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Contoh TOEFL Reading 5 (PBT)

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Whereas literature in the first half of the eighteenth century in America had been largely religious and moral in tone, by the latter half of the century the revolutionary fervor that was coming to life in the colonies began to be reflected in the literature of the time, which in turn served to further influence the population. Although not all writers of this period supported the Revolution, the two best-known and most influential writers, Ben Franklin and Thomas Paine, were both strongly supportive of that cause.

Ben Franklin first attained popular success through his writings in his brother's newspaper, the New England Current. In these articles he used a simple style of language and common sense argumentation to defend the point of view of the farmer and the Leather Apron man. He continued with the same common sense practicality and appeal to the common man with his work on Poor Richard's Almanac from 1733 until 1758. Firmly established in his popular acceptance by the people, Franklin wrote a variety of extremely effective articles and pamphlets about the colonist's revolutionary cause against England.

Thomas Paine was an Englishman working as a magazine editor in Philadelphia at the time of the Revolution. His pamphlet Common Sense, which appeared in 1776, was a force in encouraging the colonists to declare their independence from England. Then throughout the long and desperate war years he published a series of Crisis papers (from 1776 until 1783) to encourage the colonists to continue on with the struggle. The effectiveness of his writing was probably due to his emotional yet oversimplified depiction of the cause of the colonists against England as a classic struggle of good and evil.


1. The paragraph preceding this passage most likely discusses
a. how literature influence the population
b. religious and moral literature
c. literature supporting the cause of the American Revolution
d. what made Thomas Paine's literature successful

2. The word "fervor" in line 2 is closest in meaning to
a. war
b. anxiety
c. spirit
d. action

3. The word "time" in line 3 could best be replaced by
a. hour
b. period
c. appointment
d. duration

4. It is implied in the passage that
a. some writers in the American colonies supported England during the Revolution
b. Franklin and Paine were the only writers to influence the Revolution
c. because Thomas Paine was an Englishman, he supported England against the colonies
d. authors who supported England did not remain in the colonies during the Revolution

5. The pronoun "he" in line 8 refers to
a. Thomas Paine
b. Ben Franklin
c. Ben Franklin's brother
d. Poor Richard

6. The expression "point of view" in line 9 could best be replaced by
a. perspective
b. sight
c. circumstance
d. trait

7. According to the passage, the tone of Poor Richard's Almanac is
a. pragmatic
b. erudite
c. theoretical
d. scholarly

8. The word "desperate" in line 16 could best be replaced by
a. unending
b. hopeless
c. strategic
d. combative

9. Where in the passage does the author describe Thomas Paine's style of writing?
a. lines 4-6
b. lines 8-9
c. lines 14-15
d. lines 18-20

10. The purpose of the passage is to
a. discuss American literature in the first half of the eighteen century
b. give biographical data on two American writers
c. explain which authors supported the Revolution
d. describe the literary influence during revolutionary America

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Vocabulary List:

  • fervor kb. kegairahan, semangat.
  • reflect kkt. 1 menggambarkan, membayangkan, mencerminkan (an opinion). 2 mewakili (o's feeling). 3 memantulkan (heat). -kki. 1 membayang. 2 memikirkan (a matter). 3 merendahkan, mengurangi arti.
  • attain kkt. mencapai. He's attained the age of 70 Ia telah mencapai usia 70 tahun. -kki. to a. to mencapai. He finally attained to a very high position Akhirnya ia mencapai kedudukan yang sangat tinggi.
  • appeal kb. 1 seruan. 2 permohonan (dari hati ke hati) . 3 banding, apel, pertimbangan. 4 daya penarik. kki. to a. a case naik banding (dalam suatu perkara.). --kki. 1 menarik 2 memohon kepada (dari hati ke h
  • firmly dengan kuat
  • desperate ks. 1 yang sangat menyedihkan. 2 nekat. 3 putus asa. to do s.t. d. melakukan yang tidak-tidak. -desperately kk. mati-matian


Muhammad Ahkam Arifin
Muhammad Ahkam Arifin Muhammad Ahkam Arifin is a Fulbright PhD student at Washington State University, US. He earned a master`s degree in TESOL from the University of Edinburgh & Applied Linguistics from the University of Melbourne.

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