TRIK JITU MENGERJAKAN SOAL TOEFL(READING)

                Napoleon Bonaparte's ambition to control all the area around the Mediterranean Sea led him and his French soldiers to Egypt.After losing a naval battle,they were forced to remain there for three years.In 1799,while constructing a fort,a soldier discovered a piece of stele(a stone,pillar bearing an inscription)known as the Rosetta stone,in commemoration of the town near the fort.This famour stone,which would eventually lead to the deciphering of ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics        

b.demotic

dating to 3100 B.C.,was written in three languages,hieroglyphics(picture writing),demotic(a     shorthand version of Egyptian hieroglyphics),and Greek.Scientists discovered that the               characters,unlike those in English,could be written from right to left and in other directions as well.The direction in which they were read  dependent on how the characters were                      arranged.Living elements(animals,people,and body parts)were often the first symbols,and the  direction that they faced indicated the direction for reading them.

                Twenty-three years after discovery of the Roseta stone,Jean Francois Champollion, a French   philologist,fluent in several languages,was able to decipher the first word-Ptolemy-name of an Egyptian ruler.This name was written inside an oval called a"cartouche."Further investigation revealed that cartouches contained names of important people of that period.Champollion painstakingly continued his search and was able to increase his growing list of known phonetic signs.He and an Englishman,Thomas Young,worked independently of each other to unravel the deeply hidden mysteries of this strange language.Young believe that sound values could be assigned to the symbols,while Champollion insisted that the pictures represented words.

1.All of the following languages were written on the Rosetta stone EXCEPT

a.French

c.Greek

d.hieroglyphics

pembahasan:Three languages,hieroglyphics,demotic,and Greek,are mentioned in paragraph 1,sentence 4.The only choice not mentioned is(A),French.

2.All of the following statements are true EXCEPT

a.cartoucher contained names of prominent people of the period

b.champollion and Young worked together in an attempt to decipher the hieriglyphics

c.one of Napoleon's soldiers discovered the Rosetta stone

d.thomas Young believed that sound values could be assigned to the symbols.

pembahasan:Paragraph 2,sentence 5,states that they worked"independently of each other.""Independently" means the opposite of"together."

3.The word"deciphering"in line 8 is closest in meaning to........

a.decoding

b.downfall

c.demotic

d.Champolion

pembahasan:In the passage,"deciphering"is done to ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics,so choices(B)and(C)can be eliminated immediately.Later in the passage,mention is made of"unravelingthe language mysteries,which should lead you to choose"decoding"rather than "probing".

4.The first word deciphered from the Rosetta stone was.....

a.cartouche

b.Ptolemy

c.demotic

d.Napoleon

pembahasan:Paragraph 2,sentence 1,says that the word was"Ptolemy."

5.Napoleon's soldiers were in Egypt in 1799 because they were.......

a.celebrating a naval victory

b.looking for the Rosetta stone

c.waiting to continue their compaign

d.trying to decipher the hieroglyphics

pembahasan:The words"they were forced to remain there for three years"indicate that they were waiting to continue their campaign.This is an inference question.Note that choice(a)is contradicted by paragraph 1,sentence 2,which tells us they lost a naval battle.Choices(B)and(D)are contradicted by the fact that the stone was discovered by accident during the contrution of a fort.

6.The prson responsible for deciphering the first word was........

a.Champollion

b.Young

c.Ptolemy

d.Napoleon

pembahasan:Paragraph 2,sentence 1,states that Champollion deciphered the first word.

7.Why was the piece of newly discovered stele called the Rosetta stone?

a.It was shaped like a rosette.

b.It was to honor Napoleon's friend Rosetta.

c.The town near the fort was called Rosetta.

d.The fort was called Rosetta.

pembahasan:Sentence 3 states the stele was"known as the Rosetta stone,in commemoration of the town near the fort."

8.In line 1,"ambition"is nearest in meaning to.......

a.aspiration

b.indolence

c.indifference

d.apathy

pembahasan:The sentence states that he had an "ambition to control all the area around the Mediterranean Sea,"which should lead you to understand that"ambition"is a desire,or"astiration"

9.What is the best titlle for the passage?

a.Napoleon's Great Discovery

b.Deciphering the hieroglyphics of the Rosetta stone

c.Thomas Young's Great Contribution

d.The Importance of Cartouches

pembahasan:Choice(A)is not inaccurate;however,one might expect a passage so titled to concentrate on the details of Napoleon and how he discovered the stone,which it doesn't.Choice(C)covers a details of the passage,as does choice(C).Determining what was written on the stone was the chief subject of the ppassge.

10.In which lines of the reading passage is the direction for reading hieroglyphics discussed?

a.Lines 5-8

b.Line 14-18

c.Line 19-22

d.Line 25-27

pembahasan:Lines 14-18 state that"the direction in which they were read depended on how the characters were arranged."The following sentence continues the description.

Thank for reading TRIK JITU MENGERJAKAN SOAL TOEFL in my blog.

reference:cliffs

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