Even Semester 17/18 [PASSAGE EXAMPLE]

READING COMPREHENSION

Passage 1

ROOT, SOIL, AND NUTRIENT UPTAKES

The soil solution, however, is very dilute (total mineral content is on the order of 10−3 M)
and would quickly become depleted by the roots were it not continually replenished by the release of
elements from the solid phase. In one study of phosphorous uptake, for example, it was calculated that
the phosphate content of the soil was renewed on the average of 10 times each day. Availability of
nutrient elements is not, however, limited to the properties of the soil itself. Access to elements is
further enhanced by the continual growth of the very dynamic root system into new, nutrient-rich
regions of the soil.

Paragraph 2

The use of synthetic antibiotics as growth promoters and disease prevention has been
practiced for more than 50 yr in poultry industry. This application may, however, have a risk to
human health, e.g., phenomena antibiotic resistance in human due to antibiotic residues in food of
animal origin8
It has been acknowledged that removal of synthetic antibiotics as feed additive in the ration
may adversely effect the growth and health of chickens. Several alternatives have been proposed to
substitute synthetic antibiotics including probiotics. Yet, the efficacy of the probiotic feed additives in
poultry is inconsistent At present, lactic acid bacteria (LAB) are the most common microorganism
used for probiotics. It is known that LAB are sensitive to heat, and therefore the survivability and
stability of LAB as probiotics are difficult to maintain especially during feed manufacturing. Note that
the survivability and stability of probiotics may determine the effectiveness of probiotics in improving
the performances and health of chickens. Besides LAB, fungi are potential probiotic microorganisms
for poultry. Some researcher reported that filamentous fungus Chrysonilia crassa could stimulate the
development of duodenal villi and decrease the number of pathogenic bacteria and fungi in duodenum
and caeca of chickens.
 Even Semester 17/18 [PASSAGE EXAMPLE]

Questions:
1. What is the main idea of paragraph 2 passage 1?
2. What is the most suitable title for the passage 1 and 2 ?
3. Which sentence is the topic sentence for paragraph 1 passage 2?
4. What do sentence #4 in passage 1 do? (ex: argue about something, etc)
5. What is the core information that passage #2 trying to convey?
6. What the next paragraph both in passage 1 and passage 2 will likely talking about?
7. Which passage belong to descriptive paragraph? Write down your reason!

1. The soil solution, however, is very dilute and would quickly become depleted by the roots were it
not continually replenished by the release of elements from the solid phase.
2. Passage 1 : Soil
Passage 2 : Synthetic antibiotics
3. The use of synthetic antibiotics banned . Due to food safety reason, the use of such antibiotics for
poultry production is therefore banned (in European union) or reduced (in the rest of the world).
4. Explain the absorption of the root system
5. LAB and fungi increase the syntax of antibiotics in increasing poultry health
6. Passage 1 : Explain the types of nutritional elements that are good for plant growth
Passage 2 : The potential of these fungi in poultry growth
7. Passage 1. Because in passage 1 describes the soil, roots and absorption of nutrients by the roots