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Latihan TOEFL Reading 5: The Silk Road

Baca passage berikut dengan teliti, lalu kerjakan 15 soalnya. Jawaban dan pembahasan bisa dibuka setelah kamu mencoba sendiri.

For over a thousand years, a network of overland and maritime trade routes connected China to the Mediterranean world, later known as the Silk Road. Despite its name, the network carried far more than silk: caravans transported spices, precious stones, glassware, paper, and eventually new technologies such as papermaking between East and West.

Trade along these routes was rarely a single continuous journey. Goods typically changed hands many times, passing through a chain of regional merchants, each covering a portion of the route and adding their own markup. Cities located at key junctions, such as Samarkand and Kashgar, grew wealthy as centers of exchange, storage, and hospitality for traveling merchants.

The Silk Road's significance extended beyond commerce. Religious ideas, including Buddhism, Christianity, and later Islam, spread along these same routes, carried by merchants, missionaries, and travelers rather than armies. By the fifteenth century, the rise of maritime trade routes around Africa gradually reduced the overland network's importance, though its role in connecting distant civilizations left a lasting influence on the cultures it touched.

Soal

1. What is the passage primarily about?

  1. An overview of Silk Road trade routes and their broader cultural impact
  2. The biography of a Silk Road merchant
  3. The decline of maritime trade in Africa
  4. The history of Chinese silk manufacturing
Lihat jawaban dan pembahasan

Jawaban: A. An overview of Silk Road trade routes and their broader cultural impact

Passage membahas jalur perdagangan Silk Road dan dampaknya yang melampaui komersial (agama, budaya).

2. The word 'markup' in paragraph 2 is closest in meaning to

  1. a written record
  2. added price or profit
  3. a type of map
  4. a travel permit
Lihat jawaban dan pembahasan

Jawaban: B. added price or profit

'Adding their own markup' berarti menambahkan margin harga/keuntungan pada setiap transaksi.

3. According to paragraph 1, besides silk, what did the Silk Road carry?

  1. Spices, precious stones, glassware, paper, and technological knowledge
  2. Only religious texts
  3. Mainly weapons
  4. Only spices
Lihat jawaban dan pembahasan

Jawaban: A. Spices, precious stones, glassware, paper, and technological knowledge

Disebutkan eksplisit: caravans membawa 'spices, precious stones, glassware, paper, and eventually new technologies'.

4. It can be inferred that cities like Samarkand and Kashgar became wealthy because

  1. Of their location at key junctions where merchants exchanged and stored goods
  2. They controlled all overland trade alone
  3. They banned foreign merchants
  4. They produced their own silk
Lihat jawaban dan pembahasan

Jawaban: A. Of their location at key junctions where merchants exchanged and stored goods

Teks menyebut kota-kota ini 'grew wealthy as centers of exchange, storage, and hospitality' karena posisinya di titik-titik persimpangan.

5. Why does the author mention the spread of religious ideas in paragraph 3?

  1. To compare Buddhism and Christianity
  2. To explain why armies used the routes
  3. To argue trade routes were mainly used for religion
  4. To illustrate the Silk Road's influence went beyond commerce
Lihat jawaban dan pembahasan

Jawaban: D. To illustrate the Silk Road's influence went beyond commerce

Kalimat ini adalah contoh bahwa signifikansi Silk Road 'extended beyond commerce'.

6. The word 'network' in paragraph 1 is closest in meaning to

  1. an interconnected system of routes
  2. a single road
  3. a military alliance
  4. a type of currency
Lihat jawaban dan pembahasan

Jawaban: A. an interconnected system of routes

'Network of overland and maritime trade routes' merujuk pada sistem jalur yang saling terhubung.

7. According to paragraph 1, for how long did the Silk Road trade routes operate?

  1. Exactly two thousand years
  2. About fifty years
  3. Less than a century
  4. Over a thousand years
Lihat jawaban dan pembahasan

Jawaban: D. Over a thousand years

Disebutkan eksplisit 'for over a thousand years'.

8. According to paragraph 2, why did goods typically change hands many times?

  1. They passed through a chain of regional merchants each covering a portion of the route
  2. They were shipped directly without stops
  3. They were transported by a single company
  4. They were stolen frequently
Lihat jawaban dan pembahasan

Jawaban: A. They passed through a chain of regional merchants each covering a portion of the route

Disebutkan barang 'passing through a chain of regional merchants, each covering a portion of the route'.

9. It can be inferred that merchants along the Silk Road generally

  1. Traveled the entire route personally
  2. Avoided cities entirely
  3. Worked for a single centralized government
  4. Profited from handling only part of a longer trade journey
Lihat jawaban dan pembahasan

Jawaban: D. Profited from handling only part of a longer trade journey

Karena barang berpindah tangan berkali-kali dengan markup masing-masing, merchant biasanya hanya menangani sebagian rute.

10. Why does the author mention Samarkand and Kashgar specifically?

  1. To argue these cities no longer exist
  2. To give concrete examples of cities that benefited from their location on the trade network
  3. To explain a religious conflict
  4. To compare their populations to modern cities
Lihat jawaban dan pembahasan

Jawaban: B. To give concrete examples of cities that benefited from their location on the trade network

Kedua kota ini disebut sebagai contoh nyata kota yang 'grew wealthy' karena posisi strategisnya.

11. The word 'gradually' in paragraph 3 is closest in meaning to

  1. immediately
  2. secretly
  3. slowly over time
  4. violently
Lihat jawaban dan pembahasan

Jawaban: C. slowly over time

'Gradually reduced the overland network's importance' berarti penurunan yang terjadi perlahan, bukan tiba-tiba.

12. According to paragraph 3, what caused the overland network's importance to decline by the fifteenth century?

  1. The rise of maritime trade routes around Africa
  2. A new law banning trade
  3. A change in climate
  4. A sudden war
Lihat jawaban dan pembahasan

Jawaban: A. The rise of maritime trade routes around Africa

Disebutkan eksplisit 'the rise of maritime trade routes around Africa gradually reduced the overland network's importance'.

13. Which three religions are mentioned as spreading along the Silk Road?

  1. No religions are mentioned
  2. Hinduism, Judaism, and Sikhism
  3. Buddhism, Christianity, and Islam
  4. Only Buddhism and Islam
Lihat jawaban dan pembahasan

Jawaban: C. Buddhism, Christianity, and Islam

Disebutkan eksplisit ketiga agama ini menyebar lewat jalur yang sama.

14. It can be inferred that the spread of religion along the Silk Road happened mainly through

  1. Forced conversion by rulers
  2. Merchants, missionaries, and travelers rather than military conquest
  3. Armies conquering new territory
  4. Isolated religious communities
Lihat jawaban dan pembahasan

Jawaban: B. Merchants, missionaries, and travelers rather than military conquest

Disebutkan agama menyebar 'carried by merchants, missionaries, and travelers rather than armies'.

15. What is paragraph 3 mainly about?

  1. The Silk Road's cultural and religious impact and its eventual decline
  2. The geography of Central Asia
  3. The founding of Samarkand
  4. The types of goods traded
Lihat jawaban dan pembahasan

Jawaban: A. The Silk Road's cultural and religious impact and its eventual decline

Paragraf 3 membahas dampak budaya/agama serta penurunan pentingnya jalur ini, bukan detail geografis atau barang dagangan.

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