Soal TOEFL reading dan pembahasan kunci jawaban: Marianne Moore

Berikut kami tampilkan salah satu contoh soal TOEFL dan pembahasan jawaban, dengan topik kehidupan seorang penyair berkebangsaan Amerika yang bernama Marianne Moore.

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Marianne Moore (1887–1972) once said that her writing could be called poetry only because there was no other name for it. Indeed her poems appear to be extremely compressed essays that happen to be printed in jagged lines on the page. Her subjects were varied: animals, laborers, artists, and the craft of poetry. From her general reading came quotations that she found striking or insightful. She included these in her poems, scrupulously enclosed in quotation marks, and sometimes identified in footnotes. Of this practice, she wrote, “‘Why the many quotation marks?’ l am asked . . .When a thing has been said so well that it could not be said better, why paraphrase it? Hence my writing is, if not a cabinet of fossils, a kind of collection of flies in amber.” Close observation and concentration on detail are the methods of her poetry. Marianne Moore grew up in Kirkwood, Missouri, near St. Louis. After graduation from Bryn Mawr College in 1909, she taught commercial subjects at the Indian School in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. Later she became a librarian in New York City. During the 1920s she was editor of The Dial, an important literary magazine of the period. She lived quietly all her life, mostly in Brooklyn, New York. She spent a lot of time at the Bronx Zoo, fascinated by animals. Her admiration of the Brooklyn Dodgers baseball team—before the team moved to Los Angeles— was widely known. Her first book of poems was published in London in 1921 by a group of friends associated with the Imagist movement. From that time on her poetry has been read with interest by succeeding generations of poets and readers. In 1952 she was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for her Collected Poems. She wrote that she did not write poetry “for money or fame. To earn a living is needful, but it can be done in routine ways. One writes because one has a burning desire to objectify what it is indispensable to one’s happiness to express.”

1. What is the passage mainly about?
(A) The influence of the Imagists on Marianne Moore
(B) Essayists and poets of the 1920s
(C) The use of quotations in poetry
(D) Marianne Moore’s life and work

2. Which of the following can be inferred about Moore’s poems?
(A) They are better known in Europe than the United States.
(B) They do not use traditional verse forms.
(C) They were all published in The Dial.
(D) They tend to be abstract.

3. According to the passage, Moore wrote about all of the following EXCEPT
(A) artists
(B) animals
(C) fossils
(D) workers

4. What does Moore refer to as “flies in amber” (line 8)?
(A) A common image in her poetry
(B) Poetry in the twentieth century
(C) Concentration on detail
(D) Quotations within her poetry

5. The author mentions all of the following as jobs held by Moore EXCEPT
(A) commercial artist
(B) teacher
(C) magazine editor
(D) librarian

6. The word “period” in line 13 is closest in meaning to
(A) movement
(B) school
(C) region
(D) time

7. Where did Moore spend most of her adult life?
(A) In Kirkwood
(B) In Brooklyn
(C) In Los Angeles
(D) In Carlisle

8. The word “succeeding” in line 19 is closest in meaning to
(A) inheriting
(B) prospering
(C) diverse
(D) later

9. The word “it” in line 21 refers to
(A) writing poetry
(B) becoming famous
(C) earning a living
(D) attracting readers

10. It can be inferred from the passage that Moore wrote because she
(A) wanted to win awards
(B) was dissatisfied with what others
(C) felt a need to express herself
(D) wanted to raise money for the Bronx Zoo

Pembahasan kunci jawaban

Nomor 1: (D) Marianne Moore’s life and work

Semua paragraf membahas tentang kehidupan pribadi dan pekerjaan si Marianne Moore. Pilihan lain disebutkan tapi tidak didiskusikan di seluruh paragraf.

Nomor 2: (B) They do not use traditional verse forms.

Marianne Moore (1887–1972) once said that her writing could be called poetry only because there was no other name for it. 
(Terjemahan: Marianne Moore (1887–1972) pernah berkata bahwa tulisannya bisa disebut puisi hanya karena tidak ada nama lain untuk itu.)

Di kalimat pertama paragraf 1 disebutkan bagaimana tulisan dari Marianne itu dianggap sebagai puisi, karena tidak ada istilah lain untuk jenis tulisannya. 

Nomor 3: (C) fossils

Her subjects were varied: animals, laborers [workers], artists, and the craft of poetry. [paragraph 1]

Jelas tidak disebutkan fossil. 

Nomor 4: (D) Quotations within her poetry

Perkataan Marianne flies in amber, sebagai analogi dari kutipan (quotation) di dalam tulisanya. Quotation dalm tulisannya dan flies dalam amber sama-sama tidak ada perubahan, atau sama-sama mempertahankan bentuk original dari quotation/flies. 

Nomor 5: (A) commercial artist

Marianne Moore grew up in Kirkwood, Missouri, near St. Louis. After graduation from Bryn Mawr College in 1909, she taught commercial subjects at the Indian School in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. Later she became a librarian in New York City. During the 1920s she was editor of The Dial, an important literary magazine of the period. [paragraph 2]

Nomor 6: (D) time

Selain bisa dipahami dari konteks, secara umum time memang diartikan period.

Nomor 7: (B) In Brooklyn

She lived quietly all her life, mostly in Brooklyn, New York. [paragraph 2]

Nomor 8: (D) later

From that time on her poetry has been read with interest by succeeding generations of poets and readers.

Di kalimat ini, succeeding generations berarti generasi selanjutnya/ke depan/berikutnya. 

Nomor 9: (C) earning a living

To earn a living is needful, but it can be done in routine ways.

Tips dalam menjawab soal pronoun seperti ini, selain dari segi makna juga bisa dilihat dari posisi. Biasanya pronoun it kembali ke subject dari clause sebelumnya. Dalam konteks ini, subject dari clause sebelumnya adalah to earn a living (mencari nafkah/uang/penghasilan).

 Nomor 10: (C) felt a need to express herself

Jawaban untuk nomor 10 ada di kalimat terakhir dari bacaan di atas. 

One writes because one has a burning desire to objectify what it is indispensable to one’s happiness to express.”
(Terjemahan: Seseorang menulis karena ia memiliki hasrat yang membara untuk mewujudkan apa yang sangat diperlukan untuk diungkapkan oleh kebahagiaannya.”)

Sebelumnya, materi ini telah kampi posting di Blog Edinmelb.  

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