In past centuries, Native Americans living in the arid areas of what is now the southwestern United States relied on a variety of strategies to ensure the success of their agriculture.
Di abad-abad lalu, Suku Asli Amerika yang tinggal di daerah tandus yang sekarang adalah daerah barat daya Amerika Serikat bergantung pada sejumlah strategi untuk memastikan keberhasilan pertanian mereka.

First and foremost, water was the critical factor.
Yang pertama dan terpenting, air adalah faktor yang sangat penting.

The soil was rich because there was little rain to leach out the minerals, but the low precipitation caused its own problems.
Tanah waktu itu subur karena ada sedikit hujan untuk meluluhkan mineral, tapi hujan yang sedikit menimbulkan masalah tersendiri.

Long periods of drought could have made agriculture impossible;
Periode kemarau yang panjang bisa menjadikan pertanian tidak bisa dilakukan;

on the other hand, a sudden flood could just as easily have destroyed a crop.
di sisi lain, banjir yang tiba-tiba bisa menghancurkan tanaman dengan mudah.

Several techniques were developed to solve the water problem.
Beberapa teknik dikembangkan untuk memecahkan masalah air.

The simplest was to plant crops in the floodplains and wait for the annual floods to water the young crops.
Teknik termudah adalah dengan menanam tanaman panen di dataran banjir dan menunggu banjir tahunan untuk mengairi tanaman yang masih muda.

A less dangerous technique was to build dikes or dams to control the flooding.
Teknik yang tidak terlalu berbahaya adalah dengan membangun tanggul atau bendungan untuk mengendalikan banjir.

These dikes both protected the plants against excessive flooding and prevented the water from escaping too quickly once it had arrived.
Tanggul-tanggul ini melindungi tanaman dari banjir yang besar dan mencegah air keluar terlalu cepat begitu ia tiba.

The Hopi people designed their fields in a checkerboard pattern, with many small dikes, each enclosing only one or two stalks of maize (corn), while other groups built a series of dams to control the floods.
Suku Hopi mendesain lahan-lahan mereka dalam pola kotak-kotak, dengan tanggul-tanggul kecil yang banyak, tiap tanggul mengelilingi hanya satu atau dua batang jagung, sementara kelompok lain membangun deretan bendungan untuk mengendalikan banjir.

A third technique was to dig irrigation ditches to bring water from the rivers.
Teknik ketiga adalah dengan menggali parit untuk membawa air dari sungai.

Water was sometimes carried to the fields in jars, particularly if the season was dry.
Air kadang dibawa ke lahan dalam kendi, terutama jika musim kering.

Some crops were planted where they could be watered directly by the runoff from cliff walls.
Beberapa tanaman ditanam di mana mereka bisa diairi secara langsung oleh limpasan dari dinding tebing.

Another strategy Native Americans used to ensure a continuous food supply was to plant their crops in more than one place, hoping that if one crop failed, another would survive.
Strategi lain yang digunakan Suku Asli Amerika untuk memastikan persediaan pangan yang berkesinambungan adalah dengan menanam tanaman mereka di lebih dari satu tempat, dengan harapan jika satu tanaman gagal, yang lain akan bertahan.

However, since the soil was rich and not easily exhausted, the same patch of ground could be cultivated year after year, whereas in the woodlands of the eastern United States it was necessary to abandon a plot of ground after a few years of farming.
Namun, karena tanah subur dan (mineralnya) tidak habis digunakan dengan mudah, sepetak tanah yang sama bisa ditanami tahun demi tahun, sedangkan di hutan bagian timur Amerika Serikat, perlu meninggalkan lahan setelah beberapa tahun ditanami.

In the Southwest, often two successive crops were planted each year.
Di barat daya Amerika, seringkali dua tanaman ditanam secara berturut-turut setiap tahun.

It was a common southwestern practice to grow enough food so that some could be dried and stored for emergencies.
Adalah tradisi lazim wilayah barat daya untuk menanam cukup tanaman pangan supaya sebagian bisa dikeringkan dan disimpan untuk cadangan.

If emergency supplies ran low, the people turned to the local wild plants.
Jika persediaan darurat menipis, orang-orang beralih ke tanaman liar setempat.

If these failed, they moved up into the mountains to gather the wild plants that might have survived in the cooler atmosphere.
Jika ini semua gagal, mereka naik ke pegunungan untuk mengumpulkan tanaman liar yang mungkin bertahan di atmosfer yang lebih dingin.

1. What does the passage mainly discuss?
(A) Agricultural methods of Native Americans
(B) Irrigation techniques used by the Hopi
(C) Soil quality in the American Southwest
(D) Native American methods of storing emergency food supplies

Jawaban yang tepat adalah:
(A) Agricultural methods of Native Americans
(Metode-metode pertanian suku Asli Amerika)

2. The word “solve” in line 7 is closest in meaning to
(A) advance toward
(B) protect from
(C) keep in
(D) deal with

Jawaban yang tepat adalah:
(D) deal with
– solve = deal with = memecahkan, mengatasi
https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/solve
https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/deal-with#dealwith2_e

3. Planting in the floodplains was not ideal because
(A) the amount of water could not be controlled
(B) the crops could be eaten by wild animals
(C) the floodplains were too remote to be cultivated frequently
(D) corn grows better at high elevations

Jawaban yang tepat adalah:
(A) the amount of water could not be controlled
(jumlah air tidak bisa dikendalikan)

Ini bisa disimpulkan dari:
The simplest was to plant crops in the floodplains and wait for the annual floods to water the young crops.
Teknik termudah adalah dengan menanam tanaman panen di dataran banjir dan menunggu banjir tahunan untuk mengairi tanaman yang masih muda.

A less dangerous technique was to build dikes or dams to control the flooding.
Teknik yang tidak terlalu berbahaya adalah dengan membangun tanggul atau bendungan untuk mengendalikan banjir.

These dikes both protected the plants against excessive flooding and prevented the water from escaping too quickly once it had arrived.
Tanggul-tanggul ini melindungi tanaman dari banjir yang besar dan mencegah air keluar terlalu cepat begitu ia tiba.

4. The word “enclosing” in line 12 is closest in meaning to
(A) defending
(B) measuring
(C) surrounding
(D) extending

Jawaban yang tepat adalah:
(C) surrounding
– enclose = surround = mengelilingi
https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/enclose
https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/surround_1?q=surround

5. The word “they” in line 16 refers to
(A) fields
(B) jars
(C) crops
(D) walls

Jawaban yang tepat adalah:
(C) crops

Ini bisa disimpulkan dari:
Some crops were planted where they could be watered directly by the runoff from cliff walls.
Beberapa tanaman ditanam di mana mereka bisa diairi secara langsung oleh limpasan dari dinding tebing.

6. Why did farmers in the Southwest plant crops in several places at the same time?
(A) They moved frequently from one place to another.
(B) They feared that one of the crops might fail.
(C) The size of each field was quite limited.
(D) They wanted to avoid overusing the soil.

Jawaban yang tepat adalah:
(B) They feared that one of the crops might fail.
(Mereka takut bahwa salah satu tanaman mungkin gagal.)

Ini bisa disimpulkan dari:
Another strategy Native Americans used to ensure a continuous food supply was to plant their crops in more than one place, hoping that if one crop failed, another would survive.
Strategi lain yang digunakan Suku Asli Amerika untuk memastikan persediaan pangan yang berkesinambungan adalah dengan menanam tanaman mereka di lebih dari satu tempat, dengan harapan jika satu tanaman gagal, yang lain akan bertahan.

7. The word “patch” in line 19 is closest in meaning to
(A) type
(B) level
(C) group
(D) piece

Jawaban yang tepat adalah:
(D) piece
– patch = piece = petak/bidang (jika digunakan dengan tanah/lahan)
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english-indonesian/patch
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english-indonesian/piece

8. Why did farmers in the eastern woodlands periodically abandon their fields?
(A) Seasonal flooding made agriculture impossible.
(B) They experienced water shortages.
(C) They wanted a longer growing season.
(D) The minerals in the soil were exhausted.

Jawaban yang tepat adalah:
(D) The minerals in the soil were exhausted.
(Mineral di dalam tanah sudah habis.)

Ini bisa disimpulkan dari:
However, since the soil was rich and not easily exhausted, the same patch of ground could be cultivated year after year, whereas in the woodlands of the eastern
United States it was necessary to abandon a plot of ground after a few years of farming.
Namun, karena tanah subur dan (mineralnya) tidak habis digunakan dengan mudah, sepetak tanah yang sama bisa ditanami tahun demi tahun, sedangkan di hutan bagian timur Amerika Serikat, perlu meninggalkan lahan setelah beberapa tahun ditanami.

9. What did farmers in the Southwest do when a crop failed?
(A) They planted in the eastern woodlands.
(B) They gathered food from wild plants.
(C) They moved away from the mountains.
(D) They redesigned their fields for the next season.

Jawaban yang tepat adalah:
(B) They gathered food from wild plants.
(Mereka mengumpulkan makanana dari tanaman liar.)

Ini bisa disimpulkan dari:
If emergency supplies ran low, the people turned to the local wild plants.
Jika persediaan darurat menipis, orang-orang beralih ke tanaman liar setempat.

If these failed, they moved up into the mountains to gather the wild plants that might have survived in the cooler atmosphere.
Jika ini semua gagal, mereka naik ke pegunungan untuk mengumpulkan tanaman liar yang mungkin bertahan di atmosfer yang lebih dingin.

10. Farmers in the Southwest would have benefited most from which of the following?
(A) Steeper cliff walls
(B) More sunshine
(C) Regular rain
(D) Smaller dikes

Jawaban yang tepat adalah:
(C) Regular rain
(Hujan yang teratur)

Ini bisa disimpulkan dari:
First and foremost, water was the critical factor.
Yang pertama dan terpenting, air adalah faktor yang sangat penting.

The soil was rich because there was little rain to leach out the minerals, but the low precipitation caused its own problems.
Tanah waktu itu subur karena ada sedikit hujan untuk meluluhkan mineral, tapi hujan yang sedikit menimbulkan masalah tersendiri.

Long periods of drought could have made agriculture impossible;
Periode kemarau yang panjang bisa menjadikan pertanian tidak bisa dilakukan;

on the other hand, a sudden flood could just as easily have destroyed a crop.
di sisi lain, banjir yang tiba-tiba bisa menghancurkan tanaman dengan mudah.

Dari kalimat-kalimat ini bisa disimpulkan bahwa kondisi akan lebih mudah / menguntungkan jika huja lebih teratur untuk melakukan pertanian.