Pembahasan Materi, Contoh dan Latihan Soal Explanation Text SMA

Explanation Text merupakan salah satu materi teks dalam reading comprehension bahasa Inggris SMA atau SMK. Teks ini memuat proses-proses yang berkaitan dengan gejala-gejala alam, sosial, ilmu pengetahuan, budaya dan lainnya. Jenis teks ini umumnya berasal dari pertanyaan penulis tentang mengapa (why) dan bagaimana (how) terhadap suatu gejala yang ada.

Explanation is a text which tells processes relating to forming of natural, social, scientific and cultural phenomena

Generic Structure

Berdasarkan struktur kebahasaannya, Explanation Text terdiri dari tiga bagian utama, yakni general statement, sequence of explanation, dan closing. Berikut penjelasan setiap bagian itu.

A general statement

Bagian ini menjelaskan suatu peristiwa atau gejala (fenomena) yang terjadi. Bagian ini juga berupa  penjelasan umum tentang peristiwa tersebut.

A sequence of explanation

A sequence of explanation berisi tentang penjelasan proses mengapa suatu fenomena bisa terjadi atau tercipta. Bagian ini merupakan  jawaban dari pertanyaan ‘why’ dan ‘how’ saat kita membuat jenis teks explanation. 

Closing

Closing dalam explanation text merupakan penutup. Secara sistematis bagian ini tidak terdapat dalam struktur umum Explanation text, akan tetapi banyak  beranggapan bahwa paragraf terakhir dari sebuah Explanation text adalah closing. Padahal, itu merupakan bagian dari squence of explanation yang berisi tentang langkah akhir yang dijelaskan pada bagian squence of explanation.

Jenis Explanation Text

Dikutip dari situs literacyideas.com, explanation text digolongkan menjadi empat jenis yaitu, 

1. Sequential – detail dari tahapan sebuah even atau kejadian contohnya, how a caterpillar turns into a moth.
2. Causal - Detail tentang apa yang berubah dari satu tahapan ke tahapan yang lain. Contoh : How a president is elected.
3. Theoretical - Detail tentang bagaimana fenomena yang terjadi secara alami atau proses yang dibuat yang secara tidak mudah dipahami. Contoh :What caused the Nazi's to lose World War II. 
4. Factorial and consequential explanations, yang menjelaskan efek dan hasil dari sebuah proses. Biasanya digunakan dalam konteks tingkat primer dan sekunder. Contoh : 

              Scientific– eg Explain the causes of climate change (Factorial) 

              Historical– eg Explain the causes of World War 2 (Factorial)

Ciri-Ciri Kebahasaan

Explanation text memiliki ciri-ciri kebahasaan yang ditandai dengan penggunaan enam elemen gramatikal, yaitu,  

(1) simple present tense, 

(2) abstract noun,

(3) passive voice, 

(4) action verbs, 

(5) noun phrase, 

(6) conjunction of time dan cause-effect

Contoh Explanation Text

Contoh 1

Contoh 2 (tanpa Generic Structure)

Latihan Soal Explanation

Nearly all energy is derived from the sun, either indirectly or directly, in the form of the form of heat rays and light rays. Electrical energy is derived from the sun indirectly. It can be derived from the power of the earth’s surface, by mean of the sun’s heat. This water vapor rises, condenses on cooling, and falls as rain.
The light and heat energy from coal is also derived indirectly from the sun. Coal was formed by the pressure of the rocks on vegetation which died millions of years ago. That vegetation grew with the aid of sunlight, from which carbohydrates were formed, thus converting solar energy into chemical energy. When coal is burn some of this energy is released.
Energy used to drive car engines is derived from petrol, which is also formed with the indirect aid of the sun. Plants and animal were pressed under the rocks in the earth. These dead animals and vegetables remains formed petroleum, from which petrol and oil are now obtained.

Thus the sun can be said to be source of nearly all energy, and in the absence of the sun’s heat and light, no life could exist on earth.

1. What is the main topic of the passage?
A. solar energy
B. electrical energy
C. fossil fuel energy
D. light and heat energy
E. sources of energy
AnswerJawaban: E

2. Where does energy come from originally? It comes from …
A. the sun
B. the electricity
C. the coal
D. the petrol
E. head and light rays
AnswerJawaban: A

Have we wondered how we get chocolate from? Well this time we will enter the amazing world of chocolate so we can understand exactly how chocolate is made.

Chocolate is taken from a tree called the cacao tree. This tree grows in equatorial regions, especially in place such as South America, Africa, and Indonesia. The cacao tree produces a fruit about the size of small pine apple. Inside the fruit are the tree’s seeds, also known as coco beans.

The beans are fermented for about a week, dried in the sun and then shipped to the chocolate maker. The chocolate maker starts by roasting the beans to bring out the flavor. Different beans from different place have different qualities and flavor, so they are often sorted and blended to produce a distinctive mix.

Next, the roasted beans are winnowed. Winnowing removes the meat nib of the cacao beans bean from its shell. Then, the nibs are blended. The blended nibs are ground to make it a liquid. The liquid is called chocolate liquor. It tastes bitter.

All seeds contain some amount of fat, and cacao beans are not different. However, cacao beans are half fat, which is why the ground nibs from liquid. It’s pure bitter chocolate.

3. What does the text tells us about?
A. the cacao tree
B. the cacao beans
C. the raw chocolate
D. the making of chocolate
E. the flavor of chocolate
AnswerJawaban: D

4. It can be concluded from the text that the cacao beans are roasted to ....
A. have a good looking
B. have a good taste
C. have it burned
D. make it well-looked
E. bring out its color
AnswerJawaban: B

5. “ …., so they are often sorted and blended to produce ….” ( Paragraph 3 )
The underline word is close in meaning to …
A. arranged
B. combined
C. separated
D. distributed
E. organized
AnswerJawaban: B

6. The most important step to have good taste of the chocolate is in ....
A. the sorting.
B. the grinding.
C. the winnowing.
D. the fermenting.
E. the roasting.
AnswerJawaban: D

On May 16, 2010, people in most regions in the world have seen a very rare natural phenomenon. It was Venus eclipse. It was very rare amazing natural event. It was reported that the Venus eclipse will seen again in the future in 2050. Do you know how this rare Venus eclipse happens?

Well, actually Venus eclipse is like Sun eclipse. Venus eclipses occurs when the position of the earth, moon and Venus is parallel. Venus planet will slowly disappear for a moment because it is covered the surface of the Moon. Venus planet seems to move to the back side of the Moon.

The moon and planets are sharing a similar apparent path in the sky. That is why, it is not unusual for the moon to appear to pass close to Venus. In fact, the moon appears somewhere near it about once a month. However, most people don’t see these events because they are visible in the evening sky only half the time, and then only for a short period after sunset. The apparent closeness varies from month to month as well.

7. The purpose of the text is ....
A. to describe Venus eclipse
B. to tell natural phenomenon
C. to explain how and when to see Venus eclipse
D. to explain how Venus eclipse takes place
E. to amuse about the scientific story of Venus eclipse
AnswerJawaban: C

8. The moon appears somewhere near Venus about once a month is visible ....
A. in the dark sky
B. only for a short period  after sunset
C. only at night
D. varies from month to month
E. when the moon appears to pass close to Venus
AnswerJawaban: B

9. It can be stated that Venus eclipse will occur in the next ....
A. ten years
B. twenty years
C. fifteen years
D. forty years
E. fifty years
AnswerJawaban: D

10. How does Venus eclipse take place?
A. It is like sun eclipse
B. When the moon and planets are sharing a similar apparent path in the sky
C. When the sun moves to the back side of the moon
D. When it covers the surface of the moon
E. When the position of the moon, the earth and Venus is parallel
AnswerJawaban: E

Demikian Pembahasan Materi, Contoh dan Latihan Soal Explanation Text SMA, semoga bisa bermanfaat bagi semua. Terima kasih sudah berkunjung.

Salam.