LATIHAN TOPIK DAN POKOK PIKIRAN SUATU PARAGRAF

A. CIRI KHAS PERTANYAAN

1. What is paragraph 1 about?
2. What does paragraph (3) tell you about?
3. What is the (third) paragraph of the text about?
4. What is the main idea of paragraph (2)?
5. What is the main idea of the last paragraph?
6. Paragraph (4) tells you about .
7. The (fourth) paragraph is about .
B. BACALAH PARAGRAF-PARAGRAF BERIKUT, KEMUDIAN JAWABALAH
PERTANYAAN BERIKUT INI UNTUK MASING-MASING PARAGRAF:
What is the paragraph about?
What is the main idea of the paragraph?
1. Read the text and answer the questions given.
Yusuf was too small to help his mother, and she was too
frightened to speak sensibly to him. But he ran to the
neighbours house and asked his neighbor to come and help his
mother. The neighbor soon put out the fire and took Yusufs
mother to the clinic.
2. Read the text and answer the questions given.
If Jennifer isnt working on a film or making a record, her life style
is very different. When she has got time off, shes quite happy to
go out. She loves New York restaurants. She loves dancing. She
sometimes dances until three oclock in the morning!
3. Read the text and answer the questions given.
Bamboo products range from food to houses. Asian people
usually use the sprouts as vegetables. In East and Southeast Asia
people use the hollow stems for water pipes and for building
bridges and houses. Short sections serve as pails and cooking
utensils. The stems make for walls, floors and roofs. Thinner
strips are woven into mats, chairs, cages and curtains. Bamboo
fishing rods are made of matched strips glued together. Split
bamboo is also used for chopsticks and fan ribs. The inner parts
of stems of several species are made into quality papers.

4. Read the text and answer the questions given.

The game started at 1:28. Both team played faster than they had
ever had. All the batter swung at the first pitch. The team ran on
and off the field between innings. Once, the Asheville pitcher
even pitched before his teammates were on the field. The game
was over at 1:59. Winston-Salem won by two-one. The players
had no problem catching the train.
5. Read the text and answer the questions given.
One day, a man stopped at a flower shop to order some flowers.
He wanted to send it to his mother who lived far in another town
through a delivery company. Meanwhile, he was looking at a sad
young girl who was sitting in front of the flower shop. He asked
her what was wrong and she replied, I wanted to buy a red rose
for my mother, but my money is not enough. The man smiled
and said, Come on in with me. Ill buy you a rose. He bought
the little girl a rose, and he ordered for his own mother flowers,
too.
6. Read the text and answer the questions given.
The food in Mexico sometimes surprises tourists. it can be very
spicy! Mexican cooks use a special kind of pepper. This pepper is
so spicy that it almost burns your mouth. But most people start
to like the spices after a while. They learn to like Mexican food
very much.
7. Read the text and answer the questions given.
Large forests are important to us in many ways. They give us
wood for building and heating. They are a home for many kinds
of plants and animals. And for many city people, forests are a
place to go for a vacation. People can learn about nature there.
They can breathe fresh air and sleep in a quiet place. But there is
one more reason why forests are important for everyone. The
leaves on the trees in a forest help clean the air. Dirty air is a
problem in many parts of the world. Without our forests this
problem might be much worse.

8. Read the text and answer the questions given.

Diamonds are very expensive for several reasons. First, they are
difficult to find. They are only found in a few places in the world.
Second, they are useful. People use diamonds to cut other

stones. Third, diamonds do not change. They stay the same for
millions of years. And finally, they are very beautiful.
9. Read the text and answer the questions given.
There are many kids of pollution. One kind is air pollution. This
usually is a problem over cities. Water pollution is another
problem. It is found in rivers, lakes, and oceans. Also, pollution of
the earth is sometimes a problem near farms. And finally, there is
even noise pollution, especially in crowded cities.
10. Read the text and answer the questions given.
Ozone is an unusually active form of oxygen produced by the
discharge of electricity in the air. The fresh, pungent odor of the
air after a thunderstorm is partly due to the presence of ozone
produced in the air by lighting. The slightly irritating odor near x
rays and other high-voltage machine is also due to the presence
of ozone.
11.

Read the text and answer the questions given.

Certainly money should not be your chief aim in life. But you
ought not to despise it, for it can help you and your family
obtains many of good things of life. It can buy an adequate diet,
one of the bases of good health. When necessary, it can provide
medicine and medical care. It can be the means for a
comfortable house, for travel, for good books and for hobbies and
recreation. It can make it easier for your children to secure an
education. Finally, it can offer a great opportunity for you to help
others.
12. Read the text and answer the questions given.
Computer language can be funny at times. For example, we say
computers have a memory. We know they do not really
remember or think. But we still say memory. Also, on many
computer programs there is a menu. Of course, we are not
talking about restaurants or food. This is a different kind of menu.
Another funny example is the mouse in some computers. it is
hard not to think about a real mouse when you hear the word.
But do not worry: there are no little gray animals in the machine.
13.

Read the text and answer the questions given.

The chemist is essential in our life today. Aviation uses

lightweight aluminum, magnesium, high-octane gasoline all

processed or created by chemist. The automotive industry uses

plastics, improved gasoline and oils, improved rubber and other
creations or discovery of the chemist. Farming depends on the
chemist for many fertilizers and insecticides. Medicine has
received the miracle drugs and synthetic vitamins from the
chemist. Indeed, the chemist today is irreplaceable.
14.

Read the text and answer the questions given.

Certainly money should not be your chief aim in life. But you
ought not to despise it, for it can help you and your family obtain
many of good things of life. It can buy an adequate diet, one of
the bases of good health. When necessary, it can provide
medicine and medical care. It can be the means for a
comfortable house, for travel, for good books and for hobbies and
recreation. It can make it easier for your children to secure an
education. Finally, it can offer a great opportunity for you to help
others.

15.

Read the text and answer the questions given.

You may question whether a poor mark in chemistry, for
example, will look bad to the future employer who is
considering you for a sales position. It will. Or at least it will
throw some doubt into his mind. He will reason something like
this: He (you) was given a job to do, but he didnt give that job
a good effort. I wonder if he will postpone calling on a tough
customer until a worker from other company has clinched the
sale.

16.

Read the text and answer the questions given.

The 1989 Census Report tells us that in 1987, of all men 25
years and older, those who completed eight years of grade
school received a median income of $2533. Those with four
years of high school received a median wage of 3258. Those
who stuck out four years of college received a median wage of
$4407

17.

Read the text and answer the questions given.

(1) The widespread illusion on this subject (working ones way
through college) is due to several misconceptions. (2) The first of

these is the popular idea that the great objective is to get

through college. (3) Getting through college is of no value
whatsoever. (4) Many men have gotten through college who
would be better off if they had never seen a college. (5) So
would society. (6) Which is to say that there are no many ways of
getting through college and some of them mean nothing. (7)
What counts is what a man gets out of college as he gets
through. (8) If he gets what he should, he will be immediately
enriched and society will be blessed by his ability and his
service. (9) But if he does not get these proper values, he has
nothing. (10) The fact, therefore, that a man earned his through
college means nothing unless the man got something as he went
through. (11) Many of the earning men get little or nothing. (12)
In one case play interferes with education. (14) In the other,
menial, driving, all absorbing remunerative work does the same.
18.

Read the text and answer the questions given.

You must never forget, though, that it takes a lot of hard
work to become a good lawyer.
A boy must first spend at least five years in college in
some states fear. And he must get high grades or he wont be
accepted by an accredited law school. If he is admitted to law
school, he next must put in three years of still more intensive
effort in order to win the cherished degree of Bachelor of
Laws.
Even then his hard work in not done.
He has to pass the bar. This is an examination given by the
various states to determine whether a man has a thorough
knowledge and understanding of law.