Contoh Soal Reading EPrT, Jawaban dan Strategi Mengerjakannya

Mari kita lihat beberapa contoh soal dari teks berikut yang sering muncul dalam tes Reading EPrT beserta jawabannya. 

Sloths have poor hearing and eyesight, and they’re slow—the slowest mammal on Earth. But their lethargy is an energy-saving strategy; despite the inability to outrun threats, sloths have figured out what works for them. And while they may appear to be solitary, they don’t succeed alone. Sloths operate as one-third of a partnership with moths and algae, which both live in the mammal’s thick fur. 
 
After a three-toed sloth has lounged for days in the forest canopy, napping and grazing on poisonous leaves—slowly, so that its liver and four-chambered stomach can break down the toxins—the time comes for its weekly poop. Rather than rain droppings from high up, the animal makes a drawn-out descent. 

As captured on camera in National Geographic’s Underdogs series, the move is exceptionally risky, burning a tenth of the sloth’s daily calories and exposing it to predators on the jungle floor, where it’s mostly—but not always—helpless to defend itself. More than half of the sloth deaths documented by Pauli’s team of researchers in Costa Rica occurred on bathroom breaks. But if a jaguar isn’t waiting at the tree’s base, a sloth digs a small depression in the soil—a toilet bowl—and relieves itself at last.  

Cue the moths. Females, including species found only on sloths, lay their eggs in the fresh dung. The eggs become coprophagous larvae, feeding on the feces, and larvae become adult moths that flutter off in search of their own hairy habitats. As many as 120 moths have been counted on a single sloth.  
Moths fertilize sloth fur with nutrients, like nitrogen, whether by delivering fecal matter there or dying and decomposing. Along with rainwater, nitrogen encourages the growth of algae. And algae give sloths a green coloring—effective camouflage from birds of prey patrolling overhead. The more moths on a sloth, the more nitrogen and algae. Sloths also eat the green stuff as a sort of dietary supplement. Although researchers haven’t observed the behavior, Pauli’s team tested the contents of sloths’ stomachs and found algae.  

1. What is the main idea of the passage?  
A. Sloths’ partnership with moths and algae is unusual but beneficial.   
B. Sloths are helpless animals that rely on camouflage to survive.  
C. Most sloth deaths are caused by predators while they defecate.  
D. Moths are the only reason sloths have survived.  
Pembahasan : Teks diatas membahas mengenai simbiosis mutualisme antara kungkang, ngengat dan alga. Jadi, jawaban yang tepat adalah A. 

2. The pronoun “its” in paragraph 2 line 2 refers to …  
A. organisms  
B. sloths  
C. moths and algae  
D. researchers  
Pembahasan : ‘its’ pada paragraf kedua di baris kedua merujuk kepada kungkang. Jadi, jawabannya adalah B. 
  
3. The phrase “drawn-out descent” could best be replaced by …  
A. quickly get out  
B. rapid fall  
C. slowly climb down  
D. controlled flight  
Pembahasan : Frasa ‘drawn-out descent’ dapat digantikan dengan ‘slowly climb down’ karena memiliki makna yang sama. Jadi, jawabannya adalah C. 

4. The passage indicates that a sloth’s descent from a tree is risky because …  
A. it burns calories and exposes the sloth to predators   
B. it leads to competition with other animals   
C. it causes damage to the tree   
D. it usually results in injury  
Pembahasan : Jawabannya adalah A, penjelasannya terdapat pada paragraf ketiga teks diatas. 
   
5. All of the following are true EXCEPT …  
A. Sloths eat algae as part of their diet  
B. Moths lay eggs in sloth droppings  
C. Sloths use their tails to bury their feces  
D. Sloths have a slow metabolism to process toxins  
Pembahasan : Jawabannya adalah C. Semua pernyataan diatas benar, kecuali C. 
   
6. “Females” in paragraph 4 line 1 refers to which of the following?  
A. Eggs  
B. Moths  
C. Sloths  
D. Larvae  
Pembahasan : ‘Females’ pada paragraf keempat baris pertama merujuk kepada ngengat. Jadi, jawaban yang tepat adalah B. 

7. The word “flutter” in paragraph 4 line 3 is closest in meaning to …  
A. fix  
B. glide  
C. crawl  
D. fly  
Pembahasan : ‘flutter’ diatas memiliki makna terbang. Jadi, jawaban yang tepat adalah D. 
  
8. According to paragraph 5, which of the following is stated?  
A. Sloths eat moths as a protein source  
B. Algae on sloth fur helps them blend into the environment  
C. Rainwater washes algae off the sloth’s fur  
D. Researchers observed sloths picking algae from leaves   
Pembahasan : Kalimat yang tertulis pada paragraf kelima teks diatas adalah B. 
  
9. What is the author’s tone in the passage?  
A. Humorous and dismissive  
B. Curious and respectful  
C. Sarcastic and emotional  
D. Bored and indifferent  
Pembahasan : Teks diatas menunjukkan ketertarikan dan rasa penasaran penulis terhadap hubungan yang terjalin antara kungkang, ngengat dan alga. Jawabannya adalah B. 
  
10. What would most likely be discussed in the paragraph following this passage?   
A. Research on sloth microbiomes for new antibiotics   
B. The predators that feed on sloths  
C. The digestive system of moths  
D. Reasons why algae thrive in humid environments  
Pembahasan : Jawabannya adalah A.