DISKUSI E-8

B.INGGRIS

Passage 1
While company layoffs often appear, at first glance, to be the most decisive and effective method
by which a business can save money and recover costs, they provide only a short-term solution to a
company’s problems and may prove to be detrimental to a company in the long-term. The costs of
downsizing can sometimes outweigh its benefits. Evidence repeatedly suggests that layoffs rarely reduce
a company’s costs by as much as expected and that layoffs can significantly reduce a company’s
performance. This can often lead to reduced stock values and insecurity among shareholders.
Employers, looking at salaries as strictly a budget item, may forget that employees are not merely
an expense, but a long-term investment. Wages can be better understood as payments into an employee’s
capital of skill and commitment. The announcement of a round of layoffs can undermine this important
investment. Layoffs not only affect those low-performing employees whose jobs have been cut, but they
also create an atmosphere of uncertainty, which causes others to leave. Layoffs can therefore lead to a
reduction in the quality and productivity of the overall staff.
If a reduction in payroll expenses does not already seem to be eclipsed by the reduction in
performance, also consider the possible affect that this might have on shareholder morale. Layoffs
communicate to the stockholders that a company is in severe crisis. They can therefore lead to a decline in
stock value which often, in turn, compounds the very problem that the layoffs sought to resolve.

1. What is this text mainly about? (C) They usually leave because they are
(A) the importance of budget analysis worried about stock value.
(B) the negative effects of downsizing staff (D) They become frustrated with their
(C) the best way for companies to increase coworkers’ lack of productivity.
stock value (E) They often stay due to the climate of
(D) the various factors that contribute to uncertainty
shareholder morale
4. According to the text, which of the following is
(E) the reduction in payroll expenses
least important to the overall success of a
2. The word “detrimental”, in paragraph 1, is business?
closest in meaning to ____ (A) employee commitment
(A) Positive (B) payroll expenses
(B) Temporary (C) shareholder confidence
(C) Superficial (D) employee skill
(D) Harmful (E) stock holder
(E) Beneficial
5. The word “compounds” in the final sentence
3. According to the text, why does a company of the text is closest in meaning to___
lose high-performing workers in a round of (A) Multifaceted
layoffs? (B) Complex
(A) They are usually the highest paid and (C) makes greater
therefore the first to be laid off. (D) chemical combinations
(B) They often leave voluntarily due to the (E) sepulcher
climate of uncertainty.
Passage 2
Radio frequency identification, or RFID, technology is not new, but as it becomes cheaper, it
promises to change retail business significantly. Using RFID, accompany can store vast amounts of
information about a product on a microchip that attaches to the product itself like a barcode. Unlike a
barcode, however, the RFID tag offers access to a database of information about the product. It can give an
up-to-date history of where a product has travelled, and real-time inventory information, such as the sizes
and colours currently available in any location. This technology may one day eliminate the necessity of
having employees check inventory or track shipments. It also has the potential for numerous security and
safety applications.
As major retailers begin to adopt this technology, concerns are arising about how RFID may affect
the privacy of consumers and employees alike. Detractors worry about the implications of a business being
able to track the movements of employees and customers in their stores and warehouses using the new
technology. They fear that the technology might give businesses the ability to track customer’s movements
to determine their preferences. The potential for abuse, however, does not seem to be slowing down the
demand and overall outlook for RFID.
6. Which of the following best states the purpose 8. As used in the first sentence of the second
of this text? paragraph, the word “adopt” means ___
(A) the text warns of the dangerous (A) to take custody of a child
applications of RFID technology in (B) to change in order to meet the needs of a
various sectors of society situation
(B) the text explains how RFID technology (C) to care for
has replaced the barcode entirely (D) to choose and decide to use
(C) the text examines the promises and the (E) to suggest a more passive resistance
dangers of using RFID technology in the
9. Based on the text, what ethical concerns does
retail sector
the rise of RFID technology raise?
(D) the text illustrates how RFID favors major
(A) concerns about the loss of human jobs to
retailers over local retailers.
machines
(E) the text describes the disadvantages RFID
(B) concerns about consumer privacy
7. According to the text, how is an RFID tag (C) concerns about outsourcing
superior to a barcode? (D) concerns about employee productivity
(A) it can be activated (E) concerns about the decreasing of
(B) it protects consumer privacy employee
(C) it contains more information about the
10. Based on the text, what change in RFID
product
technology has made it viable for use in retail
(D) it can be deactivated
applications?
(E) it makes it necessary for employees to
(A) a change in speed
keep a closer watch on inventory
(B) a change in size
(C) a change in price
(D) a change in security standards
(E) a change in increasing of the workers
 There are two common misinterpretations associated with the process of natural selection. The first
involves the phrase survival of the fittest. Individual survival is certainly important because those that do
not survive will not reproduce. But the more important factor is the number of __11__ an organism leaves.
An organism that survived for many years but has not reproduced has not contributed any of its genes to
the next generation and so has been selected against. ___12___, is not survival alone but survival and
reproduction of the more fit organisms. Second, the phrase struggle for life does not necessarily refer to
open conflict and fighting. It is usually much more subtle than that. When a resource such as nesting
material or food is in short supply, some individuals survive and reproduce more effectively than others.
For example, many birds require holes in trees as nesting places. If these are in short supply, some birds
will be fortunate and find a good nesting site, others will occupy less suitable holes, and some may not find
any. There may or may not be fighting for __13__ of a site. If a site is already occupied, a bird may not
necessarily try to __14__ its occupant but just continue to search for another site. Those that successfully
occupy good nesting sites will be more __15__ in raising young than will those that must occupy poor sites
or that do not find any.

11. _____ (C) possessing

(A) dependents (D) possession
(B) branches (E) possessively
(C) mature 14. _____
(D) descendants (A) dispatch
(E) children (B) dislodge
12. _____ (C) dismay
(A) however (D) disoriented
(B) otherwise (E) dislocate
(C) therefore 15. ______
(D) moreover (A) success
(E) furthermore (B) succeed
13. _____ (C) succeeded
(A) possess (D) successful
(B) possessive (E) successfully