(agriculture development)

Soal Tes TOEFL dan Pembahasan Jawaban Reading (agriculture development)

Both in what is now the eastern and the southwestern United States, the peoples of the
Archaic era (8,000-1,000 B.C) were, in a way, already adapted to beginnings of cultivation
through their intensive gathering and processing of wild plant foods. In both areas, there
was a well-established ground stone tool technology, a method of pounding and grinding
nuts and other plant foods, that could be adapted to newly cultivated foods. By the end of
the Archaic era, people in eastern North America had domesticated certain native plants,
including sunflowers; weeds called goosefoot, sumpweed, or marsh elder; and squash or
gourds of some kind. These provided seeds that were important sources of carbohydrates
and fat in the diet.

The earliest cultivation seems to have taken place along the river valleys of the Midwest and
the Southeast, with experimentation beginning as early as 7,000 years ago and
domestication beginning 4,000 to 2,000 years ago. Although the term “Neolithic” is not
used in North American prehistory, these were the first steps toward the same major
subsistence changes that took place during the Neolithic (8,000-2,000 B.C.) period
elsewhere in the world.

Archaeologists debate the reasons for beginning cultivation in the eastern part of the
continent. Although population and sedentary living were increasing at the time, there is
little evidence that people lacked adequate wild food resources; the newly domesticated
foods supplemented a continuing mixed subsistence of hunting, fishing, and gathering wild
plants, Increasing predictability of food supplies may have been a motive. It has been
suggested that some early cultivation was for medicinal and ceremonial plants rather than
for food. One archaeologist has pointed out that the early domesticated plants were all
weedy species that do well in open, disturbed habitats, the kind that would form around
human settlements where people cut down trees, trample the ground, deposit trash, and dig
holes. It has been suggested that sunflower, sumpweed, and other plants almost
domesticated themselves, that is , they thrived in human –disturbed habitats, so humans
intensively collected them and began to control their distribution. Women in the Archaic
communities were probably the main experimenters with cultivation, because
ethnoarchaeological evidence tells us that women were the main collectors of plant food and
had detailed knowledge of plants.

10. The passage mainly discusses which of the following aspects of the life of Archaic
peoples?

(A) The principal sources of food that made up their diet

(B) Their development of ground stone tool technology
(C) Their development of agriculture
(D) Their distribution of work between men and women

Jawaban:
11. The word “these” in line 13 refers to
(A) seeds
(B) river valleys
(C) the Midwest and the Southeast
(D) experimentation and domestication
Pembahasan Jawaban
Tipe Soal: Reference Question (Pertanyaan ini menginginkan Anda untuk mengidentifikasi
noun yang diganti menjadi sebuah pronoun)
Cara Jawab: temukan noun yang terletak sebelum pronoun 'these'.
--> The earliest cultivation seems to have taken place along the river valleys of the
Midwest and the Southeast, with experimentation beginning as early as 7,000 years ago
and domestication beginning 4,000 to 2,000 years ago. Although the term “Neolithic” is
not used in North American prehistory, these were the first steps toward the same major
subsistence changes that took place during the Neolithic (8,000-2,000 B.C.) period
elsewhere in the world.

Dapat kita identifikasi bahwa pilihan yang paling tepat ialah pilihan D.

12 According to the passage, when did the domestication of plants begin in North America?
(A) 7,000 years ago
(B) 4,000 to 2,000 years ago
(C) Long after the Neolithic period
(D) Before the Archaic period
Pembahasan Jawaban
Tipe Soal: Factual Question (Pertanyaan seperti ini menginginkan Anda untuk menemukan
informasi spesifik yg ada dalam passage).
Cara Jawab: Temukan kalimat yang berisi informasi spesifik sesuai yang dinyatakan pada
pertanyaan.
Keyword: domestication of plants begin
--> The earliest cultivation seems to have taken place along the river valleys of the Midwest
and the Southeast, with experimentation beginning as early as 7,000 years ago
and domestication beginning 4,000 to 2,000 years ago.

Jadi jawaban paling tepat ialah pilihan B.

13. The word “adequate” in line 18 is closest in meaning to

(A) sufficient
(B) healthful
(C) varied
(D) dependable
Pembahasan Jawaban
Tipe Soal: Vocabulary-in-Context Question (Pertanyaan ini menginginkan Anda
mengidentifikasi arti dari kata yang digunakan dalam passage)
Cara Jawab: Sesuaikan makna jawaban dengan konteks kalimat.

'Adequate' merupakan sinonim dari 'sufficient'.

14. According to the passage, which of the following was a possible motive for the cultivation
of plants in eastern North America?
(A) Lack of enough wild food sources
(B) The need to keep trees from growing close to settlements
(C) Provision of work for an increasing population
(D) Desire for the consistent availability of food
Pembahasan Jawaban
Tipe Soal: Factual Question (Pertanyaan seperti ini menginginkan Anda untuk menemukan
informasi spesifik yg ada dalam passage).
Cara Jawab: Temukan kalimat yang berisi informasi spesifik sesuai yang dinyatakan pada
pertanyaan.
Keyword: motive
--> there is little evidence that people lacked adequate wild food resources. (Pilihan A)
--> Increasing predictability of food supplies may have been a motive. (Pilihan D)

Bisa ditemukan bahwa pilihan A telah dibantah dalam passage (there is little evidence ....).
Olehnya pilihan jawaban terbaik ialah D.

15. The phrase “rather than” in line 21 is closest in meaning to

(A) in addition to
(B) instead of
(C) as a replacement
(D) such as
Pembahasan Jawaban
Tipe Soal: Vocabulary-in-Context Question (Pertanyaan ini menginginkan Anda
mengidentifikasi arti dari kata yang digunakan dalam passage)
Cara Jawab: Sesuaikan makna jawaban dengan konteks kalimat.

'Rather than' merupakan sinonim dari 'instead of'.

16. The plant “sumpweed” is mentioned in line 25 in order to

(A) contrast a plant with high nutritional value with one with little nutritional value
(B) explain the medicinal use of a plant
(C) clarify which plants grew better in places where trees were not cut down
(D) provide an example of a plant that was easy to domesticate
Pembahasan Jawaban
Tipe Soal: Factual Question (Pertanyaan seperti ini menginginkan Anda untuk menemukan
informasi spesifik yg ada dalam passage).
Cara Jawab: Temukan kalimat yang berisi informasi spesifik sesuai yang dinyatakan pada
pertanyaan.
Keyword: sumpweed
--> By the end of the Archaic era, people in eastern North America had domesticated
certain native plants, including sunflowers; weeds called goosefoot, sumpweed, or
marsh elder; and squash or gourds of some kind.

'Including' menunjukkan sebuah contoh (example). Pilihan tepat ialah D.

17. The word “thrived” in line 26 is closest in meaning to

(A) stayed
(B) originated
(C) grew well
(D) died out
Pembahasan Jawaban
Tipe Soal: Vocabulary-in-Context Question (Pertanyaan ini menginginkan Anda
mengidentifikasi arti dari kata yang digunakan dalam passage)
Cara Jawab: Sesuaikan makna jawaban dengan konteks kalimat.

'Thrived' merupakan sinonim dari 'grew well''.

18. According to the passage, which of the following is true about all early domesticated
plants?
(A) They were varieties of weeds.
(B) They were moved from disturbed areas.
(C) They succeeded in areas with many trees.
(D) They failed to grow in trampled or damaged areas.
Pembahasan Jawaban
Tipe Soal: Factual Question (Pertanyaan seperti ini menginginkan Anda untuk menemukan
informasi spesifik yg ada dalam passage).
Cara Jawab: Temukan kalimat yang berisi informasi spesifik sesuai yang dinyatakan pada
pertanyaan.
Keyword: early domesticated plants
--> One archaeologist has pointed out that the early domesticated plants were all weedy
species that do well in open, disturbed habitats, the kind that would form around human
settlements where people cut down trees, trample the ground, deposit trash, and dig holes.

19. According to the passage, it is thought that most of the people who began cultivating
plants were
(A) medical workers
(B) leaders of ceremonies
(C) women
(D) hunters
Pembahasan Jawaban
Tipe Soal: Factual Question (Pertanyaan seperti ini menginginkan Anda untuk menemukan
informasi spesifik yg ada dalam passage).
Cara Jawab: Temukan kalimat yang berisi informasi spesifik sesuai yang dinyatakan pada
pertanyaan.
Keyword: people who began cultivating plants were
--> Women in the Archaic communities were probably the main experimenters with
cultivation, because ethnoarchaeological evidence tells us that women were the main
collectors of plant food and had detailed knowledge of plants.
'experimenters with cultivation' mewakili makna 'began cultivating plants'.