DAILY TEST OF EXPLANATION TEXT

Read the following text to answer questions 1 to 5.

Named for the Roman goddess of dawn, the aurora is a mysterious and unpredictable
display of light in the night sky. The aurora borealis and aurora australis – the northern lights and
southern lights – are common occurrences at high northern and southern latitudes.
The typical aurora is caused by collisions between fast-moving electrons from space with
the oxygen and nitrogen in Earth’s upper atmosphere. The electrons – which come from the Earth’s
magnetosphere, the region of space controlled by Earth’s magnetic field – transfer their energy to
the oxygen and nitrogen atoms and molecules, making them “excited”. As the gases return to their
normal state, they emit photons, small bursts of energy in the form of light. When a large number of
electrons come from the magnetosphere to bombard the atmosphere, the oxygen and nitrogen can
emit enough light for the eye to detect, giving us beautiful aurora displays. This ghostly light
originates at altitudes of 100 to more than 400 km.
The color of the aurora depends on which gas – oxygen or nitrogen – is being excited by the
electrons, and on how excited it becomes. The color also depends upon how fast the electrons are
moving, or how much energy they have at the time of their collisions. High energy electrons cause
oxygen to emit green light (the most familiar color of the aurora), while low energy electrons cause
red light. Nitrogen generally gives off blue light. The blending of these colors can also lead to
purples, pinks, and whites. The oxygen and nitrogen also emit ultraviolet light, which can be
detected by special cameras on satellites.
The different shapes of auroras are a mystery that scientists are still trying to unravel. The
shape seems to depend on where in the magnetosphere the electron originates, what causes them
to gain their energy, and why they dive into the atmosphere.
(Source: https://pwg.gsfc.nasa.gov)
1. What is the social function of the text above?
A. To persuade the readers that aurora is a beautiful phenomenon.
B. To describe the characteristics of aurora.
C. To explain the process involved in the phenomena of aurora.
D. To tell the story behind the name of aurora.
E. To entertain the readers with the story behind the name of aurora.
2. What is the main idea of paragraph 2?
A. How fast-moving electrons from space collide with the oxygen and nitrogen in Earth’s
super upper atmosphere, resulting in the aurora.
B. How the aurora causes electrons from space to collide with the oxygen and nitrogen in
Earth’s upper atmosphere.
C. How the aurora affects fast-moving electrons from space with the oxygen and nitrogen
in Earth’s upper atmosphere.
D. How auroras make people who see them feel excited.
E. The altitudes at which the aurora occurs.

3. What does affect the color of the aurora?

A. Gas.
B. Electrons and gas.
C. Nitrogen and oxygen.
 D. Oxygen and electrons.
E. Electrons, nitrogen, and oxygen.
4. What can you infer from the last paragraph?
A. The shape of the aurora depends on the origin of electrons in the magnetosphere.
B. Scientists are still researching why aurora have different shapes.
C. The different shapes of the aurora are what make it beautiful.
D. Scientists do not need to conduct more research on auroras.
E. Scientists found three factors that shape auroras
5. Which of the following sentence does show the material process?
A. “The aurora borealis and aurora australis – the northern lights and southern lights – are
common occurrences …”
B. “The oxygen and nitrogen also emit ultraviolet light …”
C. “The color of the aurora depends on which gas – oxygen or nitrogen – … “
D. “The different shapes of auroras are a mystery …”
E. “The blending of these colors can also lead to purples, pinks, …”
Read the following text to answer questions 6 to 10.
Gossip. All humans partake in some form, despite the age-old adage, “If you have nothing
nice to say, don’t say anything at all.” Whether it’s workplace chatter, the sharing of family news, or
group texts between friends, it’s inevitable that everyone who talks, well, talks about other people.
A 1993 observational study found that male participants spent 55% of conversation time and
female participants spent 67% of conversation time on “the discussion of socially relevant topics.”
Some researchers argue that gossip helped our ancestors survive. Evolutionary psychologist
Robin Dunbar first pioneered this idea, comparing gossip to the grooming primates engage in as a
means of bonding. Instead of picking fleas and dirt off one another to bond, Ludden explains, we
now talk, which is “where gossip comes in because chit-chat is mostly talking about other people
and conveying social information.”
Gossiping gives humans the ability to spread valuable information to very large social
networks. If we were not able to engage in discussions of social and personal issues, we would not
be able to sustain the kinds of societies that we do. Gossip in this broad sense plays several roles in
the maintenance of socially functional groups through time.
Some scholars view gossip as evidence of cultural learning, offering teachable moments and
providing people examples of what’s socially acceptable — and what’s not. For example, if there’s
someone who cheats a lot in a community or social circle and people start to talk about that person
negatively, says Robbins, the collective criticism should warn others of the consequences of
cheating. And as word near-inevitably trickles back to the source of said gossip, it can “serve to keep
people in check, morally speaking,” Robbins adds.
So, keep on talking without spreading a rumor. Gossiping can be something good if you talk
about nice things and valuable information.
6. The first paragraph of the text above is called ….
A. general statement
B. orientation
C. sequence of explanation
D. newsworthy event
E. thesis
7. The following statement which is not true is ….
 A. every human likes becoming involved in gossip
B. women gossip more than men
C. our ancestors were helped to survive through gossip
D. valuable information is impossible to be spread through gossip
E. gossip can be means of cultural learning
8. What kind of reaction may be given by society if someone cheats a lot in the community?
A. The social sanction
B. The social hate
C. The collective bullying
D. The collective exclusion
E. The collective criticism
9. Which of the following is a noun phrase?
A. Keep on
B. View gossip as
C. First pioneered
D. Valuable information
E. Who cheats
10. The best title for the text is ….
A. The Benefits of Gossip
B. The Science Behind Why People Gossip
C. How does gossip happen?
D. The Importance of Gossip
E. The History of Gossip

Read the following text to answer questions 11 to 15.

 Freshwater is one of the most important resources for human beings. The increase in
population has caused problems for the availability of this resource, especially in dry regions.
Supplying freshwater becomes an important task to do since all living creatures depend on it.
Meanwhile, the Earth’s surface mostly consists of water, yet ocean water, which has the biggest
percentage, cannot be used for human’s daily activities. The desalination process becomes an
important key to fulfilling freshwater needs.
The desalination process can be conducted using a solar-powered desalination unit. This
unit works using solar power, directly or indirectly, by changing salt water to drinking water. The
work of the unit is similar to the natural rainfall process. The direct solar desalination unit, usually
called solar still works simply and is similar to the condensation trap. The Sun heats the saltwater in
the unit and changes the water into a gas (water vapor). Then, the water vapor is collected in the
inside lid and condenses back as fresh water in different containers. This unit does not produce a lot
of water per day because the amount of produced water is proportional to the surface of the unit.
Weather conditions and the intensity of solar power become challenges for this unit since it
depends much on solar power.
A direct solar-powered desalination unit is indeed good for water purification, yet the
output is not enough for mass operation. Therefore, the implementation of the indirect solar-
powered desalination method is useful to increase the amount of freshwater. This method merges
two different technologies, a solar energy collection system (using photovoltaic panels) and a
desalination system (using various methods, such as multi-stage flash (MSF) distillation, multiple-
effect evaporation (MEE), or reverse osmosis (RO). Using a solar-powered desalination unit is better
than using fossil-fuel energy since it is more environmentally friendly. Since the increase of
freshwater demands and the development of solar technology, solar-powered desalination units
might be one of the best alternatives in ordaining the availability of freshwater for all living
Creatures.

Adapted from various sources

11. What does the text mainly about?
A. Solar energy to produce saltwater.
B. Description of direct desalination unit.
C. Direct and indirect desalination devices.
D. Process of converting saltwater into freshwater.
E. The average number of human’s daily fluid intake.
12. In presenting the idea, the writer starts by ….
A. reviewing how rainfall generated
B. giving examples of drinking water
C. describing the solar desalination unit
D. explaining how the sun creates energy.
E. explaining the importance of freshwater
13. Why should the indirect desalination method be conducted?
A. Because it relies on the sun.
B. Because it can produce more freshwater
C. Because it uses inexpensive technology.
D. Because it is faster to produce freshwater.
 E. Because it combines two different technologies.
14. “This unit does not produce a lot of water per day because the amount of produced water is
proportional to the surface of the unit.” (Paragraph 2)
It can be concluded that ….
A. the output of the desalination process is directly changed into energy
B. the bigger the direct desalination unit, the more water is produced
C. the production of direct desalination unit is enough for a whole country
D. to produce drinking water, the device must have a proportional area
E. the power desalination unit determines the amount of water being produced.
15. The passive voice in the text above can be shown by ….
A. “Freshwater is one of the most important resources for human beings.”
B. “The increase in population has caused problems for the availability of this resource…”
C. “The desalination process can be conducted using a solar-powered desalination unit.”
D. “A direct solar-powered desalination unit is indeed good for water purification, …”
E. “Using a solar-powered desalination unit is better than using fossil-fuel energy since …”