Soal Literasi dalam Bahasa Inggris (LBE) UTBK-SNBT

Sleeping With One Eye Open

(1) For most mammals, sleep is an all-or-nothing state: the whole brain slows down together, and the body becomes still and largely unaware of its surroundings. A number of animals, however, have found a way around this risky arrangement. They can let one half of the brain sink into deep sleep while the other half stays awake. Scientists call this unihemispheric slow-wave sleep.

(2) Bottlenose dolphins are the best-known example. A dolphin has to swim up to the surface for every breath, so it cannot simply drift off for hours the way a person does in bed. By resting one half of the brain at a time, a dolphin can keep swimming, surfacing, and watching for danger while still getting the sleep it needs.

(3) Birds use the same trick. In a well-known experiment published in 1999, researchers filmed mallard ducks sleeping side by side in a row and recorded their brain activity. The ducks at the two ends of the row, which were the most exposed, spent much more time sleeping with one half of the brain than the ducks in the middle. They also tended to keep open the eye facing away from the group, the direction from which a predator would most likely come. Each open eye was linked to the half of the brain that was still awake.

(4) Some birds even sleep in the air. In 2016, scientists who recorded the brain activity of great frigatebirds during long flights over the ocean found that the birds slept mostly while circling upward in rising air, often with only one half of the brain at a time. In flight, however, they slept for less than an hour a day in total, compared with more than twelve hours a day once they were back on land.

(5) Humans cannot do anything as dramatic, but traces of the same idea may exist in us. A 2016 study of people sleeping in a laboratory for the first time found that, on the first night, the left half of the brain slept less deeply than the right and responded more strongly to unusual sounds. On the second night, the difference disappeared. The researchers suggested that this "night watch" may help explain why many people sleep poorly in a new place.

Sleeping With One Eye Open

(1) For most mammals, sleep is an all-or-nothing state: the whole brain slows down together, and the body becomes still and largely unaware of its surroundings. A number of animals, however, have found a way around this risky arrangement. They can let one half of the brain sink into deep sleep while the other half stays awake. Scientists call this unihemispheric slow-wave sleep.

(2) Bottlenose dolphins are the best-known example. A dolphin has to swim up to the surface for every breath, so it cannot simply drift off for hours the way a person does in bed. By resting one half of the brain at a time, a dolphin can keep swimming, surfacing, and watching for danger while still getting the sleep it needs.

(3) Birds use the same trick. In a well-known experiment published in 1999, researchers filmed mallard ducks sleeping side by side in a row and recorded their brain activity. The ducks at the two ends of the row, which were the most exposed, spent much more time sleeping with one half of the brain than the ducks in the middle. They also tended to keep open the eye facing away from the group, the direction from which a predator would most likely come. Each open eye was linked to the half of the brain that was still awake.

(4) Some birds even sleep in the air. In 2016, scientists who recorded the brain activity of great frigatebirds during long flights over the ocean found that the birds slept mostly while circling upward in rising air, often with only one half of the brain at a time. In flight, however, they slept for less than an hour a day in total, compared with more than twelve hours a day once they were back on land.

(5) Humans cannot do anything as dramatic, but traces of the same idea may exist in us. A 2016 study of people sleeping in a laboratory for the first time found that, on the first night, the left half of the brain slept less deeply than the right and responded more strongly to unusual sounds. On the second night, the difference disappeared. The researchers suggested that this "night watch" may help explain why many people sleep poorly in a new place.

Sleeping With One Eye Open

(1) For most mammals, sleep is an all-or-nothing state: the whole brain slows down together, and the body becomes still and largely unaware of its surroundings. A number of animals, however, have found a way around this risky arrangement. They can let one half of the brain sink into deep sleep while the other half stays awake. Scientists call this unihemispheric slow-wave sleep.

(2) Bottlenose dolphins are the best-known example. A dolphin has to swim up to the surface for every breath, so it cannot simply drift off for hours the way a person does in bed. By resting one half of the brain at a time, a dolphin can keep swimming, surfacing, and watching for danger while still getting the sleep it needs.

(3) Birds use the same trick. In a well-known experiment published in 1999, researchers filmed mallard ducks sleeping side by side in a row and recorded their brain activity. The ducks at the two ends of the row, which were the most exposed, spent much more time sleeping with one half of the brain than the ducks in the middle. They also tended to keep open the eye facing away from the group, the direction from which a predator would most likely come. Each open eye was linked to the half of the brain that was still awake.

(4) Some birds even sleep in the air. In 2016, scientists who recorded the brain activity of great frigatebirds during long flights over the ocean found that the birds slept mostly while circling upward in rising air, often with only one half of the brain at a time. In flight, however, they slept for less than an hour a day in total, compared with more than twelve hours a day once they were back on land.

(5) Humans cannot do anything as dramatic, but traces of the same idea may exist in us. A 2016 study of people sleeping in a laboratory for the first time found that, on the first night, the left half of the brain slept less deeply than the right and responded more strongly to unusual sounds. On the second night, the difference disappeared. The researchers suggested that this "night watch" may help explain why many people sleep poorly in a new place.

Protect the Lane, and They Will Ride? (fictional report)

KOTA LARASATI (fictional) — In October 2025, the city council of Kota Larasati replaced the painted bicycle lane on Jalan Melati with a lane separated from traffic by a low concrete kerb. To see what changed, council staff counted the traffic passing one point on the street between 06.00 and 09.00 on five weekday mornings in September 2025, before the work began, and again on five weekday mornings in March 2026. The table shows the average count per morning.

In March, the staff also interviewed 150 cyclists on Jalan Melati who said they had not cycled on the street before the new lane opened. Of these, 84 said they used to make the same trip by motorcycle, 39 by shared minibus (angkot), and 27 by car.

"The numbers speak for themselves," said council member Dewi Anggraini (fictional). "Protect the lane, and people will ride. We should build the same kind of lane on every major street in the city."

Protect the Lane, and They Will Ride? (fictional report)

KOTA LARASATI (fictional) — In October 2025, the city council of Kota Larasati replaced the painted bicycle lane on Jalan Melati with a lane separated from traffic by a low concrete kerb. To see what changed, council staff counted the traffic passing one point on the street between 06.00 and 09.00 on five weekday mornings in September 2025, before the work began, and again on five weekday mornings in March 2026. The table shows the average count per morning.

In March, the staff also interviewed 150 cyclists on Jalan Melati who said they had not cycled on the street before the new lane opened. Of these, 84 said they used to make the same trip by motorcycle, 39 by shared minibus (angkot), and 27 by car.

"The numbers speak for themselves," said council member Dewi Anggraini (fictional). "Protect the lane, and people will ride. We should build the same kind of lane on every major street in the city."

Protect the Lane, and They Will Ride? (fictional report)

KOTA LARASATI (fictional) — In October 2025, the city council of Kota Larasati replaced the painted bicycle lane on Jalan Melati with a lane separated from traffic by a low concrete kerb. To see what changed, council staff counted the traffic passing one point on the street between 06.00 and 09.00 on five weekday mornings in September 2025, before the work began, and again on five weekday mornings in March 2026. The table shows the average count per morning.

In March, the staff also interviewed 150 cyclists on Jalan Melati who said they had not cycled on the street before the new lane opened. Of these, 84 said they used to make the same trip by motorcycle, 39 by shared minibus (angkot), and 27 by car.

"The numbers speak for themselves," said council member Dewi Anggraini (fictional). "Protect the lane, and people will ride. We should build the same kind of lane on every major street in the city."

Let's Retire the "Digital Native"

(1) In 2001, the writer Marc Prensky described young people who had grown up surrounded by computers, video games, and the internet as "digital natives." The phrase caught on quickly, and more than two decades later it is still heard in school meetings, job advertisements, and newspaper columns. It is time we stopped using it.

(2) The problem is not that the label is unkind. It is that it quietly turns a fact about age into a claim about skill. Growing up with a smartphone makes a teenager comfortable with apps and quick at typing. It does not, by itself, teach anyone how to check whether a viral video is real, how a search engine ranks its results, or why a free app might be collecting their data. Being familiar with a tool is not the same as understanding it, in the same way that riding in cars every day does not turn someone into a mechanic.

(3) This confusion has real consequences. If teachers assume that their students already know how to judge online sources, they may never teach them to do so. In a survey of 300 first-year students at a university in Kota Rembulan (fictional), most rated their own ability to spot false news as "good" or "very good," yet fewer than a third correctly identified a sponsored article in a short test.

(4) The belief that young people are naturally skilled with technology is, in short, unwarranted. Digital skills are learned, just like reading and arithmetic, and someone has to teach them. Instead of calling students natives, we should treat them as what they are: learners.

Let's Retire the "Digital Native"

(1) In 2001, the writer Marc Prensky described young people who had grown up surrounded by computers, video games, and the internet as "digital natives." The phrase caught on quickly, and more than two decades later it is still heard in school meetings, job advertisements, and newspaper columns. It is time we stopped using it.

(2) The problem is not that the label is unkind. It is that it quietly turns a fact about age into a claim about skill. Growing up with a smartphone makes a teenager comfortable with apps and quick at typing. It does not, by itself, teach anyone how to check whether a viral video is real, how a search engine ranks its results, or why a free app might be collecting their data. Being familiar with a tool is not the same as understanding it, in the same way that riding in cars every day does not turn someone into a mechanic.

(3) This confusion has real consequences. If teachers assume that their students already know how to judge online sources, they may never teach them to do so. In a survey of 300 first-year students at a university in Kota Rembulan (fictional), most rated their own ability to spot false news as "good" or "very good," yet fewer than a third correctly identified a sponsored article in a short test.

(4) The belief that young people are naturally skilled with technology is, in short, unwarranted. Digital skills are learned, just like reading and arithmetic, and someone has to teach them. Instead of calling students natives, we should treat them as what they are: learners.

Let's Retire the "Digital Native"

(1) In 2001, the writer Marc Prensky described young people who had grown up surrounded by computers, video games, and the internet as "digital natives." The phrase caught on quickly, and more than two decades later it is still heard in school meetings, job advertisements, and newspaper columns. It is time we stopped using it.

(2) The problem is not that the label is unkind. It is that it quietly turns a fact about age into a claim about skill. Growing up with a smartphone makes a teenager comfortable with apps and quick at typing. It does not, by itself, teach anyone how to check whether a viral video is real, how a search engine ranks its results, or why a free app might be collecting their data. Being familiar with a tool is not the same as understanding it, in the same way that riding in cars every day does not turn someone into a mechanic.

(3) This confusion has real consequences. If teachers assume that their students already know how to judge online sources, they may never teach them to do so. In a survey of 300 first-year students at a university in Kota Rembulan (fictional), most rated their own ability to spot false news as "good" or "very good," yet fewer than a third correctly identified a sponsored article in a short test.

(4) The belief that young people are naturally skilled with technology is, in short, unwarranted. Digital skills are learned, just like reading and arithmetic, and someone has to teach them. Instead of calling students natives, we should treat them as what they are: learners.

The Second Row (a short story)

Sari (fictional) had the strongest voice in the school choir, and everyone knew it, including Sari. During rehearsals she sang a little louder than the others, and she liked the way the conductor, Mr. Hendra (fictional), sometimes smiled when her voice rose above the rest.

Two weeks before the regional competition, he moved her from the front row to the second.

"Your voice isn't the problem," he said when she asked why. "Your ears are."

Sari spent the rest of the rehearsal sulking. She sang every note correctly but without feeling, and she did not look at him once.

That evening, she played the recording her friend Nia had made of the rehearsal on her phone. At first she listened only for herself. Then, on the third time through, she noticed something else. In the quiet passage near the end, the altos were singing softly together, almost like one voice, and her own voice cut through them like a car horn.

She listened to the passage twice more before she put the phone away.

At the next rehearsal, Sari stood in the second row and sang the quiet passage so softly that she could hear Nia breathing beside her. When the piece ended, Mr. Hendra said nothing to her. Before the choir left, he wrote something on the seating chart. Sari did not even try to read it.