TRIK JITU MENGERJAKAN SOAL TOEFL 2 ,WRITTEN EXPRESSION DAN PEMBAHASANNYA

        The atmosphere  that originally surrounded Earth was probably much different from the air we breathe today.Earth's first atmosphere(some 4.6 billion years ago)was most likely hydrogen and helium-the two most abundant gasses found in the universe-as well as hydrogen compounds,such as methane and ammonia,Most scientists feel that this early atmosphere escaped into space from the Earth's hot surface.          A second,more dense armosphere ,however,gradually enveloped Earth as gasses from molten rocks within its hot interior escaped through volcanoes and steam vents.We assume that volcanoes spewed out the same gasses then as they do today;mostly water vapor(about 90 percent),carbon dioxide(about ten percent),and up to afew percent nitrogen.These same gasses probably created Earth's second atmosphere.          As millions of years passed,the constant outpouring of gasses from the hot interior-known as outgassing-provided a rich supply  of water vapor,which formed into c

        Next to its sheer size,the profound isolation of its many small islands is the most distinctive feature of the Pacific Ocean.Over 25,000 islands are scattered across the surface of the pajjjjcific,more than in all the other oceans combined,but their land area adds up to little more than ;125,000 square kilometers,about the size of New York State,and their inhabitants total less than two million people,about a quarter of the number that live in NEW York City.The oceanic islands of the Pasific are some of the most isolated places on Earth.Many are uninhabitable,by virtue of their small size and particular characteristics,but even the most favored are very isolated fragments of land,strictly circumscribed by the ocean,strictly limited in terms of the numbers of people they can support.This basic fact of environmental circumstance has been the most pervasive influence in determining the social arrangements,and cultural practices of the people that settled in the Pacific Islands.

         The languages spoken by early Europeans are still shrouded in mystery.There is no linguistic continuity between the langusges of Old Europe(a term sometimes used for Eorupe between 7000 and 3000 B.C)and the languages of the modern world,and we cannot yet translate the Old European script,Scholars have deciphered other ancient languages,such as Sumerian,Akkadian,and Babylonian,which used the cuneiform script,because of the fortuitous discovery of bilingual inscriptions,When cuneiform tablets were first discovered in the eighteenth century,scholars could not dechiper them.Then inscriptions found in baa at the end of the eighteenth century provided a link:these inscriptions were written in cuneiform and in two other ancient languages,Old Persian and New Elamite-languages that had already been deciphered.It took several decades,but scholars eventually translated the ancient cuneiform script via the more familiar Old Persian language.          Similarly,the hieroglyphic writing of

         Lichens probably the hardiest of all plants,live where virtually nothing77 else can not-just on rugged mountain peaks but also on sunbaked desert rocks.They are usually the first life to appear on a mountainside that has been scraped bare by an avalanche.Unlike other members of the plant kingdom,lichens are actually a partnership between two plant.The framework of a lichen is usually a network of minute hairlike fungus that anchors the plant,The other component is an alga(similar to the green film of plant life that grows on stagnant pools) that is distributed throughout  the fungus.Being green plants,algae are capable of photosynthesis-that is,using energy from the sun to manufacture their own food.The fungi arc believed to supply water,minerals,and physical support to the partnership.          Lichens are famous for their ability to survive-water shortage.When water is scarce(as is often the casa on a mountain),lichens may become dormant and remain in that condition for pr

         Biological diversity has become widely recognizedas a critical conservation issue only in the past two decades.The rapid destruction of the tropical rain forests,which are the ecosystems with the highest known species diversity on Earth,has awakened people to the importance and fragility of biological diversity.The high rate of species extinctions in these environments is jolting,but it is important to recognize the significance of biological diversity in ll ecosystems.As the human population continues to expand,it will negatively affect one after another of Earth's ecosystems.In terrestrial ecosystems and in fringe marine ecosystems(such as wetlands),the most common problem is habitat destruction.In most situations,the result is irreversible.Now humans are beginning to destroy marine ecosystems through other types of activities,such disposal and run off of poisonous waste;in less than two centuries,by significantly reducing the variety os species on Earth,they have unrav

         The most easily recognizable meteorites are the iron variety,although they only represent about 5 percent of all meteorite falls.They are composed of iron and nickel along with sulfur,carbon,and traces of other elements.Their composition is thought to he similar to that of Earth's iron core and indeed they might have once made up the core of a large planetoid that disintegrated long ago.Due to their dense structure,iron meteorites have the best chance of surviving an impact,and most are found by farmers plowing their fields.          One of the best hunting grounds for meteorites is on the glaciers of Antartctica where the dark stones stand out in stark contrast to the white snow and ice.When meteorites fall on the continent)they are embedded in the moving ice sheets.At places where the glaciers move upward against mountain ranges,meteorites are left exposed on the surface.Some of the meteorites that have landed in Antarctica are believed to have conic from the Moon and ev

          A seventeenth -century theory of burning proposed that anything that burns must contain material that the theorists called"phlogiston."Burning was explained as the release of phlogiston from the combustible material to the air.Air was thought essential,since it had to provide a home for the released phlogiston.There would be a limit to the phlogiston transfer,since a given volume of air could absorb only so much phlogiston.When the air had become saturated,no additional amounts of phlogiston could leave the combustible substance,and the burning would stop.Burning would also stop when the combustance was emptied of all its phlogiston.          Although the phlogiston theory was self-consistent,it was awkward because it required that imaginative,even mysterious,properties be ascribed to phlogiston.Phlogiston was elusive.No one had ever isolated it and experimentally determined its properties.At times it seemed to show a negative weight:the residue left after burning

         The development of jazz can be seen as part of the larger continuum of American popular music,especially dance music.In the twenties,jazz become the hottest new thing in dance music,mush as ragtime had at the turn of the century,and as would rhythm and blues in the fifties,rock in the fifties,and disco in the seventies.          But two characteristicts distinguish jazz from other dance music.The first is improvisation,the changing of a musical phrase according to the player's inspiration.Like all artists,jazz musicians strive for an individual style,and the improvise or paraphrased is a jazz musician's main opportunity to display his or her individuality.In early jazz,musicians often improvised melodies collectively,thus creating a kind of polyphony.There was little soloing as such,although some New Orleans players,particularly cornet player Buddy  Bolden,achieved local fame for their ability to improvise a solo.Later the idea of the chorus-long or multichorus solo

         The livinghood of each species in the vast and intricate assemblage of living things depends on the existences of other organisms.This interdependence is sometimes subtle,sometimes obvious.Perhaps the most straight forward dependence of one species on another occurs with parasites ,orgasms that live on or in other living things and derive nutrients directly from them.The parasitic way of life is widespread.A multitude of microorganisms(including viruses and bacteria)and an army of invertebrates-or creatures lacking a spnal column(including crustaceans,insects,and many different types of worms)-make their livings directly at the expense of other creatures.In the face of this onslaught,living things have evolved a variety of defense mechanisms for protecting their bodies from invasion by other organisms.          Certain fungi and even some kinds of bacteria secrete substances known as antibiotics onto their external environment.These substances are capable of killing or inhib

             A great deal  can be learned from the actual traces of ancient human locomotion:the footprints of early hominds.The best-known specimens are the remarkable tracks discovered at Lactoli,Tanzania,by Mary Leaky.These were left by small hominids around 3.6 to 3.75 million years ago,according to potassium-argon dates of the volcanic rocks above and below this level.These hominids walked across a stretch of moist volcanic ash,which was subsequently turned to mud by eain,and which then set like concrete.          Examination of he shape of the prints revealed to Mary Leakey that the feet had a raised arch,a rounded heel,a pronounced ball,and a big toe that pointed forward.These features,together with the weight-bearing pressure patterns,resembled the prints of upright-walking modern humans.The pressures exerted along the foot,together with the length of stride,which averaged 87 centimeters,indicated that the hominids had been walking slowly.In short,all the detectable morpholog