SOAL READING UNTUK SMA

Read the text given and answer the following questions.

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       The hippopotamus is the third largest land animal, smaller only than the elephant and the rhinoceros. Its name comes from two Greek words which mean “river horse”. The long name of this animal is often shortened to the easier to handle term “hippo”.

       The hippo has a natural affinity for the water. It does not float on the top of the water; instead, it can easily walk along the bottom of a body of water. The hippo commonly remains underwater for three to five minutes and has been known to stay under for up to half an hour before coming up for air.

       In spite of its name, the hippo has relatively little in common with the horse and instead has a number of interesting similarities in common with the whale. When a hippo comes up after a stay at the bottom of a lake or river, it releases air through a blowhole, just like a whale. In addition, the hippo resembles the whale in that they both have thick layers of blubber for protection and they are almost completely hairless.

1. The topic of the passage is ….

a. The largest land animal.

b. The characteristic of the hippo.

c. The relation between the hippo and the whale.

d. The derivations of animal name.

2. It can be inferred from the passage that the rhinoceros is ………

     a. One of the two largest types of land animal.

     b. A hybrid of the hippo and the elephant.

     c. Equal in size to the elephant.

     d. Smaller than the hippo

3. The possessive “its” in line 2 refers to ……….

     a. Hippopothamus.

     b. Horse

     c. Rhinoceros

     d. Elephant

4. It can be inferred from the passage that the hippopotamus is commonly called a hippo because the word “hippo” is ………

     a. The original name.

     b. Easier for the animal to recognize.

     c. Simpler to pronounce.

     d. Scientifically more accurate.

5. The word “float” in line 4 is closest in meaning to ……..

     a. Drift

     b. Sink

     c. Flap

     d. Eat

6. According to the passage, what is the maximum time that hippos have been known to stay underwater?

     a. Ninety minutes

     b. Thirty minutes

     c. Five minutes

     d. Three minutes

7. The expression “has relatively little in common” in line 8 could best be replaced by ……

     a. Has few interactions.

     b. Is not normally found

     c. Has minimal experience

     d. Shares few similarities

8. The passage states that one way in which a hippo is similar to a whale is that ……

     a. They both live on the bottom of rivers

     b. They are both named after horses

     c. They both breathe underwater

     d. They both have blowholes

9. The word “bubber” in line 12 is closest in meaning to ………..

     a. Fat

     b. Metal

     c. Water     

     d. Skin

10. The passage states that the hippo does not …..

     a. like water

     b. resemble the whale

     c. have much hair