Aqila Course

Text 1

Mr. Warsidi has a garden in his yard, and he likes to work there. He says it is fun. Today he is planting flowers in the garden. There is also an old mango tree in the yard. He always cut the leaves and the branches in taking care of it. He said that the flowers must get more sun.

Mr. Warsidi often involves his children to take care together of the garden. So they will understand how to take care their environment. Many people tell Mr. Warsidi how beautiful his garden is.

1.   What is Mr. Warsidi’s hobby?

2.   What is he planting in the garden today?

3.   What tree does he always cut its leaves and branches?

4.   Why does he always cut them?

5.   What do many people think about his garden?

There is an eagle nesting on the tree top near my grandparent’s house in Pangandaran. It was a sea eagle.

 The color of its feathers is light brown. It has a strong and sharp yellowish beak. Its claws are very sharp. It hunts for  fish in the sea but sometimes it hunts chickens and small birds.

 Eagles have many sizes, shapes, and colors, but the sea eagle is easy to recognize because it has a strong a streamlined, sharp beak and a stream-line body.

 Its forelimbs (or arms) serve as wings. This means that they are of little use for anything except  flying. It walks on two legs and has a very flexible neck and strong beak to handle foods, to care for its feathers, and for many other jobs that non-flying animals do with paws, claws, or hands on their forelimbs.

1.   What do you know about eagles?

2.   Why is the sea eagle easy to recognize?

3.   What do you think of its  flying? Is it easy or hard to do?

4.   What do the forelimbs of an sea eagle do?

5.   What are the sea eagle’s neck and beak like?

Text

         You can easily be accused of committing a tourism sin if you’re in Semarang and failed to visit the Ambarawa Railway Museum. This museum is situated less than an hour’s drive from the capital of Central Java. During the Dutch colonial days, Ambarawa was a military zone and the railway station was used to transport troops to Semarang through Kedungjati. It is at 474m above sea level, giving you unpolluted fresh air to breathe. The Ambarawa Railway Museum is well maintained. It is a medium-sized building. The railway route is offered to visitors. You can enjoy the beautiful panorama during the route. All in all, this is a truly exciting treasure to visit.

(Source : Dit. PSMP, 2006)

1.   What is the text mainly about?

2.   Where is it located?

3.   How did the Dutch use the Ambarawa railway station?

4.   Why can we breathe fresh air there?

5.   Why is it a must for us to visit this place?

Text

         Singapore is an island city of about 4 million people. It’s a beautiful city with lots of parks and open spaces. It’s also a clean city.

         Most of the people live in high-rise flats in different parts of the island. The business district is very modern, with lots of tall new office buildings. Singapore also has some nice older sections. In Chinatown there are rows of old shop houses. The government buildings in Singapore are very beautiful and date from the colonial days.

         Singapore is famous for its shops and restaurants. There are many good shopping centers. Most of the goods are duty free. Singapore’s restaurants sell Chinese, Indian, Malay and European food, and the prices are quite reasonable.

(Source : Dit. PSMP, 2006)

1.   What is Singapore like? Is it beautiful?

2.   How big is the population of Singapore?

3.   Where do most people live?

4.   Is the business district an old place?

5.   What can we find in Chinatown?

6.   What is Singapore most famous for?

         San Francisco is my favorite city in the United States. It is beautiful, clean, not too big, and it has something for everybody. I love the streets and buildings in San Francisco. The streets wind up and down the hills, with beautiful old brick and wooden houses on either side.

One of my favorite things to do in San Francisco is to ride the cable car. It takes you to most parts of the city. It’s not a very comfortable ride, but it’s exciting and the views you get from the car are wonderful.

 And I like the weather in San Francisco. It never gets too cold or too hot. The summers are pleasant. The fresh breezes blow off the ocean and the sky is always blue. It rains quite a lot in the winter, but it never gets very cold.

 Another thing I enjoy about the city is the restaurants. The seafood restaurants, with crabs and lobster, are my favorites. You can also get great Chinese, Japanese, American and European food in San Francisco.

1.   What is interesting about streets in San Francisco?

2.   Does the cable car only go to certain areas of the city?

3.   Can you see the view of San Francisco from the cable car?

4.   What’s the weather like there?

5.   Does it rain a lot in the summers?

6.   How are the restaurants in San Francisco?

7.   How does the writer begin the text?

8.   What does the writer include in the rest of the text?

         Cairo is the largest city in Egypt Here you can always roll back the centuries Modern Cairo has tall buildings and broad streets equal to any in the capitals of Europe or Australia From the top floors of impressive blocks of flats you can gaze at magnificent views across the river Nile. However behind the modern buildings are narrow alleys where there is no sound of traffic The only sounds that come to your ears are the calls of the stall-holders Water sellers and herdsmen wander through the streets as their forefathers did thousands of years ago Many of the poorer people still dress in the same way as their ancestors.

1.   In which country is Cairo situated?

2.   From where is the best place to absorb the views of the Nile?

3.   How is the modern section of Cairo different from the ancient section?

Text

Thousands of people visit Pisa’s famous tower each year and wonder just how much longer it can exist without falling.

 Millions of dollars have been spent to stop the tower crashing to the ground. Soft, shifting soil has always been the tower’s problem. Recently, it was discovered that the tower had moved two millimeters. This was a great setback because engineers had previously corrected about twenty millimeters of the lean by using an inventive underground cables idea to straighten the tower. Pisa would hate to lose its precious Campo dei Miracoli

and the tourist dollars it generates.

1.   How much has been spent to save the tower?

2.   What recently caused concern?

3.   What causes the tower to move?

4.   How are they trying to correct the fault?

5.   What is the real name of the Leaning Tower of Pisa?

6.   Why would Pisa hate to lose the tower?

7.   Would you be sad if the tower fell? Why?

Text

         There is an orangutan in the Bandung zoo. People call her Bongo. She comes from a dense forest on the island of Kalimantan. She has physical features similar to a human. Bongo has brownish fur, and walks with two feet. Bongo is almost as big as a human. She is a mammal, that means she gives birth to her children and breast feeds them.

Text 4

“Hospitality is Our Trademark”

• 100 Rooms

• Restaurant

• Sport Facilities

• Coffee Shop

• Karaoke Room

         There is a new hotel in my city. It is a four star hotel. It is located downtown. The hotel is not very big but the architecture is very beautiful. It looks like a classic castle in Europe. According to the brochure, it has 100 rooms, a fancy restaurant, complete sports facilities including a swimming pool, tennis court, gym and sauna, there are also a coffee shop and a karaoke room . The pictures of the rooms in the brochure are very nice. The rooms look very comfortable. It they contain a big spring bed with big pillows, a nice sofa, a wardrobe and a television system with programmers from all over the world. The bathroom is very beautiful although it is not very big. It has a bath-tub with hot and cold water so guests can bath in it comfortably. The brochure says “Hospitality is our trademark.” The staff of that hotel, from the receptionists, house keepers, and bellboys are trained to be polite and to help guests in any way they can.

Answer the following questions based on the text

1.   What makes the

hotel different from other hotels?

2.   Mention some hotel facilities.

3.   Describe how the rooms of the hotel looks like.

4.   Describe how the bathroom looks like.