Elephants can be trained to carry logs with their trunks, and have been used in the forestry industry in Asia for many years.

Elephants also use their trunks for drinking water, bathing, and eating and communicating. Recently it was discovered that elephants can communicate over a distance of several miles using infrasonic sounds inaudible to humans.

Elephants use their ears as a cooling system. Blood flows through veins in the ears and as the elephant flaps his ears, the blood cools and flows through his body to cool off other parts.

Elephant feet are large and round. They distribute the large animal’s weight effectively. In the past, elephants were killed and their feet were made into umbrella stands and small tables for tourists. Now elephants are protected by special laws.

There are two kinds of elephants: the African elephant and the Indian elephant. African elephants can be identified by the larger ears. The African elephant grows up to 10 feet tall and weighs as much as 12,000 pounds.

The Indian elephant grows up to 9 feet tall, and weighs up to 8000 pounds. It’s easier to identify because of its smaller ears. Most circus elephants are Indian elephants. Another name for the Indian elephant is the Asian elephant.

Unfortunately, there is a growing conflict between elephants and humans as more of the elephants’ habitat is developed. Elephants can destroy the crops of an entire village in a single night, and this also causes conflict. At the moment, there are about 600,000 elephants remaining in Africa.

The greatest threat to elephants is the ivory trade. Most commercial ivory comes from elephant’s tusks. From 1979 to 1989 was a bad time for African elephants. About 70,000 wild elephants were killed for ivory each year. In 1989 an international treaty limited the trade in ivory, decreasing the number of elephants killed, but elephants are still being killed for ivory. Please don’t ever buy anything made from ivory! Don’t even buy anything that looks like ivory!

Read the article to answer the questions:

1. How much does a baby elephant weigh at birth?

2. True or False: An elephant cannot carry things with its trunk.

3. Elephants also use their trunks for:

4. “Inaudible” means:

5. Which kind of elephant is the largest?

6. What part of an elephant’s body is used to cool the elephant?

7. How can you help elephants?

Contoh Teks Spoof:

Penguin in the Park

Once a man was walking in a park when he across a penguin. He took it to a policeman and said; “What should I do?” The policeman replied; “Take it to the zoo!” The next day, the policeman saw the man in the same park. The man was still carrying the penguin. The policeman was rather surprised and walked up to the man and asked; “Why are you still carrying the penguin? Didn’t you take it to the zoo?” The man replied; “I certainly did. And it was a great idea because the penguin really enjoyed it. So, today I am taking it to the movie”.

———————————————

Nasreddin’s Coat

One day Nasreddin had been invited to the dinner party. He went to the party by wearing old clothes.

When he arrived in the party, nobody looked at him and nobody gave him a seat. He got no food in the party so he went home and change his clothes

Next he put on his best clothes. He wore his newest coat and went to the party again. The host at once got up and came to meet him. The host offered him the best table and gave him a good seat and served him the best food

Nasreddin sat and put off his coat. He put his coat and said; “Eat the food, Coat!” the hosts and guests were very surprised and asked Nareddin; “What are doing?” Nasreddin replied calmly; “When I came here with my old clothes, nobody looked at me. Then I went home and put on my best clothes. I came back in my newest coat and you all give me this best food and drink. So, you give food to my coat instead of me”. Getting Nasreddin’s answer, they just shook the head.

———————————————

Private Conversation

Last week I went to the theatre. I had a very good seat. The play was very interesting.I did not enjoy it. A young man and a young woman were sitting behind me. They were talking very loudly.I got very angry. I could not hear the actors. I turned around. I looked at the man and the young woman angrily. They did not pay any attention.In the end, I could not bear it. I turned around again. “I could not hear a word” I said angrily.“It’s none of your business” the young man said rudely. “This is a private conversation” (From: English New Concept)

Ciri Umum Spoof:

1. Purpose of the text/social function (tujuan komunikatif) dari teks Spoof adalah menceritakan kejadian, peristiwa aneh atau lucu berdasarkan kejadian atau peristiwa dalam kehidupan nyata yang bertujuan menghibur, yang biasa diakhiri dengan sesuatu yang tidak diharapkan (twist)

Generic structure/text organization (sistematika penulisan):

1. Orientation; Pengenalan tokoh, waktu, dan tempat terjadinya peristiwa.
2. Events; Kejadian-kejadian, diceritakan secara kronologis (urut).
3. Twist; akhir yang tidak terduga atau lucu.

Language features (ciri kebahasaan yang utama):

1. past tense, misalnya We went to the zoo; She was happy dsb.
2. action verbs atau kata kerja tindakan, misalnya go, look, eat dsb.
3. focused on specific participant; Terfokus pada orang, binatang, benda tertentu;
4. Adverbial phrases of time and place; keterangan waktu dan tempat seperti last week, in the cinema;

Nah, bagaimana? Sudah lebih paham dengan jenis teks spoof belum? Ingin yang lebih jelas lagi? Atau ingin contoh teks spoof yang lain? Silakan hubungi PRO English dan dapatkan pelayanan pelatihan bahasa Inggris yang efektif, menarik dan menyenangkan.

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Recount adalah teks yang menceritakan kejadian atau pengalaman di masa lampau. Tujuan dari teks recount secara umum adalah untuk menghibur layaknya narrative, namun recount memiliki fokus menceritakan kejadian masa lampau apa adanya. Sering kali penulis memberikan kesan atau pendapatnya terhadap kejadian yang diceritakan. Perbedaan utama teks ini dengan teks narrative adalah tidak adanya komplikasi masalah atau konflik yang dialami oleh tokoh dalam teks recount.

Contoh Teks Recount:

Vacation to London

Mr. Richard’s family was on vacation. They are Mr. and Mrs. Richard with two sons. They went to London. They saw their travel agent and booked their tickets. They went to the British Embassy to get visas to enter Britain. They had booked fourteen days tour. This includes travel and accommodation. They also included tours around London

They boarded a large Boeing flight. The flight was nearly fourteen hours. On the plane the cabin crews were very friendly. They gave them news paper and magazine to read. They gave them food and drink. There was a film for their entertainment. They had a very pleasant flight. They slept part of the way.

On arrival at Heathrow Airport, they had to go to Customs and Immigration. The officers were pleasant. They checked the document carefully but their manners were very polite. Mr. Richard and his family collected their bags and went to London Welcome Desk. They arranged the transfer to a hotel.

The hotel was a well-known four-star hotel. The room had perfect view of the park. The room had its own bathroom and toilet. Instead of keys for the room, they inserted a key-card to open the door. On the third floor, there was a restaurant serving Asian and European food. They had variety of food.

The two week in London went by fast. At the end of the 14-day, they were quite tired but they felt very happy.

———————————————

Our trip to the Blue Mountain

On Friday we went to the Blue Mountains. We stayed at David and Della’s house. It has a big garden with lots of colourful flowers and a tennis court.

On Saturday we saw the Three Sisters and went on the scenic railway. It was scary. Then, Mummy and I went shopping with Della. We went to some antique shops and I tried on some old hats.

On Sunday we went on the Scenic Skyway and it rocked. We saw cockatoos having a shower. In the afternoon we went home.

Ciri Umum Recount:

1. Purpose of the text/social function (tujuan komunikatif dari teks): to tell the readers what happened in the past through a sequence of events.
2. Menceritakan kejadian dan pengalaman di masa lampau kepada pembaca secara kronologis atau urut sesuai waktu kejadian.

Generic structure/text organization (sistematika penulisan):

1. Orientation; Pengenalan tokoh, waktu, dan tempat terjadinya peristiwa.
2. Events; Kejadian-kejadian, diceritakan secara kronologis (urut).
3. Re-orientation; kesimpulan dari seluruh peristiwa, dapat juga berisi komentar atau kesan si penulis terhadap pengalaman yang diceritakan.

Language features (ciri kebahasaan yang utama):

1. past tense, misalnya We went to the zoo; She was happy; dsb.
2. action verbs atau kata kerja tindakan, misalnya go, look, eat dsb.
3. nouns dan pronouns sebagai kata ganti orang, hewan atau benda yang terlibat, misalnya David, the monkey, we dsb.
4. conjunctions dan time/chronological connectives yang mengurutkan peristiwa, kejadian atau kegiatan, misalnya and, but, then, after that, dsb.
5. adverbs dan adverb phrases untuk mengungkapkan tempat, waktu dan cara, misalnya yesterday, at my house, slowly dsb.
6. adjectives untuk menerangkan nouns, misalnya beautiful, funny, dsb.

Nah, bagaimana? Sudah lebih paham dengan jenis teks recount belum? Ingin yang lebih jelas lagi? Atau ingin contoh teks recount yang lain? Silakan hubungi PRO English dan dapatkan pelayanan pelatihan bahasa Inggris yang efektif, menarik dan menyenangkan.

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Pernah baca teks seperti Cinderella, Sangkuriang atau Malin Kundang (dalam bahasa Inggris) dsb.? Nah, teks-teks itu dapat diklasifikasikan menjadi teks naratif (narrative dalam bahasa Inggris). Teks naratif relatif lebih mudah dibedakan dengan teks lain karena kebanyakan teks naratif yang dipelajari siswa SMA adalah cerita fiktif alias tidak nyata seperti dongeng (folk-tale), mitos (myth), legenda (legend) atau fabel (fable).

Contoh Teks Narrative:

Queen of Arabia and Three Sheiks

Maura, who like to be thought of as the most beautiful and powerful queen of Arabia, had many suitors. One by one she discarded them, until her list was reduced to just three sheiks. The three sheiks were all equally young and handsome. They were also rich and strong. It was very hard to decide who would be the best of them.

One evening, Maura disguised herself and went to the camp of the three sheiks. As they were about to have dinner, Maura asked them for something to eat. The first gave her some leftover food. The second Sheik gave her some unappetizing camel’s tail. The third sheik, who was called Hakim, offered her some of the most tender and tasty meat. After dinner, the disguised queen left the sheik’s camp.

The following day, the queen invited the three sheiks to dinner at her palace. She ordered her servant to give each one exactly what they had given her the evening before. Hakim, who received a plate of delicious meat, refused to eat it if the other two sheiks could not share it with him.

This Sheik Hakim’s act finally convinced Queen Maura that he was the man for her. “Without question, Hakim is the most generous of you” she announced her choice to the sheiks. “So it is Hakim I will marry”.

———————————————

The Smartest Parrot

Once upon time, a man had a wonderful parrot. There was no other parrot like it. The parrot could say every word, except one word. The parrot would not say the name of the place where it was born. The name of the place was Catano.

The man felt excited having the smartest parrot but he could not understand why the parrot would not say Catano. The man tried to teach the bird to say Catano however the bird kept not saying the word.

At the first, the man was very nice to the bird but then he got very angry. “You stupid bird!” pointed the man to the parrot. “Why can’t you say the word? Say Catano! Or I will kill you” the man said angrily. Although he tried hard to teach, the parrot would not say it. Then the man got so angry and shouted to the bird over and over; “Say Catano or I’ll kill you”. The bird kept not to say the word of Catano.

One day after he had been trying so many times to make the bird say Catano, the man really got very angry. He could not bear it. He picked the parrot and threw it into the chicken house. There were four old chickens for next dinner “You are as stupid as the chickens. Just stay with them” Said the man angrily. Then he continued to humble; “You know, I will cut the chicken for my meal. Next it will be your turn, I will eat you too, stupid parrot”. After that he left the chicken house.

The next day, the man came back to the chicken house. He opened the door and was very surprised. He could not believe what he saw at the chicken house. There were three death chickens on the floor. At the moment, the parrot was standing proudly and screaming at the last old chicken; “Say Catano or I’ll kill you”.

Ciri Umum Narrative:

1. Purpose of the text/social function (tujuan komunikatif dari teks): To amuse/entertain readers with a story that deals with complications or problematic events.
2. Menghibur pendengar atau pembaca (yang bertalian dengan pengalaman nyata, khayal atau peristiwa pelik yang mengarah ke suatu krisis, yang pada akhirnya menemukan suatu penyelesaian).

Generic structure/text organization (sistematika penulisan):

1. Orientation; Pengenalan tokoh, waktu, dan tempat terjadinya peristiwa.
2. Complication; Masalah, konflik dalam cerita.
3. Resolution; Penyelesaian masalah.

Language features (ciri kebahasaan yang utama):

1. past tense, misalnya We went to the zoo; She was happy; dsb.
2. time connectives dan conjunctions untuk mengurutkan kejadian-kejadian, misalnya then, before that, soon, dsb.
3. adverbs dan adverbial phrases untuk menunjukkan lokasi kejadian atau peristiwa, misalnya here, in the mountain, happily ever after,dsb.
4. action verbs dalam past tense; stayed, climbed, dsb.
5. saying verbs yang menandai ucapan seperti: said, told, promised, dan thinking verbs yang menandai pikiran, persepsi atau perasaan tokoh dalam cerita, misalnya thought, understood, felt, dsb
6. adjectives yang membentuk noun phrase, misalnya, long black hair, two red apples, dsb.
7. nouns tertentu sebagai kata ganti orang, hewan dan benda tertentu dalam cerita, misalnya, stepsisters, housework, dsb.

Nah, bagaimana? Sudah lebih paham dengan jenis teks narrative belum? Ingin yang lebih jelas lagi? Atau ingin contoh teks narrative yang lain? Silakan hubungi PRO English dan dapatkan pelayanan pelatihan bahasa Inggris yang efektif, menarik dan menyenangkan.

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Klasifikasi teks ini dibuat berdasarkan beberapa elemen dari teks tersebut yang meliputi tujuan penulisan teks, sistematika penulisan (biasa disebut generic structure) paragraf-paragrafnya dan aspek gramatikal lainnya yang digunakan penulis untuk membangun tulisan/teksnya.

Silakan simak berbagai jenis teks dalam bahasa Inggris yang dirangkum dalam tabel di bawah:

Jika tabel di atas masih kurang nyaman untuk dilihat dan ingin mendapatkan tampilan rangkuman jenis teks dalam bahasa Inggris yang siap print, silakan download di halaman download atau dengan mendownloadnya di sini.

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Semakin hari (belakangan), para siswa SMA atau yang sederajat seperti MA atau SMK mulai disibukkan dengan berbagai persiapan dalam menghadapi UN (Ujian Nasional) tahun 2010 ini. Bimbel dan tempat les jadi salah satu andalan dalam menghadapi UN tahun ini. Tidak jauh berbeda dari tahun-tahun sebelumnya. Di sekolah, jumlah jam pelajaran untuk mata pelajaran yang diujiankan juga ditambah. Ada yang mengalokasikan untuk bimbel, ada juga yang menyebutnya pengayaan. Intinya, berbagai usaha dilakukan agar siswa-siswi siap menghadapi ujian nasional.

Sebenarnya, tipe soal ujian nasional untuk tingkat SMA atau MA termasuk SMK bahkan SMP sudah standar berkisar yang itu-itu saja. Pemerintah tiap tahunnya juga memberikan Standar Kompetensi Lulusan dan kisi-kisi soal ujian nasional yang sudah dapat dianalisis oleh guru mata pelajaran. Misalnya saja soal ujian bahasa Inggris. Soal-soal ujian nasional dapat dikatakan hanya menanyakan dua hal: kemampuan siswa dalam mendegarkan (listening) serta kemampuan siswa dalam membaca dan memahami teks (reading). Soal listening berisi ungkapan-ungkapan dan responnya serta dua atau tiga teks lisan, sedangkan tipe pertanyaan pada bagian reading sudah dapat ditebak hanya membahas seputar ide pokok (main idea), istilah tertentu dalam bahasa Inggris, informasi tersirat, tersurat atau terinci, dan pertanyaan benar atau salah.

Jadi, masih membutuhkan bocoran soal UN?? Please, deh.

Apakah Anda atau anggota keluarga Anda ingin mahir dalam bahasa Inggris? Jika ya, maka orang tersebut harus berusaha dan sungguh-sungguh dalam mempelajari bahasa Inggris serta rajin mempraktekannya. Orang tersebut juga harus bersedia membayar. Membayar di sini bukan berarti Anda harus mengeluarkan begitu banyak uang untuk mengikuti kursus dan pelatihan bahasa Inggris sampai ikut training dan seminar bahasa Inggris. Yang jelas, orang tersebut harus bersedia memberikan terbaik dari yang orang tersebut punya untuk membeli kemampuan bahasa Inggris.

Sebutlah kita tidak mampu mengikuti pelatihan atau kursus bahasa Inggris yang semakin mahal. Kita harus tetap mau membayar harganya. Membayar di sini misalnya, kita harus meluangkan waktu dan tenaga untuk membaca (reading) dan mendengarkan (listening) materi bahasa Inggris, termasuk latihan berbicara (speaking) dan menulis (writing). Jika memungkinkan untuk membeli buku dan kaset atau CD/DVD, manfaatkan hal tersebut dan hitunglah sebagai investasi. Hal tersebut mungkin agak memberatkan, namun saat sudah merasakan hasilnya nanti, uang yang sudah dikeluarkan tidak akan ada apa-apanya. Percayalah.

Lebih baik lagi jika dalam belajar bahasa Inggris ada yang membantu atau membimbing. Si tutor atau guru privat tersebut akan membantu dalam mengucapkan kosa kata dalam bahasa Inggris dengan benar. Ia juga akan memberikan masukan terhadap ucapan, ekspresi atau tulisan si pelajar. Guru bahasa Inggris tersebut juga akan menjadi rekan atau teman bercakap-cakap dalam bahasa Inggris. Manfaatkanlah kesempatan ini untuk berkomunikasi dan tanya jawab serta berlatih conversation in English.

Singkat kata, sekali lagi, belajar bahasa Inggris tidak bisa gratis. Semua ada harganya, walau bukan berbentuk rupiah. Selamat belajar!

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(C) 1996 Charles I. Kelly.

1. Present (saat ini/faktual)
2. Past (lampau)
3. Future [present] (rencana masa depan)
4. Future [past] (pengandaian)

Kemudian, dari keempat kuadran waktu tersebut kita perlu memahami bahwa di tiap kuadran juga memiliki empat kategori tenses, yaitu:

1. Simple (tanpa embel-embel apapun)
   
2. Continuous (cirinya: dengan BE + V-ing)
   
3. Perfect (cirinya: HAVE + V3)
   
4. Perfect continuous (cirinya: HAVE + BEEN + V-ing)
   

Nah, apa maksudnya simple, continuous, perfect atau perfect continuous?? Simple maksudnya adalah kata kerja tersebut apa adanya. Berbeda dengan continuous yang maknanya pekerjaan tersebut sedang dalam proses (penekanan pada SEDANG). Perfect berbeda lagi, dalam hal ini penekanannya pada SUDAH mengerjakan/dikerjakan. Terakhir, perfect continuous berarti SUDAH namun MASIH mengerjakan/dikerjakan.

Silakan download tenses atau pahami materinya berikut:

Biasa dengan emoticon ini: <–senang <–sedih <–berpikir <–jatuh cinta.

Ingin tahu bagaimana bisa mendapatkan emoticon yang lain, seperti ini:

Icon yang Tersembunyi
? saya tidak tahu	%-( tidak mau dengar	~O) kopi (minuman)
*-:) ide cemerlang	$-) mata duitan	[-X nggak boleh
>-) jadi alien	:-" bersiul	\:D/ menari
:-L frustasi	b-( babak belur	) hi..hi..hi
[-O< berdoa	>- damai	:-@ cerewet

.

Anda tidak akan menemukan karakter-karakter ini dalam menu emotikon, tapi Anda tetap bisa mengirimkannya dengan mengetikkan kode shortcut karakter langsung di dalam pesan Anda.

Selamat mencoba