Fast Tricks & Tips

TOPIC
Topic or theme is a particular subject that an author discusses or writes about.
Tipe-tipe pertanyaan yang berhubungan dengan topic atau
theme sbb:
1. What is the text about ? Ciri-ciri topic atau theme sbb:
2. The text tell us about….. 1. Berbentuk word or phrase or clause
3. What is the theme of the text? 2. Not in the form of a sentence
4. What is the topic of the passage above? 3. Repeated -> referred to by pronouns
5. Which of the following would be the best or other word
tittle of the passage?
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Topic (phrase / clause) Not Topic (sentence)

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The family planning programme is desirable for the good of
Family planning programme
the family and society
The problem of beggars existence Beggars have become a big problem for us today.
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Ask yourself : What is this about? What is the general idea?
- Elephants zebras African animals lions tigers
- Referees scoreboards basketball games clocks fans baskets players coaches
The fastest trick :

Topic or theme bisa ditemukan di kalimat-

kalimat pertama paragraf (the f irst sentence
of the f irst paragraph) dan tersebar di
seluruh bagian teks.

1. What is the text about ?

2. The text tell us about…..
3. What is the theme of the text?
4. What is the topic of the passage
above?
5. Which of the following would be the
best tittle of the passage?
 MAIN IDEA
The author’s idea about the topic. It is always a complete sentence that includes both the topic and the idea that
the author wishes to express about the topic.
Ide utama paragraph atau teks biasanya terdapat dalam kalimat utama (main sentence).
Ada dua jenis ide pokok yang biasanya ditanyakan dalam teks :
A. Ide pokok paragraf (main idea of paragraph) & B. Ide pokok teks (main idea of the text)

A. Main Idea of paragraph -> inti pembahasan paragraf itu sendiri.

Pertanyaan-pertanyaan yang berhubungan dengan ide pokok paragraph adalah sbb :
1. What is the main idea of f irst / second/ last paragraph?
2. What is the last paragraph about?
3. What does paragraph 3 mainly / mostly tell you / discuss about?
4. What does the second paragraph focus on?

The fastest trick :

Ide utama paragraph (main idea of the paragraph) biasanya ditemukan di :
a. First sentences of asked paragraph (kalimat-kalimat awal paragraf yang ditanyakan namun biasanya cukup di satu
atau dua kalimat pertama saja)
Cari kecocokan / kemiripan (f ix and match) kata-kata di kalimat-kalimat pertama paragraf dengan kata-kata di
pilihan ganda.
B. Last sentences after illative conjunction (so, therefore, hence, thus, etc).
Ide pokok pargraf muncul di kalimat terakhir setelah konjungsi kesimpulan (jadi, maka, oleh karena itu, dengan
demikian, etc.

Perhatikan ilustrasi di bawah ini!

(Main idea)
_____________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________
(Main idea / Conclusion of paragraph)
______________________________________________________________________________________________

Illative conjunction
(konjungsi kesimpulan)

therefore / consequently / so/ thus / hence / indeed / accordingly

- We can see that…./ We can conclude that……
Everybody likes making off ice at home. Of
course home off ice will has both advantage Main idea of f irst paragraph :
and disadvantage. therefore it is wise to The issue of making off ice at home
consider the strengths and weaknesses to
have a home off ice.

Some people will agree that having off ice at

home will make benef it. It saves time. We
Main idea of second paragraph :
need no commuting which occasionally takes
a long time. Besides we are free to set the The advantages of home off ice
work schedule. Having home off ice will save
money as we need not to purchase or lease
of off ice space from rent companies.

However taking home as off ice also has

Main idea of last paragraph :
some disadvantages. For some people ,
keeping the schedule is hard in flexible time. The disadvantages of making off ice at home
B. Main idea of the text.

Pertanyaan yang berhubungan dengan ide utama teks : Pertanyaan yang berhubungan dengan moral value :

1. What is the main idea of the passage? 1. What does the story try to tell the readers?
2. What does the author concern of the above passage? 2. What can the readers learn from the story above?
3. What is the author primarily concerned?

The fastest trick

Ide pokok text ditemukan di kalimat utama (main sentence or topic sentence) di paragraph pertama.
Gunakan strategi membaca cepat (skimming) dengan hanya melihat satu sampai tiga kalimat pertama saja.

Main Idea (inti kalimat / bukan kalimat lengkap)

- The social medias for certain purposes.

Main Sentence / Topic sentence (kalimat lengkap)

- Apparently, some internet users use social media for certain purposes, such as taking pleasure, searching
for information, doing crime, even keeping friendship.
 How to answer the questions :

4. Look at the title

1. Read the questions
2. Skimming the beginning of every paragraph. 5. Look at the answers and eliminate certainly wrong
answers and choose the best answer from the options
3. Skimming through the passage to f ind what is mostly
that remain.
mentioned / talked about or appears frequently.

When trying to save money, you need to know about your options. 1. What is the topic of this passage?
Most people save their money in a savings account at a bank. a. saving accounts
b. money market accounts
They are paid interest from the bank for allowing the bank to c. banking
hold and use their money. If you save money in a money market d. ways to save money

account, your interest rate will be determined by how well the

stock market is doing. Although you won’t lose any of your
original investment, you won’t be making much interest when
interest rates are low. Another way to save money is to buy a
certif icate of deposit , or CD. You can not cash in the
certif icate until it reaches a certain age, but CDs are a good
investment if you don’t need the money right away.
2. What is the main idea of this paragraph?
a. Most people save their money in a savings account at a bank.
b. When trying to save money, you need to know about your
options.
c. If you save money in a money market account, your interest
rate will be determined by how well the stock market is doing.
d. saving money today will keep you from f inancial trouble in the
future.
Read the following text for this questions!

Have you ever wondered how beautiful Japanese scenes

are? Most of them are seen and dominated by the
beauty cherry blossom. Cherry blossom has scientif ic
name as Genus Prenus. It has been called as Sakura in
Japan. Cherry blossom belongs to the Rosacea family. The main idea of the second paragraph is….
Now days, Cherry blossom is seen in some varieties A. Habitat of Cherry Blossom
such as; Yama Zakura, Oshima Sakura, America Sakura
and many other types. B. Characteristics of Cherry Blossom
The main characteristic of cherry blossom is on the C. Varieties of Cherry Blossom
way it grows. The flower grows earlier than the leaves.
Cherry blossom have many colors. There are white, D. Beautiful Japanese scene
little pink, and red.

Mostly cherry blossoms grow in moist low and highland.

A place with a little bit moist and is protected from
sunlight is best for its natural habitat.
 CONJUNCTION
Because -> for giving reasons The conjunction but is used to suggest a contrast.
I'd like to see that Irish band, because Celtic music is pretty cool.
The stick was thin but it was strong.
(the second clause explains speaker’s reason wants to see the Irish band)

So -> for talking about results or purposes The conjunction or is used to suggest that only one
possibility can be realized.
We need to arrive early so we can get a good place.
(the second clause shows the purpose of the f irst clause; that is optional) You can work hard or you can fail.

Because of + noun (phrase) / pronoun / verb-ing
We were bored because of the speech.
Don’t you see? We are all here doing this because of you.
Because of feeling happy, Edward sings loudly.
Whenever -> ‘any time at all’ or ‘it doesn’t matter when’
Call in whenever you like. I’m always at home. (at any
time at all that you like)
If -> look at conditional sentences material

The conjunction and is used to suggest:

- That one action follows another in the chronological order.
Jane sent in her applications and waited for a call from the HR off ice.

- That one idea is the result of another

Rain began to fall and the creek rose rapidly.
 JUMBLED

Arrange the following jumbled words to form a meaningful sentence.

week - mom– to – I– with –last – the – zoo– went – my A. 4–9 – 3 – 7 – 8 – 5 – 10 – 2 – 6 – 1

B. 4 – 9 – 2– 5 – 3 – 1 – 10 – 8 – 6 – 7
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
C. 2 – 5 – 10 – 6 – 4 – 3 – 7 – 9 – 8 – 1
D. 4 – 6 – 9 – 5 – 3 – 1 – 8 – 10 – 2 – 7

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Arrange the following jumbled sentences into a good paragraph!

1. There lived a monkey on one of the jamun trees located near the lake.
2. It was a beautiful lake surrounded by lush green grasses, beautiful trees, mountains and sweetest, tastiest jamun trees.
3. There was one crocodile that used to collect the jamun fruits from the lake that fall from the tree.
4. The lake also had a few crocodiles.

A. 1 – 4 – 2 – 3
B. 1 – 2 – 3 – 4
C. 2 – 1 – 4 – 3
D. 2 – 4 – 3 – 1
THE END