Testing Selective Reading The Description of the Three Consecutive Years of Junior High School

43 The following text is for questions 3 and 4 . 3. From the text we know that Fachri … A. gets a medal for the best student B. is the best student at school C. graduates from school D. got five for his test 4. “… please step forward …” The underlined word means … A. come to the front B. move back C. one step to the left D. stand in line Dear Fachri, When your name is called as the best student please step forward ─ for high five You are the best. Congratulations Uncle Farhan precise, here are the examples of reading passages which assessed reading comprehension. Figure 4.2 A Greeting Card Taken from English UN 2012 Figure 4.2 had two following comprehension questions. It was because they asked about the detailed information and vocabulary items in context Brown, 2004, p. 206. Question number three involved the test takers to find the information stated in the text that Fachri is the best student at school. To answer the question, the test takers might use skimming strategy which Brown 2004, p. 206 suggested while doing reading comprehension tasks. The test takers might 44 rapidly move their eyes to find the main point of the passage in order to gain the overview of the content Campbell, 2005. Next, question number four assessed the test takers’ vocabulary knowledge. It assessed the word forward which meant coming to the front “Forward”. Moreover, the test takers might guess the word meaning from the context to get the correct answer. It is supported by Brown 2004, p. 206 that guessing the word meaning from the context was one of reading strategies needed in reading comprehension. In brief, these questions assessed how good the test takers comprehend the text and understand English language. Here is another example of text which assessed reading comprehension. 45 Figure 4.3 A Letter Taken from English UN 2013 Figure 4.3 was another example of reading comprehension. It had three following comprehension questions. The questions asked about the main topic of the passage and the detailed information. It was convinced by Brown 2004, p. 206 that reading comprehension might be followed by questions which asked main topics and detailed information. First, question number 11 asked the main topic of the text. The test takers could find the correct answer by implementing 46 skimming strategy since Brown 2004, p. 206 tones that skimming strategy is necessary in reading comprehension. The test takers might move their eyes rapidly through the passage to get the general overview of the content Campbell, 2005. As a result, the main topic of the passage was spending holiday in three places. It was because the passage generally told about the author’s holiday experiences in Huatulco, Iceland and New York. Second, question number 12 asked the detailed information stated in the passage. It asked where the author’s friend spent hisher holiday. To find the answer, the test takers might use scanning strategy as it is suggested by Brown 2004, p. 206. The test takers might move their eyes rapidly to find the keywords spent and holiday. The test takers could find the keywords in the first and the second paragraph. Furthermore, the answer was in the second sentence of the first paragraph. The word spent in the first paragraph was directed to the author’s friend. As a result, the author’s friend spent herhis holiday in Spain. Last, question number 13 asked about the detailed information about why the writer had holiday in three different places. The test takers might implement the scanning strategy to find the answer. Brown 2004, p. 206 notes that scanning strategy is needed in reading comprehension. As the same while answering question number 12, the test takers might move their eyes rapidly to find the keyword three places Campbell, 2005. Moreover, the test takers could find the keyword in the last sentence of the second paragraph. In that paragraph, there was a sentence We went to Huatulco, Iceland and New York which was followed by the reason why the author went to these places. As a result, the answer was the