Nama : Annisa Rizqi Ramadhani Sitio

NIM: 213308010009

Part 1

The Rise of Teotihuacán

1. The city of Teotihuacán, which lay about 50 kilometers northeast of modern-

day Mexico City, began its growth by 200 –100 B.C. At its height, between
about A.D. 150 and 700, it probably had a population of more than 125,000
people and covered at least 20 square kilometers. It had over 2,000 apartment
complexes, a great market, a large number of industrial workshops, an
administrative center, a number of massive religious edifices, and a regular grid
pattern of streets and buildings. Clearly, much planning and central control were
involved in the expansion and ordering of this great metropolis. Moreover, the
city had economic and perhaps religious contacts with most parts of
Mesoamerica (modern Central America and Mexico).
2. How did this tremendous development take place, and why did it happen in the
Teotihuacán Valley? Among the main factors are Teotihuacán's geographic
location on a natural trade route to the south and east of the Valley of Mexico,
the obsidian1 resources in the Teotihuacán Valley itself, and the valley's
potential for extensive irrigation. The exact role of other factors is much more
difficult to pinpoint —for instance, Teotihuacán's religious significance as a
shrine, the historical situation in and around the Valley of Mexico toward the
end of the first millennium B.C., the ingenuity and foresightedness of
Teotihuacán's elite, and, finally, the impact of natural disasters, such as the
volcanic eruptions of the late first millennium B.C.
3. This last factor is at least circumstantially implicated in Teotihuacán's rise. Prior
to 200 B.C., a number of relatively small centers coexisted in and near the
Valley of Mexico. Around this time, the largest of these centers, Cuicuilco, was
seriously affected by a volcanic eruption, with much of its agricultural land
covered by lava. With Cuicuilco eliminated as a potential rival, any one of a
number of relatively modest towns might have emerged as a leading economic
and political power in Central Mexico. The archaeological evidence clearly
indicates, though, that Teotihuacán was the center that did arise as the
predominant force in the area by the first century A.D.
4. It seems likely that Teotihuacán's natural resources—along with the city elite's
ability to recognize their potential — gave the city a competitive edge over its
neighbors. The valley, like many other places in Mexican and Guatemalan
highlands, was rich in obsidian. The hard volcanic stone was a resource that had
been in great demand for many years, at least since the rise of the Olmecs (a
people who flourished between 1200 and 400 B.C.), and it apparently had a
secure market. Moreover, recent research on obsidian tools found at Olmec sites
has shown that some of the obsidian obtained by the Olmecs originated near
Teotihuacán. Teotihuacán obsidian must have been recognized as a valuable
commodity for many centuries before the great city arose.
5. Long-distance trade in obsidian probably gave the elite residents of Teotihuacán
access to a wide variety of exotic goods, as well as a relatively prosperous life.
Such success may have attracted immigrants to Teotihuacán. In addition,
 Teotihuacán's elite may have consciously attempted to attract new inhabitants.
It is also probable that as early as 200 B.C. Teotihuacán may have achieved
some religious significance and its shrine (or shrines) may have served as an
additional population magnet. Finally, the growing population was probably fed
by increasing the number and size of irrigated fields.
6. The picture of Teotihuacán that emerges is a classic picture of positive feedback
among obsidian mining and working, trade, population growth, irrigation, and
religious tourism. The thriving obsidian operation, for example, would
necessitate more miners, additional manufacturers of obsidian tools, and
additional traders to carry the goods to new markets. All this led to increased
wealth, which in turn would attract more immigrants to Teotihuacán. The
growing power of the elite, who controlled the economy, would give them the
means to physically coerce people to move to Teotihuacán and serve as
additions to the labor force. More irrigation works would have to be built to feed
the growing population, and this resulted in more power and wealth for the elite.
1
obsidian: a type of volcanic glasslike rock used for manufacturing tools and ceremonial
objects

Directions: Answer the questions.

1. In paragraph 1, each of the following is mentioned as a feature of the

city of Teotihuacán between A.D. 150 and 700 EXCEPT:
A. A.regularly arranged streets
B. several administrative centers spread across the city
C. C.many manufacturing workshops
D. D.apartment complexes
2. The word "ingenuity" in paragraph 2 is closest in meaning to:
A. A.ambition
B. B.sincerity
C. C.faith
D. cleverness
3. Which of the following is NOT mentioned in paragraph 2 as a main
factor in the development of Teotihuacán?
A. A.The presence of obsidian in the Teotihuacán Valley
B. B.The potential for extensive irrigation of Teotihuacán Valley
lands
C. A long period of volcanic inactivity in the Teotihuacán
Valley
D. D.Teotihuacán's location on a natural trade route
4. What can be inferred from paragraph 3 about Cuicuilco prior to 200
B.C.?
A. A.It was a fairly small city until that date.
B. B.It was located outside the Valley of Mexico.
C. C.It emerged rapidly as an economical and political center.
D. Its economy relied heavily on agriculture.
5. Which of the following allowed Teotihuacán to have "a competitive
edge over its neighbors"?
A. well-exploited and readily available commodity
B. B.The presence of a highly stable elite class
 C. C.Knowledge derived directly from the Olmecs about the art of
toolmaking
D. D.Scarce natural resources in nearby areas such as those located
in what are now the Guatemalan and Mexican highlands
6. According to paragraph 4, what has recent research on obsidian tools
found at Olmecsites shown?
A. A.Obsidian's value was understood only when Teotihuacán
became an important city.
B. B.The residents of Teotihuacán were sophisticated toolmakers.
C. C.The residents of Teotihuacán traded obsidian with the Olmecs
as early as 400 B.C.
D. D.Some of the obsidian used by the Olmecs came from the
area around Teotihuacán.
7. Select the TWO answer choices that are mentioned in paragraph 5 as
being features of Teotihuacán that may have attracted immigrants to
the city. To receive credit, you must select TWO answers.
A. A.The prosperity of the elite
B. B.Plenty of available housing
C. C.Opportunities for well-paid agricultural employment
D. D.The presence of one or more religious shrines
8. In paragraph 6, the author discusses "The thriving obsidian operation,"
in order to:
A. explain why manufacturing was the main industry of
Teotihuacán
B. give an example of an industry that took very little time to
develop in Teotihuacán
C. illustrate how several factors influenced each other to make
Teotihuacán a powerful and wealthy city
D. explain how a successful industry can be a source of wealth and
a source of conflict at the same time
9. In paragraph 1 of the passage, there is a missing sentence. The
paragraph is repeated below and shows four letters (A, B, C, and D)
that indicate where the following sentence could be added.

In fact, artifacts and pottery from Teotihuacán have been discovered in

sites as faraway as the Mayan lowlands, the Guatemalan highlands,
northern Mexico, and the Gulf Coast of Mexico.

Where would the sentence best fit?

The city of Teotihuacán, which lay about 50 kilometers northeast of modern-

day Mexico City, began its growth by 200 –100 B.C. At its height, between
about A.D. 150 and 700, it probably had a population of more than 125,000
people and covered at least 20 square kilometers. (A) It had over 2,000
apartment complexes, a great market, a large number of industrial
workshops, an administrative center, a number of massive religious edifices,
and a regular grid pattern of streets and buildings. (B) Clearly, much planning
and central control were involved in the expansion and ordering of this great
metropolis. (C) Moreover, the city had economic and perhaps religious
 contacts with most parts of Mesoamerica (modernCentral America and
Mexico). (D)

A. .Option A
B. Option B
C. Option C
D. Option D

10. Directions: An introductory sentence for a brief summary of the passage is provided
below. Complete the summary by selecting the THREE answer choices that express the
most important ideas in the passage. Some sentences do not belong in the summary
because they express ideas that are not presented in the passage or are minor ideas in
the passage. This question is worth 2 points.

A. The number and sophistication of the architectural, administrative,

commercial, and religious features of Teotihuacán indicate the existence of
centralized planning and control.
B. Teotihuacán may have developed its own specific local religion as a result of the
cultural advances made possible by the city's great prosperity.
C. Several factors may account for Teotihuacán's extraordinary development,
including its location, rich natural resources, irrigation potential, intelligent
elite, and the misfortune of rival communities.
D. As a result of its large number of religious shrines, by the first century A.D.,
Teotihuacán became the most influential religious center in all of Mesoamerica.
E. In many important areas, from the obsidian industry to religious tourism,
Teotihuacán's success and prosperity typified the classic positive feedback cycle.
F. Although many immigrants settled in Teotihuacán between A.D. 150 and 700,
the increasing threat of coerced labor discouraged further settlement and
limited Teotihuacán's population growth.

Part 2

Questions 1-10
Read the passage. Then answer the questions below. After you have answered the first 10
questions you will answer a 'Summary Question'.

The Creators of Grammar

No student of a foreign language needs to be told that grammar is complex. By changing word
sequences and by adding a range of auxiliary verbs and suffixes, we are able to communicate
tiny variations in meaning. We can turn a statement into a question, state whether an action
has taken place or is soon to take place, and perform many other word tricks to convey subtle
differences in meaning. Nor is this complexity inherent to the English language. All
languages, even those of so-called 'primitive' tribes have clever grammatical components. The
Cherokee pronoun system, for example, can distinguish between 'you and I', 'several other
people and I' and 'you, another person and I'. In English, all these meanings are summed up in
the one, crude pronoun 'we'. Grammar is universal and plays a part in every language, no
matter how widespread it is. So the question which has baffled many linguists is - who created
grammar?

At first, it would appear that this question is impossible to answer. To find out how grammar
is created, someone needs to be present at the time of a language's creation, documenting its
emergence. Many historical linguists are able to trace modern complex languages back to
earlier languages, but in order to answer the question of how complex languages are actually
formed, the researcher needs to observe how languages are started from scratch. Amazingly,
however, this is possible.

Some of the most recent languages evolved due to the Atlantic slave trade. At that time, slaves
from a number of different ethnicities were forced to work together under colonizer's
rule. Since they had no opportunity to learn each other's languages, they developed a make-
shift language called a pidgin. Pidgins are strings of words copied from the language of the
landowner. They have little in the way of grammar, and in many cases it is difficult for a
listener to deduce when an event happened, and who did what to whom. [A] Speakers need to
use circumlocution in order to make their meaning understood. [B] Interestingly, however, all
it takes for a pidgin to become a complex language is for a group of children to be exposed to
it at the time when they learn their mother tongue. [C] Slave children did not simply copy the
strings of words uttered by their elders, they adapted their words to create a new, expressive
language. [D] Complex grammar systems which emerge from pidgins are termed creoles, and
they are invented by children.

Further evidence of this can be seen in studying sign languages for the deaf. Sign languages
are not simply a series of gestures; they utilise the same grammatical machinery that is found
in spoken languages. Moreover, there are many different languages used worldwide. The
creation of one such language was documented quite recently in Nicaragua. Previously, all deaf
people were isolated from each other, but in 1979 a new government introduced schools for
the deaf. Although children were taught speech and lip reading in the classroom, in the
playgrounds they began to invent their own sign system, using the gestures that they used at
home. It was basically a pidgin. Each child used the signs differently, and there was no
consistent grammar. However, children who joined the school later, when this inventive sign
system was already around, developed a quite different sign language. Although it was based
on the signs of the older children, the younger children's language was more fluid and compact,
and it utilised a large range of grammatical devices to clarify meaning. What is more, all the
children used the signs in the same way. A new creole was born.

Some linguists believe that many of the world's most established languages were creoles at
first. The English past tense –ed ending may have evolved from the verb 'do'. 'It ended' may
once have been 'It end-did'. Therefore it would appear that even the most widespread languages
were partly created by children. Children appear to have innate grammatical machinery in their
brains, which springs to life when they are first trying to make sense of the world around
them. Their minds can serve to create logical, complex structures, even when there is no
grammar present for them to copy.

1 In paragraph 1, why does the writer include information about the Cherokee language?

A. To show how simple, traditional cultures can have complicated grammar

structures
B. To show how English grammar differs from Cherokee grammar
C. To prove that complex grammar structures were invented by the Cherokees.
D. To demonstrate how difficult it is to learn the Cherokee language

2. What can be inferred about the slaves' pidgin language?

A. It contained complex grammar.
B. It was based on many different languages.
C. It was difficult to understand, even among slaves.
D. It was created by the land-owners.

3. All the following sentences about Nicaraguan sign language are true EXCEPT:
A. The language has been created since 1979.
B. The language is based on speech and lip reading.
C. The language incorporates signs which children used at home.
D. The language was perfected by younger children.
4. In paragraph 3, where can the following sentence be placed?
It included standardised word orders and grammatical markers that existed in neither the
pidgin language, nor the language of the colonizers.
A. a
B. b
C. c
D. d

5. 'From scratch' in paragraph 2 is closest in meaning to:

A. from the very beginning
B. in simple cultures
C. by copying something else
D. by using written information

6. 'Make-shift' in paragraph 3 is closest in meaning to:

A. complicated and expressive
B. simple and temporary
C. extensive and diverse
D. private and personal
7. Which sentence is closest in meaning to the highlighted sentence?
Grammar is universal and plays a part in every language, no matter how widespread it is.

A. All languages, whether they are spoken by a few people or a lot of people,
contain grammar.
B. Some languages include a lot of grammar, whereas other languages contain a little.
 C. Languages which contain a lot of grammar are more common that languages that
contain a little.
D. The grammar of all languages is the same, no matter where the languages evolved.
8. All of the following are features of the new Nicaraguan sign language EXCEPT:
A. All children used the same gestures to show meaning.
B. The meaning was clearer than the previous sign language.
C. The hand movements were smoother and smaller.
D. New gestures were created for everyday objects and activities.
9. Which idea is presented in the final paragraph?
A. English was probably once a creole.
B. The English past tense system is inaccurate.
C. Linguists have proven that English was created by children.
D. Children say English past tenses differently from adults.

10. Look at the word 'consistent' in paragraph 4. This word could best be replaced by which
of the following?
A. Natural
B. Predictable
C. Imaginable
D. Uniform