursing House people soon realized.
the room behind those windows used to be his office for years. He built his career there. That evening he was at the peak of his nostalgia for his success in the past. This led him to walk out of the Nursing House without permission. In their loneliness, old people often tend to come back to their sweet memories.

bronze 11
THE TALE PROVES TRUE
DIFFICULT WORDS
1. erupted = meletus
2. precious = berharga
3. accompanied = ditemani
4. subterranean vaults = lubang di bawah tanah
5. in vain = sia-sia
6. sulphurous vapour = uap belerang
7. skeletons = tengkorak
8. adults = orang dewasa
9. apparent = jelas
10. remarkable = menakjubkan
TRIGGERING QUESTIONS
What was the story about?
Who proved it to be true? How?
PASSAGE
1) Once there was a rich family. They lived in a villa in Pompeii. Pompeii was an ancient city near Naples, in Italy and located south-east to Mount Vesuvius. One day, in 79 A.D., Mount Vesuvius almost erupted. People in the villa also caught its fearful signs.
2) After collecting his most precious things, the father fled to the sea accompanied by a slave. He left his big family and a very beautiful young daughter. Unfortunately, he himself never reached the sea alive. The rest of the family looked for protection in the subterranean vaults. They took down with them foods and drinks for their supplies. They hoped those foods & and drinks would be enough for them until the horrible things were over. However, their hopes were in vain. When the heat came, it destroyed
the vaults. Many became ashes. The air became sulphurous vapour and charged with burning dust. In their despair, the men were trying hard to escape but the women were waiting with more patience. The result, however just the same. They all died — only in different ways.
3) Centuries later, archeologists discovered their home. The father's and slave's skeletons were found near the garden gate. In the master's
hand, there was the key of that gate. In the vaults, skeletons of eighteen adults a boy and a baby were found in a group. The very extraordinary fine clothes worn by the daughter were also apparent. That was a remarkable discovery. How come? What seems to be just a tale proves true.

1) Pompeii was an ancient city near Naples, in Italy and
2) Mount
3), in 79 A.D., Mount

bronze test
HOW TO BECOME A CHAMPION

DIFFICULT WORDS
1. champion = juara
2. accomplishment = pencapaian
3. dedicated = mengabdikan diri
4. effort = usaha
5. coach = pelatih
6. endure = menahan
7. glide = meluncur
8. slope = lereng
9. determined = ditentukan
10. perspiration = keringat, peluh

PASSAGE
1) Johnny Weissmuller (1904 — 1984), the movie's first Tarzan of sound film was a great swimmer. During his career, he won five Olympic
wild medals and held sixty world records. He was surely one of the greatest swimmer in this century. Sixty world records were surely great accomplish¬ments in one's lifetime. Johnny dedicated himself completely to his career.
He spent so much energy, effort and time.
2) To become a champion is not as easy as dreamer may wish. You may want it but not win it — unless you continuously and regularly try to do your best. The quality of a winner is greatly determined by your perspir¬ation. Other people as well as your best coach can only tell you what is the best for you. However, the real decision is in your hand. You should be able to take pain, loss and unpleasant experience. Altogether they will prove your talent to become a champion. An unpleasant experience, should not be an excuse for you not to practise or try or fight again. In short, you have to be able to endure all kinds of experiences and practise a lot.
3) The way to the top is always hard. Frequently it is rocky. That is the price you have to pay after all. Yet, never think that once you have
ar¬rived at the top, you will never glide down. Be careful! The other side of the slope already awaits you — the champion.

silver 1
THE HERO OF THE ARCTIC

I. DIFFICULT WORDS
1. husky = anjing eskimo
2. sled = kereta salju
3. adapt = menyesuaikan diri
4. double — layered coat = bulu berlapis ganda
5. coarse = kasar
6. contributions = sumbangan
7. region = daerah
8. Arctic seal = anjing laut di Laut Arktik
9. shrimps = udang
10.tracks = jejak, jalur perjalanan
II. TRIGGERING QUESTIONS
I. Why is it called the hero of the Arctic?
2. How hard is it to live in a place such as that in the story?
IV. PASSAGE
(I) One of the strongest animals is perhaps the Husky. It is the Eskimo sled dog. The dog is twenty-five inches high and about forty-four inches long. He can weigh as many as one hundred pounds. To match with his job, the dog has a deep wide chest, thick neck and iron hard legs. He can even travel on broken rock and ice. A horse cannot! To adapt himself to cold temperature, the husk has thick double — layered coat with four to six inches long coarse hair. He can stand fifty degrees below zero. A team of twelve to fifteen dogs can pull a sled of 1,100 pounds. He can cover twenty-v¬ive miles a day.
(2) The huskies really have great contributions to the Eskimo in hunting. They also help doctors and policemen on their duties in this region. The dogs. take people from one place to another. This helps people in such a terribly cold region to communicate. Moreover, their contributions have enabled those people to survive and progress.
(3) Their need of foods is great. In winter they like eating the Arctic seal’s meat. In summer the Eskimos usually let the huskies to find their own foods. They like to look for shrimps and birds' eggs. When a husk is hungry, he can bite somebody or something. In general, he is gentle and friendly. He can work extra hard till he drops in his tracks. The husk is surely a hero of the artic.
(4) We, man, should learn from them. How they work and serve others.

silver 2
HOW TO DEVELOP YOUR IDEAS
1. inventions = penemuan-penemuan
2. creativity = kreativitas
3. wishful thinking = berkhayal
4.bit by bit = sedikit demi sedikit
5.strengthen = memperkuat
6. insight = pandangan, gagasan
7.refresh = mempersegar
8.based on = berdasarkan
9.worthless = tak berharga
10.solution = pemecahan
III. TRIGGERING QUESTION
(1). What is important to remember to develop our ideas?
IV. PASSAGE
(1). It is a fact that many brilliant inventions resulted from human creativi¬ty. The inventions of telephone, radio, television, electric light, com¬puter, and so on, have proved this.
(2). Of course, it is impossible to develop your creativity simply by wishful thinking. You must exercise it bit by bit. No matter how small the new idea that comes into your mind, you can always start with it. Try to see how to develop it further. In this way you will strengthen your mind in develop¬ing new ideas.
(3). You can always learn to develop new ideas by reading, discussing things with other people, travelling a lot, etc. After you have got your first new insight, you must take the second step; that is, preparation. In this preparation stage, among other things, you must try to collect information, and think of the ways things have to be done. In case you meet big difficulties, you'd better refresh yourself for a while by taking a walk, taking a nap, enjoying your hobbies, etc. This will really help you find a way-out. Remember this saying, "Ail work and no play makes Jack a dull boy". You will become boring, and also get too tired. Even worse, no solution comes out to your problem.
(4). Taking notes is also an important activity. Nobody can remember everything he has done. Next to that your notes would also help you go over again your previous work. Perhaps you have left it for a certain reason or another. Based on the preparation you have made, you can then start working on your new idea.
(5). Remember that a great idea is worthless unless it comes to the right person. You can be that right person if you want to. Why not?

silver 3
SUICIDE AMONG THE YOUNG
II. DIFFICULT WORDS
1.suicide =bunuh diri
2. requirements = tuntutan-tuntutan
3. alternative = pilihan
4. rejection = penolakan
5. appetite = nafsu makan
6. decline = penurunan
7. drug = obat terlarang
8. precious possessions = harta milik yang berharga
9. complaints = keluhan-keluhan
10. intention = maksud
III. TRIGGERING QUESTIONS
1. Has suicide among the young been very serious?
2. Why is it so?
3. How to help them?
I PASSAGE
(1) In big cities the changes of social life have continuously increased the number of teenage suicides. Those who are not quite intelligent feel unhappy in high competitions for jobs and education. This kind of feeling often leads them to negative thought. They think that it is not worth living. They feel worried and sometimes frustrated of being unable to meet various kinds of requirements. These young people feel hopeless and helpless. They do not know how to find a better way than giving up.
(2) Many parents are just busy with their own lives and careers. The young are left with their own problems. This brings about feeling of isolation and rejection.
(3) Some attempt to win attention in an unusual way, for example, speeding on a motor-cycle. Some others would threaten suicide to get either attention or what they want.
(4) Others would show tiredness, loss of appetite, much changes, a decline in school work, heavy smoking, writing lots of letters to friends, an increase in drug or alcohol use, giving away precious possessions.
(5) As friends or parents or teachers, we should never take no notice of their complaints. Never think unimportant whatever they are worried about. Try to listen to their problems, and see it from their view. This will make them feel accepted. They should be helped to see a better alternative by discussing things with them. In this way, his sense of self-importance is brought back. This might change his intention to commit suicide.

SILVER 4
PLASTICS IN MODERN LIFE
II. DIFFICULT WORDS
1. era = zaman
2. wrapped = dibungkus
3. containers = dos, tabung
4. classified = digolongkan .
5. advantage = keuntungan
6. lighter = lebih ringan
7. litter = buangan barang tak terpakai di tempat umum
8. discarded = tak terpakai
10. dissolved = larut, lumat

II. TRIGGERING QUESTION

1. What is the importance of plastic in modern life?
2. What do people know about plastic?

III. PASSAGE

(1) Over a hundred years ago, celluloid was the main material for making plastics. The discovery of celluloid for plastics started a new era. Since then plastics have been developed into so many forms and shapes.
(2) In the beginning of its era, only poor people like plastics. Things made of plastics such as plates and cups looked dull and cheap. At that time scientists had not been able to make the plastics as you can see now.
(3) Nowadays, everywhere you go, you can almost always find plastics in many different colours and shapes: on your table you are excited to see your beautiful plastics roses; the pens you use to write letters to your dearest friends; some parts of the motor cycle you ride at the weekends; the things or food you have just bought are also wrapped in plastics. Above all, scientists have planned to build plastics aeroplanes for 21st century transportation. These planes will be as strong as those made of metal but cheaper and lighter. There are plastics in almost everything you see and use in your daily life.
(4) There are two main types of plastics. The type you use for your pipes, cups, plates, and many other kinds of containers. These are classified as “soft plastics”. It is soft because it does not easily break if it falls down. Things like your radios and television sets use “hard plastics”. They can break if they are dropped into a hard floor. Their advantage is that they are more resistant against heat.
(5) Plastics waste, however, is a serious pollution problem nowadays. There is more and more plastics waste around. Wherever we go, that kind of litter is almost in every place: in the market, along the beach, around a football field, and other public places. Moreover, discarded plastic bottles or bags are more difficult to be dissolved than those of paper, for example.

SILVER 5
TRANSLATING MACHINE

II. DIFFICULT WORDS
1. linguist = ahli bahasa
2. facilitate = mempermudah
3. barrier = halangan
4. communicate = berkomunikasi
5. phrases = ungkapan-ungkapan
6. strip = helai, strip
7. amplifier = alat pengeras suara
8. invented = ditemukan, diciptakan
9. solve = memecahkan
10. word processor = mesin pengolah kata

III. TRIGGERING QUESTIONS
1. Why do we need a translating machine?
2. How does it work?

IV. PASSAGE
(1) Recently many scientists and linguists have worked together. They put
their heads together to facilitate communications among different na¬tions. In other words, they try to break the language barrier in communica¬tion. An Englishman might find it difficult to communicate with a French¬man. A Siamese might also have the same difficulty when he wants to com¬municate with Japanese. The reason is that they speak different languages.
(2) Keith Chidwick has invented an electronic machine. It can produce
phrases in French, German, Italian and English. His machine just looks like a tape-recorder. Suppose you want to ask somebody "Are you a student?" in French, you just take the right card for that question. Each card stores two hundred and forty words. There are four strips of tape in each card, one for each language. The size of the card is only seven by nine centimetres. After picking up the right card, you just play the machine, and ... "Vous ~e~ tes~e~tudiant?" will come out of the amplifier.
(3) Chidwick's machine sounds very useful for travellers, doesn't it? There
is still another machine called Weidner's New System. It is specially in¬vented for professional translators. It can help a translator to solve gram¬matical difficulties and produce up to 1,000 words of text per hour. The system combines a mini-computer and a word processor. Though it is devised only for English-to-Arabic translation, perhaps one day you will also have one for the translation of your language to another foreign language. The only thing you have to do is look at the word-processor screen. You will see the translation and the original text there.

silver 6
UNFORGETTABLE EXPERIENCE
I. DIFFICULT WORDS
1. patrol = patroli
2. coast = pantai
3. imprisoned = dipenjara
4. desperate = putus asa
5. wrist = pergelangan tangan
6. razor blade = pisau silet
6. nodded = mengangguk
7. plunged into = terjun ke
9. glanced over = menengok sejenak
10. natives = penduduk asli
ll. TRIGGERING QUESTIONS
1. Where did the story happen?
2. Who experienced it?
3. Why is it unforgettable?
III. PASSAGE
(1) This is my unforgettable experience. It happened during the Second World War I was posted to a small island in the Pacific Ocean. One sunny day, I was leading the patrol along the coast when suddenly we were attacked by the Japanese. We were all imprisoned.
(2) It was Raymond who saved me.
(3) After several months in the prison, Raymond was very desperate. He cut his own wrist with a razor blade. It was terrible to see a friend dying in such a way.
(4) Immediately panic broke out. Other prisoners pushed each other aside. They wanted to know what had happened. Then there was total silence after the guard gave a warning shot.
(5) A big, strong prisoner and I were ordered to take away Raymond's
body to a big river. We reached the bank of the river. I did not really know what happened then. Everything seemed to happen at once. I signall¬ed with my eye to him, the big man nodded. Then, we threw the body at the guard. Waiting no longer, we plunged into the river. As soon as my head touched the water, I swam, kicking out wildly.
(6) A minute later the guard started firing.
(7) I was just a little ahead of him when I heard the big man crying. I
glanced over my shoulder. I saw him throwing up his hands. Then, he disappeared. I swam as far as I could. I just left everything to chance. I didn't really know what would come next. Could I possibly survive? God knew; I didn't. Fortunately, I was able to reach the nearby village. I got a lot of help from the natives to find my way to my post.

silver 7
THE BEAUTIFUL TULIPS

. I. DIFFICULT WORDS
stem batang
framed dibingkai
windmills kincir angin
arousing menimbulkan
ambassador duta besar
court istana
envious iri hati
blooming berbunga
speculators spekulan
crashed menghancurkan
II. TRIGGERING QUESTIONS
1. Is it about the famous tulips in the Netherlands?
2. Is it about their beauty only or something else?
III. PASSAGE
(1) A tall stem framed by several leaves, and bell like tulip always catches us to admire it.
It moves a child to pick it and a woman to have it.
(2) Holland is known for its tulips. The country is almost always associated
with these flowers beside windmills.
(3) The flowers have long cought the hearts of Dutch. It was as early as the
first time they were brought to Europe. This moved Alexandre Dumas
to write that the Dutch paid too much respect to the tulips.
Even, no naturalist ever dared to do so. They were afraid of arousing the jealousy of God.
(4) As a matter of fact, tulips came from Central Asia. They were brought
to Afghanistan, Iran, Caucasus and later to Holland. As story tells that once a
French botanist Carolus Clusius got tulips from the Austrian am¬bassador to the court
of King Suleiman. Clusius, however, was never willing to share the tulips for
purposes other than science. This made a group of en¬vious Dutch gardeners
steal them. Within a few years, tulips were blooming in every part of Holland.
(5) Since then, tulips have become commercial goods. It invited specula
tors to be in the tulips business. Everybody wanted to make a big
profit from this trade. 1630's was known as the tulipomanis period.
In the later stage, there were more sellers than buyers. This, of course,
crashed the market. It is said that there was so large amount of money in this business.
This put the country's finance in a big trouble.
(6) Nowadays there are 4,000 varieties of garden tulips. They show great variation in colour and type.

silver 8
HOW MUCH IS YOUR FREEDOM
I. DIFFICULT WORDS
1. illiterate = buta huruf
2. bet = bertaruh
3. willingly = dengan senang hati
4. pirates =perampok
5. robbed = merampok
5. refugees = pengungsi
6. repression = tekanan
7. poverty = kemiskinan
8. unemployment = pengangguran
9. employees = pekerja
11. sugar canes = tebu

II. TRIGGERING QUESTIONS
1. Is it so serious with our freedom?
2. What is the example?'

III. PASSAGE
(1) Have you ever seen or thought about how much the price of freedom is?
When man is under political pressure, poor and illiterate; he will try to free himself
from those things. Often the price is terribly expensive.
(2) Thousands of Vietnamese have left their country. Enroute to a new
country, it was their lives they bet for freedom. Horror has almost
always become their most faithful company. Most willingly, the high sea
welcomed them to her bed. Apart from this, pirates often attacked them.
They killed the men and disturbed the women. Yet, that was not all.
Those pirates still robbed those unfortunate refugees. When they left their coun¬try,
didn't those refugees consider these dangers?
(3) Once a male refugee told James Pringle, a Newsweek reporter, "We
knew there would be pirates. But, communism is worse than pirates."
Another refugee said, "The women know what awaits them, but they know that is the price of freedom."
(4) A similar tragedy also happened to hundreds or even thousands of Hai
tians under Claude Duvalier's. In their own country they suffered from
political repression, poverty, diseases and unemployment. Cutting sugar canes
is a hard job. Employers often treat their employees badly. Yet, lots of Haitians
still fight to get that kind of job. Why? They need jobs. Many others have left their country.
They know that the price for it is very expen¬sive. If they are caught or returned to their country,
they will be sent to Fort Dimanche, a prison.

silver 9
CROCODILES

1. painted snout = moncong
2. crocodile = buaya
3. swamps = rawa – rawa
4. existed = ada
5. nest s = sarang
6. warblings = bersiul seperti burung
7. back arching = melekukkan punggung
8.bubble blowing = mengeluarkan buih-buih air
9. endangered = membahayakan
10. a decline = penurunan
11. skins = kulit
III. TRIGGERING QUESTIONS
1. Is the story about the life of crocodiles?
2. If so, what is interesting in their lives?
IV. PASSAGE
(1) Nowadays, we can only find twenty-one species and seven subspecies of
crocodiles. These reptiles differ from alligators by having a more point¬ed snout
and fewer teeth. We can still see the crocodiles fourth tooth when they open their mouths.
Mostly they live in tropical fresh waters and sub¬tropical swamps and rivers.
The crocodilians have existed for almost 200 million years.
Their close family the dinosaurs, however, have long died out.

(2) It might sound strange to you that crocodiles closest relatives are in fact
warm-blooded birds. If you notice that birds build nests, so do the female crocodilians.
They gather mud and brush to lay over a hundred eggs. They have more complex brains than
those of other reptiles. It enables crocs to learn readily. Crocs' hearts are almost as advanced
as those of birds and mammals.

(3) Crocodilians may weigh as many as one ton. Full-grown crocs may reach twenty-five
feet in length. They may even live for over a hundred years.

(4) They produce certain sounds in their communication wit h each other.
Each has its own meaning. Communication under water is done through
low-frequency warblings. We, of course, cannot hear them. He may give
his message through this body language by performing a back arching or bubble blowing.

(5) Some crocs are very dangerous. Though they mostly eat fish, water
birds or land animals, they can also eat man, antelopes or buffalos.
Even a big Nile croc can bring down a water buffalo and tear its body. But, perhaps,
the most dangerous species is the saltwater croc.

(6) Nevertheless, many factors have also endangered the existence of
crocodilians. Hunters look for their skins. The fast growing human population
take away their habitat. Other animals such as leopards, lions, goliath herons have
caused a decline in their numbers. There used to be millions of saltwater crocs in Nothern Australia.
Today they just count 5,000. Some are more unfortunate. The Orinoco crocodiles are only 280 left.
The Chinese alligators have possibly no longer existed.

silver 10
THANKS, GOD!

I. DIFFICULT WORDS
1. regarded = menganggap
2. unbearable = tak tertahankan
3. horrible = menakutkan, mengerikan
4. bruises = bisul-bisul
5. fed = memberi makan
6. breast = payudara
7. desert = padang pasir
8. twist = terpilih

II. TRIGGERING QUESTION
1. Who thanked God? Why?
III. PASSAGE
(1) Here is one of my unforgettable experience a few days after I celebrat
ed my seventeenth birthday. As a daughter of a UNICEF officer,
I got a chance to accompany my father to visit the African Sahel.
I regarded my worthiest birthday gift.
(2) As our jeep stopped, in the distance of some one hundred metres I saw'
tens or even hundreds of women and children sitting on the sand.
They were burnt by the unbearable, at least for me, sun's heat.
It seemed to me t hat they were waiting for something. They looked
at the distance where here was nothing. The wind blew; the dust flew.
(3) When we came closer, they smiled at us. A smile that I didn't really
understand. It was on faces that bore hopeless souls, bony bodies.
I al¬most jumped up and soon shut my eyes when I passed by a woman
with her baby in her arms. It was such a horrible view for me. The
mother was still of my age. She was very thin, and there were bruises
along her arms. Her little baby was so dark and thin that it looked like
more a dead monkey than a human being. I noticed that the child
was crying, but there was no sound coming out of its mouth. There
were hardly even tears. When the mother fed him, there was not the least
drop of milk coming out of her breast!
(4) Looking back to my birthday party, oh, thanks, God! In that desert shed tears,
but not because of the twist in my stomach, nor the heat, of the sun.
The reason was that I felt thankful for the special dishes, gifts and smiles at my party.
And, most of all there were love and attention from my parents, brothers, sisters and friends.

silver 11
TWO DIFFERENT SMILES

II. DIFFICULT WORDS
1. a dense forest = hutan lebat
2. explore = menjelajah
3. tools = alat-alat
4. suck =menghisap
5. mimic warfare = perang-perangan
6. glittering = berkiiauan
7. dunes = gundukan
8. bare = telanjang, gundul
9. trunk = koper
10. labelled = diberi label
11. game = binatang buruan
III. TRIGGERING QUESTIONS
1. Whose smiles were they?
2. How were they different? Why?
IV. PASSAGE
(1) In a dense forest in Africa, a tall white man was leading some black man to explore the forest. They were taking the West direction.
(2) From the East, there was another group of black men coming. They were led by a brown, strong young man.
(3) Each group was equipped with modern and traditional tools. The white's group was looking for diamonds; the brown's was searching for gold. Both were competing to suck everything that the African earth provided. Their competition was not limited to what was hidden in the earth. They also hunted game and cut the woods. It was a mimic warfare for them to live there. Whenever people of these two groups met each other, it was not unusual that they would fight, even without any reason.
(4) As time went by, the dense forest has turned into a large desert. Under the heat of the sun, the glittering sand dunes had taken the place of the ever-green forest.
(5) On this bare place, naturally the two groups were able to see each other more clearly. Strangely, they did not fight any longer but smiled at each other instead. Nothing was left now. No diamonds, no gold, no game, nor any other forestry products.
(6) One day the black people of those two groups saw their leaders standing at the port waiting for ships. Each of them had a trunk labelled with 'you-may-not-know' in his hand. When the ships came, they shook hands and left the black people sitting on the sand. Seeing their masters shake hands, each group of the black people then did the same with the other group while waving to their masters. They smiled. But, were their smiles the same as those of the men who were leaving?

silver lest
LEARN FROM AN INDIAN
II. DIFFICULT WORDS
1. wickedest = paling jahat
2. unselfish = tidak egois
3. snare = jerat
4. spears = tombak
5. complaint = keluhan
6. sighting = mengincar
7. Indian reservation = daerah perlindungan untuk orang-orang Indian
8. hook = mata pancing
9. alertness = kewaspadaan
10. hip = paha
III. PASSAGE
(1) To keep the security of a town such as Goldfield, Nevada, is surely not an easy job. It really needs a right man who is decisive, brave and bright. He should know and dare to act against all kinds of gangsters.
(2) In 1906 Goldfield was known as the richest but also wickedest Western town. Claude Inman was chosen as the chief of police who had to clean up and keep the peace in the town. It turned out that he had been very suc¬cessful in his job. Later, Claud Inman said that he was taught and trained by an old Indian chief named Joe.
(3) Joe was a Piute chief whom Inman described as wise, honest, unselfish and brave. When he and his family tried to escape from an Indian reservation, they suffered from the coldness of snow. His wife had been too weak to go farther and one of his two babies died of the cold. Luckily, they were saved by Inman's parents. To show his thanks, Joe took Inman's fa¬ther's name. Joe worked for him and looked on Inman as his own son. "You are not a white boy. You are Injum," once Indian Joe told Inman.
(4) Joe taught Inman as well as his own son Dave. These two boys were taught to make a bird trap, a cactus fish-hook, or a horsehair snare for rabbits. To build their sense of alertness, Joe asked the boys to walk care¬fully in the small river where he had placed round rocks among step¬pingstones. Otherwise, they might fall off. He would also ask them to stand dead still in the water with their spears raised, waiting for the right moment to strike fish. No complaint was allowed. At 12, they learned to hit a run¬ning deer with an arrow. Later, the chief also taught them to shoot with a gun without sighting along the gun. They should be able to shoot a gun from the hip.

gold I
INTERNATIONAL BRAINS CONTEST

II. DIFFICULT WORDS
1. Contest = perlombaan
2. wits = kecerdasan
3. participate = rnengikuti
4. dominated = sebagian besar dik uasai
5. contingent = kontingen, peserta
6. bronze = perunggu
7. boasting =menyombongkan diri, membual

III. TRIGGERING QUESTIONS
1. Where did the story happen?
2. Who took part in the contest?
3. Who won?

IV. PASSAGE
(1) In sports games we have the Olympics. It always attracts millions of people's attention all over the world. People are eager to see the best sportsmen art the world compete for gold, silver and bronze medals.
(2) There is another type of international contest. It is not in sports, but in mathematics instead. Therefore, it is called the International Mathe¬matical Olympiad.
(3) The first Olympiad was held in the East block countries in 1959. In this first brainy battle of wits, Rumania came out on top. However, the Soviets have taken first place since them. The United States began to par¬ticipate in the Olympiad in 1974. In this first try, the United States came in second. The Olympiad was still dominated by East Europeans. But, in 1977 the Yanks (Americans) proved themselves the best.
(4) In the 1981 Mathematical Olympiad, the United States contingent consisted of 14 to 18 year old boys. Before they were chosen represen¬tatives of the United States, they had to compete with 420,000 other stu¬dents in the annual High School Mathematical exams. Two months later the top 150 participated in the U.S.A. Math Olympiad. Then, eight of them would represent the United States in the International Math Olympiad. They were the best in competing against 192 of the World's best and brightest high school math students from 27 countries.
(5) Though, the problems were extremely hard for ordinary people, Benjamin Fisher, 18, of New York City, said that the exam was too easy. Even, Jeremy Primer, 16, thought that it was just a joke. They were not boasting. They proved it. Their team, came in top with 314 points. Next was the German with 312 and the British with 301.

gold 2
JAVANESE WEDDING CEREMONY

I. DIFFICULT WORDS
1. herbal = jamu
2. responsible = bertanggune jawab
3. kneel down = berlutut
4. bridal couch = kursi pengantin

II. TRIGGERING QUESTIONS
1. Are there still a lot of traditional things used in the ceremony?
2. What do they symbolize?
I II. PASSAGE
(1) In every culture a wedding is always an extraordinary event, as it is in Javanese culture.
(2) Traditionally, in Javanese culture, before the wedding day a bride has to stay apart from the bridegroom for 40 days. What a long period of time! it is called `pingitan'. What are they supposed to do? The girl, parti¬cularly, has to keep her body and face clean by using a kind of traditional herbal powder called 'lulur’ so that on the wedding day her skin will look bright and soft.
(3) On the last day of her `pingitan', there is a ceremony called `siraman' in which seven elderly relatives will bathe the bride. On this occasion, the bride is bathed in water with certain kinds of flowers; that is, the 'kembang setaman'. Then, she is dressed up by a `dukun rias', a beautician. A part of the 'siraman' water is sent to the bridegroom for his bath. In the evening, the bride's family hold the so-called `malam widodaren' (the fairy's night) as a farewell party for her. It is as a symbol before she leaves home and begins her new life. Many of her friends and relatives will come to the party.
(4) On the wedding day, the bridegroom has to promise in the 'ijab kabul' ceremony. Basically the promises say that he will be faithful, gentle and responsible to his wife and family. As in many other cultures, the bri¬degroom also has to give his wedding-gifts or `mas kawin' to the bride. The Value of the gifts differ from one to another. The richer the bridegroom, the more expensive the `mas kawin' usually is. Faithful moslems, it is not sel¬dom that they present the Qur'an as the wedding-gift.
(5) The next day, the bride and bridegroom meet each other in the 'ternon' ceremony. This time they are accompanied by their parents and rela¬tives. In the ceremony the bride and the bridegroom throw some ‘sirih’ leaves over each other. After this, the bride and bridegroom will crush an egg together. This symbolizes that they will always meet and solve problems together. As a sign of faithfulness, the bride should kneel down. She washes the bridegroom's right foot with 'kembang setaman' water and cleans it with a small towel. Then, they sit in the bridal couch called `pagi-pagi'. This time, they listen to advice or `ular-ular' given by an elderly man. This part of the ceremony is very formal. After that, they go to a less formal one.

gold 3
THE BIGGEST WAR

I. DIFFICULT WORDS

1. Explosion = ledakan
2. Horrifying = mcnakutkan, mengerikan
3. Gambling = bertaruh
4. nerve wrecking = menegangkan syaraf
5. apparently = tampaknya
6. notion = faham, pengertian
7. wolf = serigala

II. TRIGGERING QUESTIONS
1. Which is the biggest war?
2. Why is it the biggest?
III PASSAGE
(1) When John Steinbeck said that the biggest war was "the war" you knew. It was true. He illustrated it as follows:
(2) Once there were two brothers. The elder one experienced one war and his younger brother another. Each said that the war he knew was the biggest one. Yet, no matter how big or small the war is, to those who are di¬rectly involved in the war, it will always be a big war, at least, if not the big-pest. They undergo all the bad things the war produces. The things which can hardly be described with words alone. Your words are not as strong as the explosion of dynamite, for instance. Again the words cannot really describe the horrifying moments when you are gambling with your own life in the war. The fear of death, the terror that you feel night and day. All of this is a really nerve wrecking experience.
(3) As a matter of fact, it is no use arguing which war is big and which one is not. All are big if you are involved yourself. It would be more sen¬sible to learn from those terrible results that war has produced. And, each of us should earnestly promise not to increase the number of children who are looking for their fathers, and wives who are waiting for their husbands.
(4) Nevertheless, things do not apparently run in line with that kind of peace-loving notion. Almost every day people are more and more wor¬ried about a nuclear war that might some day happen, which they always read about in newspapers or magazines and hear on radios or televisions. Would man, who calls himself the brightest of creatures, fool himself? Or rather is it his nature that a man will always be a wolf towards others? (Horno Homini Lupus)

gold 4
NATION BUILDING

II. DIFFICULT WORDS
1. amazing = menakjubkan
2. afford = sanggup mengusahakan
3. domestic = dalam negeri
4. campaign = kampanye
5. integrated effort = usaha terpadu
6. subsidize = memberi bantuan keuangan
7. promote = memajukan
8. hijacked books = buku-buku bajakan
9. strictly = dengan tegas
III TRIGGERING QUESTIONS
1. What aspect of nation building is it about?
2. What kinds of problems do we have?
3. What does the writer suggest?
I V. PASSAGE
(1) Developing the knowledge of a nation greatly depends on the number of good books available. Needless to say, students should ideally be supplied with those kinds of books. How amazing it is when you discover site!' books. They have the power to take you to the moon, to the bottom of the sea, to any other places that you'd probably never go yourself. Good hooks take you passing over the time boundary into the past, present and future. That is just to mention a few, of course.
(2) Unfortunately, the prices of good books are very often so high that many students cannot afford to buy them. This, in turn, will reduce the number of books they read. That will not be positive for the development of the nation in the future. To obtain the same books with lower prices, students usually buy them at second hand book kiosks which are getting more popular now in big cities. Besides they sell used books, which are all right, they also sell pirated books. They are books which are copied illegally from the original sources. Consequently, this reduces the incomes of the authors and the rightful publishers of the books, because the book, pirates do not pay any royalty to them. Those kiosks are not the only places that sell that kind of pirated books, though.
(3) One might suggest opening more book stores. However, often this does not help the situation. How can they survive if people's interest in reading is low? importing more books is not a solution, either, if the prices
(4) of books are still too high. Moreover, the foreign language used brings about another problem. Foreign languages often discourage students from reading books. Translation seems to give a way-out. Unfortunately, up to now the number of translated books is quite small.
(5) An integrated effort is probably needed. First, the government should subsidize books. This can be in the form of cutting the tax of imported books. Secondly, authors and publishers of a book should strictly be pro¬tected from any kind of wrong doing, i.e. pirating. Next there should be a big campaign to make people aware of the importance and fun of reading. In line with this, writing competitions should also be encouraged, so that domestic writers will also increase in number. This will not only increase people's interest in reading but also encourage and promote more indivi¬duals and native writers.
(6) In all cases, however, the teachers' and parents' roles are very important. They can give real encouragement to the young, in particular. They can also take a great part in educating and directing the young to appreciate one's work; that is to say, buy the original books and not the hijacked ones.

gold 5
CANZERL THE MODERN NAPOLEON
I. DIFFICULT WORDS
1. deputy assistant = pejabat pembantu
2. ethnically = berdasarkan keturunan
3. sanitation workers' union = serikat petugas kebersihan
4. wit = kecerdikan
5. tense atmosphere = suasana tegang
6. negotiators = perunding
7. spontaneously = dengan spontan
II. TRIGGERING QUESTIONS
1. Who is Canzeri?
2. How is he similar to Napoleon?
3. What is interesting in him (Canzeri)?
I II. PASSAGE
(1) "I'm here to serve," said Canzeri. He is deputy assistant to President Reagan, and executive assistant to the deputy White House chief of staff. Canzeri's height is only 5 feet 6.5 (1.68 metres). Ethnically he is an Italian. His friends often say that his title is taller than he is.
(2) Joe, as his friends call him, can do almost everything well. It is perhaps better than anyone else. His sense of humour often helps calm down a highly tense atmosphere during the White House top staff meetings. His size and wit are quite like those of Napoleon.
(3) Once Rockefeller, Governor of New York, had a marathon meeting with leaders of the sanitation workers' union at the Gotham Hotel. They were trying to solve a strike caused by workers in New York. The dis¬cussion was very serious. It made them very tired and also hungry. It was almost 5 a.m. At that time, there was only one guard in the lobby of hotel. Canzeri, as Rockefeller's closest friend and assistant, let himself into the kitchen. Then, he prepared and served breakfast for 30 tired and hungry negotiators. It was only after this that they were able to continue their dis¬cussions and come to an agreement to solve the strike.
(4) In the White House, Canzeri is called Tony Canzory. He is well-liked there. His friends often ask him to help them. One day one of his friends forgot his name and called him Tony. A few weeks later, President Reagan also forgot his name. At that time, the President spontaneously called him Tony Canzory. That is how he got his new name.

gold 6
BABE RUTH THE GREAT

I. DIFFICULT WORDS
1. nickname = nama panggilan
2. batter = pemukul dalam baseball
3. cared about = memperhatikan, peduli akan
4. autograph = foto diri yang telah dibubuhi tanda tangan
5. gloves = sarung tangan
6. mask = topeng
7. chest protector = alat pelindung dada
8. deed = perbuatan
9. kids = anak-anak
10. orphans = anak-anak yatim-piatu
II. TRIGGERING QUESTIONS
1. Who/what was Babe Ruth?
2. Why was he called the best?
3. What was so typical in him? Example?
III. PASSAGE
(1) It really takes more to be great than just being a good or the best player.
(2) George Herman Ruth was the idol of American boys. "Babe" was his nickname. He was called the Home-Run King. He was the greatest bat¬ter that baseball ever knew. His warm personality made Babe Ruth not only great in the game but also outside the field.
(3) One day, when New York Yankees were having practice to prepare themselves for the world series of 1926 against St. Louis, the ground-keeper told Babe Ruth that a man wanted to speak to him. The man then told Babe Ruth that his son Johnny was very sick. No specialist was able to cure the boy for Johnny only cared about nothing else but Babe Ruth. The man asked Babe Ruth to give a note, or a ball, or a bat, or something with Babe Ruth's autograph for Johnny. The father hoped in this way Johnny could get well again. After asking for his address, Ruth said, "All right, I'll try to help you in some ways."
(4) In the afternoon, Ruth did come to see Johnny. He dropped two bats, two gloves, several baseballs, a mask and chest protector on Johnny's bed. He spent one hour with the boy, telling him about baseball and giving pictures of great players.
(5) Months later, a man introduced himself as Jhonny’s uncle. The man thanked Babe Ruth for saving the boy's life. Babe Ruth had even not the least idea of who Johnny was. That was typical Ruth. He never remem¬bered his good deed as soon as it was done.
(6) What he liked most in the world was kids. He said that if he had a million dollars, he would buy a private home for orphans. Ruth himself had become an orphan when he was very young. In his hey-day, his salary was $ 80,000. It was surely more than that of the President of the United States.
(7) Ruth died in 1948 at the age of 53.

Gold7
BE CAREFUL WITH YOUR WORDS

II. DIFFICULT WORDS
1. an orphanage = rumah yatim-piatu
2. shrilling = berteriak, menjerit-jerit
3. sobbing = tersedu-sedu
4. invalid = cacat
5. exclusion = pengasingan
6. consolation = pelipur lara
III. TRIGGERING QUESTIONS
I. Why should we be careful with our words?
2. What is the example given?
IV. PASSAGE

(1) One day we visited an orphanage. It was a well-cared for orphanage with altogether some thirty girls and twenty boys. Most of them were between six and twelve years old.
(2) We were entertaining these children. We sang and played games. Some were even shrilling happily. All the children seemed very happy but one. This boy was sitting in the corner of the hall by himself. He was sobb¬ing.
(3) I came to him and asked him to join the rest, but he did not want to. This made me curious to know what had happened and later I found out that he was an invalid. One of his legs was smaller than the other one. I really wanted to know if there was any relation between his exclusion from the others' company and his physical condition. Unfortunately, it turned out to be true.
(4) Actually, Stephanus, the boy in question had tried to join the first game we had had. He was as happy as the other children. However, as soon as he prepared to take part in the game, some of his friends told him not to do that. "Hey, you will break your small leg," they said. It was, of course, quite a shock for Stephanus to hear that. It really hurt him and made him go to the corner where he sat alone. He was so hurt, sad, and lonely that tears and being alone were the only consolations. There was no mother or father who would listen to him and friends who wanted to play with him. All of his problems he had to undergo by himself at his very early age; he was just six.
(5) You see, children are often innocent. They do not really realize that sometimes what they say can hurt other people. It is our duty to help them to learn what is good and bad. In other words how to behave towards others.

Gold
ANOTHER SIDE OF CHARLES DARWIN

II. DIFFICULT WORDS
1. by chance = secara kebetulan
2. spiders = laba-laba
3. rare beetles = kumbang dari jenis yang langka
4. popped lino = dimasukkan ke dalant
5. acid = asam
6. burning fluid = cairan panas
7. excursions = tamasya
8. naval = angkatan laut
III TRIGGERING QUESTIONS
1. What side of Charles Darwin is going to be talked here?
2. Is it about his youth, his study, or his career as a scientist?
IV. PASSAGE
(1) We usually imagine that Charles Darwin was an old, bald professor with thick eye-brows and a long beard. Now, let us see Charles in another picture.
(2) You may not believe that Charles Darwin began his career as a scientist quite by chance. On 5 September 1831, unexpectedly he was asked to meet Robert FitzRoy, captain of HMS beagle, in London. Darwin was only twenty-two years old. So far Darwin did not show any unusual abilities.
(3) In 1831, he got his Bachelor of Arts degree at Cambridge. Yet, Darwin thought his three years at Cambridge had been wasted. His school reputation was not much. "With today's standards, Darwin would never have got into a university," said Julian Huxley.
(4) Nevertheless, he paid much attention to natural history. In this respect, he was certainly quite unusual. Darwin liked everything such as: flowers, rocks, butterflies, birds and spiders. He had even been interested in collecting such things since his age of eight. One day he caught two rare beetles. When he saw the third, he put one in his left hand, and popped other into his mouth. He intended to catch the third with his right hand. Unfortunately, the one in his mouth produced an acid and burning fluid. Darwin spat it out. Later, he regretted losing these two rare specimens.
(5) If there was one of his professors who encouraged Darwin to learn natural history, he was Prof. Henslow. The professor often invited Dar¬win for discussions and took him on botany walks and boating excursions along the river Cam. It was also Henslow who recommended Darwin to George Peacock. Peacock was the person who chose naturalists to board naval ships for surveys.
(6) Since then, Darwin joined the Beagle for a great adventure around the world. This had completely changed an inexperienced Darwin into a great scientist as we know nowadays.

gold 9
HUMAN CONCEPTS

. DIFFICULT WORDS
1. associate = menghubungkan
2. concept = konsep, pengertian secara umtim
3. transformed = diubah bentuk
4. originated from = berasal dari
5. observable = dapat dilihat
6. intentionally = dengan sengaja
7. ingredients = bumbu, bahan-bahan
8. perceived = ditangkap, diterima
9. metaphysical = hal-hal yang berdasarkan pemikiran abstrak
III. TRIGGERING QUESTIONS
I. What forms human concepts?
2. What is the importance of human concepts?
IV. PASSAGE
(1) When you smell something burning, you will probably associate it with a certain thing; burning fish, for example .In your head, you already have a certain concept of what burning fish smells like. In other words, you know what can happen if the fish is burnt too long or the fire is too big. So, there are two things which might cause it to take place. Later, you might also judge whether such fish is nice or not. It surely depends on your pre¬conceptions; that is, concepts you have already had in mind. l he concepts you have are, of course, influenced by your background.
(2) The example given above shows that man has the capabilities to understand something instinctively. This will then be transformed into cer¬tain concepts. Those concepts depend on his background and understand¬ing of the thing he has got before he conies to his judgement. With this kind of capabilities he can form many other things that have originated from his concepts. It can be observable things such as food, clothes, houses, to ab¬stract ones such as value, morals, or mathematics.
(3) Animals do not have the capability to form such concepts resulting from rational understanding. Naturally, they cannot intentionally do anything they like to meet their particular wish. For example, they cannot mix different kinds of ingredients with the fish, we were talking about above, to make it suit their taste.
(4) The things you see, smell, taste, hear, and smell arc all perceived through your senses. Your rational understanding will form those kinds of perception into certain concepts. It is clear that your perception of the things you have experienced is closely related to your life; that is, your background. In his higher level of understanding, man has metaphysical un¬derstanding. It is an abstraction of the nature of existence, truth, or knowledge.

gold test
BELIEVE IT OR NOT

II. DIFFICULT WORDS
1. terra-cotta = tanah liat
2. linen fabrics = kain linen
3. pottery legions = legiun dari tanah liat
4. swords = pedang
5. spears = tombak
6. crossbows = busur
7. preservative = bahan anti karat
8. jade = batu giok
9. chariots = kereta perang
10. tomb = kuburan, makam

III. PASSAGE
(1) It is hard to believe that in China 6,000 terra-cotta soldiers were buried for 2,200 years. It is quite amazing that none of them have the same face. Each was built in life-size of six feet tall.
(2) In 246 B.C. China was under Ch'in Shih Huang Ti. At the moment he became the king at 13, the building of his tomb began. It took 36 years, and hundreds of thousand of people were forced to work in the project. It was Ch'in Shih Huang Ti who ordered to model realistic portraits of each soldier, servant, footman in his live honour guard. Naturally, some look fierce; others look proud and confident.
(3) The pottery legions line up in battle formation. They carry real swords, spears and crossbows. The arrowheads and metal swords are coated with a preservative. They can stand for 22 centuries. Pottery horses are also found with the army. The animals look tense as if in t he war situation. The horses draw actual chariots. Iron farm tools, silk and linen fairies, and jade pieces are stored nearby.
(4) Formerly Chinese kings used to bury live warriors, women, servants and horses. Ch'in Shih Huang Ti brought it back symbolically. He hoped that his men would always guard him forever, even after death. That is the reason why he ordered to bury terra-cotta warriors with him instead of live warriors on horses.
(5) Besides the great tomb, Ch'in Shih Huang Ti also built the famous Great Wall. He was the king who united China. The king was buried in Mount Li in 210 B.C.
(6) Chinese archeologists reported that it was really an amazing discovery. - The tomb showed the achievements of ancient Chinese culture and civilization. The discovery has been widely reported by local as well as inter¬national mass media.
(7) It seems that not only has this kind of important discovery, now, belonged to the Chinese, but also has it to the world. It is just like the world's seven wonders. It is not surprising, then, that several international organizations have offered any help they can do such as sending experts or giving funds. The Chinese archeologists, however, have stated that it was maily their duty to keep and preserve their ancestors' remains.

Reading 3 Text 01-10 by Khrisna

2008-10-07T11:16:00.000-07:00

READING 3

TEXT 1

Nat Turner was born in Virginia in 1800. As a young man, he organized a group of fellow slaves in a violent uprising in which eighty-five whites were killed. Turner said that he had heard a voice in 1828 that told him ‘the last shall be the first.” He considered this experience and solar eclipse three years later as signs to begin the insurrection for which he was tried, convicted, and hanged.

Nat Turner was …

a politician c. a slave
an astronomer d. a farmer

What happened to Turner in 1828?

He heard a voice c. He organized an uprising
He saw a solar eclipse d. He was convicted and hanged

You can infer from the text that Nat Turner was …

Intelligent c. superstitious
Popular d. creative

TEXT 2

The United States of America developed from a predominantly rural nation at the end of the Civil War in 1865 to the world’s largest and wealthiest industrial power by the time it entered World War I in 1917. Among the key factors to this major transformation were a huge population increase, discovery and exploration of enormous mineral resources, consolidation of the vast Great Plains and Western settlements, and the construction of the extensive railroad networks to service industrial, agricultural, and population growth.

This passage is mainly about …

why the US entered World War I.
how the US became an industrial power.
how the Great Plains and the West were settled.
why the railroads were built.

In 1917 the US …

became involved in a war.
discovered minerals in the Southwest.
ended its civil war.
became a wealthy country.

You can infer from the text that between 1865 and 1917, many people …

left the cities c. died in the war
went to work by train d. moved to the cities

TEXT 3

Despite predictions that the twenty-sixth American Amendment to the United States Constitution would bring on radical changes in American politics, very little effect was felt, as few young people aged between 18 and 21 actually want to vote, and those who do vote show voting patterns similar to those of older voters.

It can be inferred from the passage that the Twenty-sixth Amendment …

was ratified recently c. gave the young the right to vote
greatly affected politics d. doubled the numbers of voters

The Twenty-sixth Amendment did not greatly affect politics because large numbers of young people …

vote differently from the older people
do not know how to vote
do not understand the Constitution
do not want to vote

TEXT 4

The wild turkey existed in great numbers when the settlers first arrived in America. During the first half of the century, however, their numbers decreased do rapidly that they can no longer be found in some states. The ax, the plow, and the gun are blamed for the decline of the wild turkey. Recent game propagation laws prohibit the shooting of anything but the bearded birds, usually males, to protect the brooding hens.

The passage says that at present wild turkeys are …

decreasing in number c. bearded birds
easy to shoot d. increasing in number

The decline of the wild turkey was a result of …

Lumberjacks c. hunters
Farmers d. all of the above

The law allows hunters to kill …

brooding hens c. wild turkeys
bearded birds d. anything they want

TEXT 5

There is fear that short-term interest rates could rice in the next month as the Federal Reserve attempts to reduce growth in the money supply by reducing reserves in the banks. A crucial issue is whether money supply increases forecasted for September will be temporary or part of a fundamental increase in the public’s demand for money. The former would improve the chances for renewed interest rate declines, whereas the latter would indicate stable or higher interest rates.

You may infer that this item appeared in …

the entertainment section of a newspaper
the business section of a newspaper
a television newscast
a current textbook

Money supply increases will be temporary and would …

indicate higher interest rates
improve the chances for interest rate declines
create fear in the market
increase public demand for money

The Federal Reserve reduces the money reserves in order to …

reduce money supply
reduce interest rates
forecast future events in the stock market
increase public demand for money

TEXT 6

What is the best way for you, as an employer, to deliver bad news to an employee? First, you have to break the news yourself, face to face with the recipient. You cannot write memos to tell people they will not get raises this year or that they have made an error or are not performing as well as expected. You have to show them how you feel about the matter and that you are personally sorry and sympathize with them. If you indicate that you are ready to listen to their reactions to your bad news, you will undoubtedly save yourself from their wrath. Above all, you must be ready for an emotional reaction from the recipient of bad news. Give people time to digest your news and to control the emotion they invariably feel. Although it is never easy to break bad news, if you follow these steps, you will at least soften the blow.

The author main idea is that …

bad news is hard to impart
all employers have to criticize their employees
there are ways of softening the impact of bad news
people respond emotionally to bad news

Where is the main idea expressed?

in the first sentence c. in the middle of the paragraph
in the last sentence d. nowhere

The main idea is supported by …

examples of employers giving bad news
a list of reasons for having to break bad news
sympathy for both the employer and employee
instructions on how to soften the blow of bad news

TEXT 7

Left-handed people suffer more from stress than their right-handed peers, according to a study of 1,100 adults by University of Michigan researchers. As a result, they smoke and drink more. Fifty-five percent of the lefties smoked, whereas fewer than half of the righties smoked. Furthermore, the lefties consumed more alcohol per year than the right-handed counterparts.

The author’s intent is …

to show the effects smoking and drinking on left-handed people
to encourage people to stop drinking and smoking, especially if they’re left-handed
to show that the left-handed people suffer more from stress that right-handed people
unclear

The author’s attitude toward the subject is …

favorable
unfavorable
unclear

After reading this paragraph, the reader would …

have a favorable opinion
have an unfavorable opinion
need more information to form an opinion

TEXT 8

Dear Sandy,

I am worried sick about my husband. Ten years ago he was drinking so much that our marriage was foundering. Realizing he was ruining his life and his children’s and mine, he went to an Alcoholic’s anonymous. Within months, he was a new man; healthy, happy, a wonderful husband and father. He forswore drinking forever. Recently, however, he read some place that alcoholic could drink a little if they did so cautiously. It’s like a nightmare. His boss is ready to fire him, the children have moved out, and our marriage is once again in the brink of dissolving in alcohol. Is it possible for a reformed alcoholic to drink moderately?

Depressed in Milwaukee

Dear Depressed,

No, it’s not possible for an alcoholic to drink moderately. Alcoholism is a disease for which the only cure is complete abstinence. Research with thousands of subjects has proven conclusively than an alcoholic should not drink at all; he has no more control over his drinking that he would over a ferocious bear. Unless your husband returns to AA for help, your woes will never cease.

The author is writing to …

nervous diseases doctor
a newspaper columnist who gives advice to readers
Alcoholics Anonymous to enroll her husband
A lawyer to get a divorce

The reply to the letter is based upon …

the writer’s disdain for alcoholism
objective proof
personal experience
subjective data

According to this reading, an alcoholic at a cocktail party …

could have no more than one drink
wouldn’t be a good host
couldn’t take his wife with him
had better drink water in a highball glass

Presumably the alcoholic can get help from …

his wife c. his lawyer
his children d. none of the above

An alcoholic can control his drinking. True or false? …
How did you know the answer to question number 5?

It was stated in the text
It was implied in the text
The reading did not give the necessary information

TEXT 9

Dear Sandy,

I wrote to you lat year about my suspicions of my husband and our next door neighbor, the widow Talbot. You never answered, and now I really need your help.

My husband and I have been married for ten years. We have three beautiful children, a house with a pool in a lovely suburban development, and I don’t go out to work because I think children need their mother; don’t you? Two years ago the widow Talbot moved into the house next door, and our children and hers became the best of friends. Feeling sorry for the lonely widow, I invited her and her family over for barbecues and other social events. All is proceeding well until the widow began to ask my husband to do little hoe repair jobs, like fixing the air conditioning, the leaky faucets, and the furnace.

Now I have found that her house has been in perfect condition. She and my husband have been carrying on at her house. I wondered why she always sent her children over to play with ours when he was “making repairs.” Well, now I know. Our phone was out of order one day while he was there, and I went over to use hers and found my husband was in her arms. I am frantic. I’m sure he loves me and the little ones. What should I do? Should I get a divorce?

Distraught in Detroit

Dear Distraught,

You sound like a devoted mother. We all know that divorce is very hard on everyone, especially the kids. I recommend that you talk over the situation with your husband. After ten years of marriage, surely you can reach an understanding about the widow Talbot. Try cooking his favorite food and pampering him a bit more than usual to woo him back to you. If your own efforts fail, you should make an appointment with a professional marriage counselor to discuss the situation.

The author of this letter is writing to …

a marriage counselor c. lovelorn columnist
her mother d. her lawyer

The reply to the letter is based upon the writer’s …

dislike of flirtatious widows
desire to protect the children
wide experience with such marital problems
impatience with a silly wife

According to the letter from “Distraught,” the widow …

was lying about needing home repairs
bought a run-down house
was monogamous
had a telephone that worked

“Distraught” is advised to …

prepare the children for the divorce
pamper the widow
see the lawyer
give her husband special care and attention

How did you get the answer to question number 4?

a. It was stated in the text
It was implied in the text
The reading did not give the necessary information

You can infer from the text that “Distraught” and her husband …

are always kind to stranger c. have a comfortable income
are careless of their children d. enjoy cooking outdoors

TEXT 10

Dear X,

My engine cranks alright. But why won’t it stat up?

Jessie in Denver

Jessie in Denver,

Think twice. Are you following the exact starting procedure given in you owner’s manual? Next, pin down the trouble area by checking these possibilities: (1) gasoline, (2) spark, and (3) air-gasoline ratio.

First, make sure that you have gasoline in tank. If that’s not the problem, maybe you have flooded the engine. Hold the gas pedal to the floor for 10 seconds (do not pump it) as you crank the engine.

Still no start? Maybe the problem is a stuck needle valve. Tap the carburetor bowl lightly near the gas line using pliers or a screwdriver handle. This should free the valve so you can start. But if nothing has done the trick so far, move to the next step.

Next, check to see if the engine is getting the spark it needs to start. First, look for loose or broken spark plug wires. Fix what you can.

If the wires look alright, make a detailed check for a spark. Twist one spark plug boot away from its plug. Push an insulated screwdriver into the boot. Hold the shank of the screwdriver about 1/8 inch away from a metal engine part. Have someone crank the engine. (Be sure you keep your hands away from the screwdriver shank and the wire to avoid shock.) You’ll see a small spark if the ignition system is working. No spark? Get help. (Caution: if there is any gasoline on the engine, be sure you let it evaporate before you try this test.) If you see a spark, you have eliminated that as a possibility. Move to the next step.

Finally, find out if the carburetor is feeding sufficient air and gasoline to the engine. Remove the top of the air cleaner so you can see the choke plat. If the plate is stuck open, push it shut (only if the engine is cold) and try to start again.

Still no start? Hold the choke wide open and peer deep inside as someone pumps the gas pedal. If you see gas squirting. You need professional help.

This type of selection is …

scientific reading c. editorial writing
a “how-to” article d. automobile advertising

The author’s intent is to …

explain why cars break down
warn you about the dangers involved in do-it yourself car repairs
describe the method of checking spark plugs
instruct you how to deal with a car problem

If you check for a spark and don’t get one, what should you do?

Check the carburetor next
Get an auto mechanic
Clean the gas off the motor
Get a shock

What is the first thing to do when your car doesn’t start?

Check your gas
Flood the engine
Contact your automobile salesman
Be sure you’re following the rules for starting the car.

If you are testing a for spark, gas on the engine is dangerous …

because it might start the car
when it has evaporated
after it leaks out of the carburetor
because the spark might ignite the gas

You should use an insulated screwdriver to …

protect the engine
avoid scratching the metal
avoid getting a shock
twist the spark plug boot

You can unstuck the valve by …

taking it out
avoid cutting yourself
loosening it
twisting it

It can be inferred that a carburetor …

is connected to the spark plug
cranks the engine
regulates gas and air flow
has an open plate

If the engine is cold, it is all right to …

try to start the car
close the choke plate
take off the air cleaner
pump the gas pedal

The choke plate is …

next to the gas tank
above the air cleaner
beneath the air cleaner
inside the spark plug

Strategi Belajar Bahasa Ke 2

2008-07-27T18:54:00.000-07:00

6 Language learning strategies

Memory

1. I think of relationships between what I already know and new things I learn in English.

2. I use new English words in a sentence so I can remember them.

3. I connect the sound of a new English word and an image or picture of the word to help me remember the word.

4. I remember a new English word by making a mental picture of a situation in which the word might be used.

5. I use rhymes to remember new English words.

6. I use flashcards to remember new English words.

7. I physically act out new English words.

8. I review English lessons often.

9. I remember new English word or phrases by remembering their location on the
page, on the board, or on a street sign

Cognitive

10. I say or write new English words several times.

11. I try to talk like native English speakers.

12. I practice the sounds of English.

13. I use the English words I know in different ways.

14. I start conversations in English.

15. I watch English language TV shows spoken in English or go to movies spoken in English.

16. I read for pleasure in English.

17. I write notes, messages, letters, or reports in English.

18. I first skim an English passage (read the passage quickly) then go back and read carefully.

19. I look for words in my own language that are similar to new words in English.

20. I try to find pattern in English.

21. I find the meaning of an English word by dividing it into parts that I understand.

22. I try not to translate word-for-word.

23. I make summaries of information that I hear or read in English.

Compensation

24. To understand unfamiliar English words, I make guesses.

25. When I can't think of a word during a conversation in English, I use gestures.

26. I make up new words if I do not know the right ones in English.

27. I read English without looking up every new word.

28. I try to guess what the other person will say next in English.

29. If I can't think of an English word, I use a word or phrase that means the same thing

Metacognitive

30. I try to find as many ways as I can to use my English.

31. I notice my English mistakes and use that information to help me do better.

32. I pay attention when someone is speaking English.

33. I try to find out how to be a better learner of English.

34. I plan my schedule so I will have enough time to study English.

35. I look for people I can talk to in English.

36. I look for opportunities to read as much as possible in English.

37. I have clear goals for improving my English skills.

38. I think about my progress in learning English.

Affective

39. I try to relax whenever I feel afraid of using English.

40. I encourage myself to speak English even when I am afraid of making a mistake.

41. I give myself a reward or treat when I do well in English.

42. I notice if I am tense or nervous when I am studying or using English.

43. I write down my feeling in a language learning diary.

44. I talk to someone else about how I feel when I am learning English.

Social

45. If I do not understand something in English, I ask the other person to slow down or say it again.

46. I ask English speakers to correct me when I talk.

47. I practice English with other students.

48. I ask for help from English speakers.

49. I ask questions in English.

50. I try to learn about the culture of English speakers.

The Law of Life

2008-07-27T18:34:00.000-07:00

“Aha.” That was the sound of his daughter, Sit-cum-to-ha. She was beating the dogs, trying to make them stand in front of the snow sleds. He was forgotten by her, and by the others, too. They had to look for new hunting grounds. The long, snowy ride waited. The days of the northlands were growing short. The tribe could not wait for death. Koskoosh was dying.

The stiff, crackling noises of frozen animal skins told him that the chief’s tent was being torn down. The chief was a mighty hunter. He was his son, the son of Koskoosh. Koskoosh was being left to die.

As the women worked, old Koskoosh could hear his son’s voice drive them to work faster. He listened harder. It was the last time he would hear that voice. A child cried, and a woman sang softly to quiet it. The child was Koo-tee, the old man thought, a sickly child. It would die soon, and they would burn a hole in the frozen ground to bury it. They would cover its small body with stones to keep the wolves away.

“Well, what of it? A few years, and in the end, death. Death waited ever hungry. Death had the hungriest stomach of all.”

Koskoosh listened to other sounds he would hear no more: the men tying strong leather rope around the sleds to hold their belongings; the sharp sounds of leather whips, ordering the dogs to move and pull the sleds.

“Listen to the dogs cry. How they hated the work.”

They were off. Sled after sled moved slowly away into the silence. They had passed out of his life. He must meet his last hour alone.

“But what was that?” The snow packed down hard under someone’s shoes. A man stood beside him, and placed a hand gently on his old head. His son was good to do this. He remembered other old men whose sons had not done this, who had left without a goodbye.

His mind traveled into the past until his son’s voice brought him back. “It is well with you?” his son asked. And the old man answered, “It is well.”

“There is wood next to you and the fire burns bright,” the son said. “The morning is gray and the cold is here. It will snow soon. Even now it is snowing. Ahh, even now it is snowing.

“The tribesmen hurry. Their loads are heavy and their stomachs flat from little food. The way is long and they travel fast. I go now. All is well?”

“It is well. I am as last year’s leaf that sticks to the tree. The first breath that blows will knock me to the ground. My voice is like an old woman’s. My eyes no longer show me the way my feet go. I am tired and all is well.”

He lowered his head to his chest and listened to the snow as his son rode away. He felt the sticks of wood next to him again. One by one, the fire would eat them. And step by step, death would cover him. When the last stick was gone, the cold would come. First, his feet would freeze. Then, his hands. The cold would travel slowly from the outside to the inside of him, and he would rest. It was easy…all men must die.

He felt sorrow, but he did not think of his sorrow. It was the way of life. He had lived close to the earth, and the law was not new to him. It was the law of the body. Nature was not kind to the body. She was not thoughtful of the person alone. She was interested only in the group, the race, the species.

This was a deep thought for old Koskoosh. He had seen examples of it in all his life. The tree sap in early spring; the new-born green leaf, soft and fresh as skin; the fall of the yellowed, dry leaf. In this alone was all history.

He placed another stick on the fire and began to remember his past. He had been a great chief, too. He had seen days of much food and laughter; fat stomachs when food was left to rot and spoil; times when they left animals alone, unkilled; days when women had many children. And he had seen days of no food and empty stomachs, days when the fish did not come, and the animals were hard to find.

For seven years the animals did not come. Then, he remembered when as a small boy how he watched the wolves kill a moose. He was with his friend Zing-ha, who was killed later in the Yukon River.

Ah, but the moose. Zing-ha and he had gone out to play that day. Down by the river they saw fresh steps of a big, heavy moose. “He’s an old one,” Zing-ha had said. “He cannot run like the others. He has fallen behind. The wolves have separated him from the others. They will never leave him.”

And so it was. By day and night, never stopping, biting at his nose, biting at his feet, the wolves stayed with him until the end.

Zing-ha and he had felt the blood quicken in their bodies. The end would be a sight to see.

They had followed the steps of the moose and the wolves. Each step told a different story. They could see the tragedy as it happened: here was the place the moose stopped to fight. The snow was packed down for many feet. One wolf had been caught by the heavy feet of the moose and kicked to death. Further on, they saw how the moose had struggled to escape up a hill. But the wolves had attacked from behind. The moose had fallen down and crushed two wolves. Yet, it was clear the end was near.

The snow was red ahead of them. Then they heard the sounds of battle. He and Zing-ha moved closer, on their stomachs, so the wolves would not see them. They saw the end. The picture was so strong it had stayed with him all his life. His dull, blind eyes saw the end again as they had in the far off past.

For long, his mind saw his past. The fire began to die out, and the cold entered his body. He placed two more sticks on it, just two more left. This would be how long he would live.

It was very lonely. He placed one of the last pieces of wood on the fire. Listen, what a strange noise for wood to make in the fire. No, it wasn’t wood. His body shook as he recognized the sound…wolves.

The cry of a wolf brought the picture of the old moose back to him again. He saw the body torn to pieces, with fresh blood running on the snow. He saw the clean bones lying gray against the frozen blood. He saw the rushing forms of the gray wolves, their shinning eyes, their long wet tongues and sharp teeth. And he saw them form a circle and move ever slowly closer and closer.

A cold, wet nose touched his face. At the touch, his soul jumped forward to awaken him. His hand went to the fire and he pulled a burning stick from it. The wolf saw the fire, but was not afraid. It turned and howled into the air to his brother wolves. They answered with hunger in their throats, and came running.

The old Indian listened to the hungry wolves. He heard them form a circle around him and his small fire. He waved his burning stick at them, but they did not move away. Now, one of them moved closer, slowly, as if to test the old man’s strength. Another and another followed. The circle grew smaller and smaller. Not one wolf stayed behind.

Why should he fight? Why cling to life? And he dropped his stick with the fire on the end of it. It fell in the snow and the light went out.

The circle of wolves moved closer. Once again the old Indian saw the picture of the moose as it struggled before the end came. He dropped his head to his knees. What did it matter after all? Isn’t this the law of life?