Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, D on your answer sheet

Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, D on your answer sheet to indicate the best answer to each of the following questions from 23 to 30.

In the 1960s, linguists became interested in a new scientific theory about grammar, or the laws of language. The theory was proposed and made popular by an American linguist named Noam Chomsky, who often focuses on how young children can naturally learn their native language without making any significant efforts and without formal education.

Chomsky didn't think that exposure to a language was enough for a young child to become efficient at understanding and producing a language. Instead, he believed that humans are born with an ability to learn languages. According to Chomsky's theory, the basic structures of language are already present in the human brain at birth.

This "universal grammar" theory suggests that all languages have some common characteristics. For example, every language has a way to ask a question or make what a person says negative. In addition, every language has a way to identify gender or show that something happened in the past or present.

If the most basic grammar laws are the same for all languages, children only need to follow the particular set of rules that their peers also follow in order to understand and produce their native language. In other words, while their environment determines which language they will speak when they grow up, they are already born with the tools to learn any language effectively in their brains.

(Adapted from englishclub.com)

Question 23: The word efficient in paragraph 2 is OPPOSITE in meaning to __________.

A. irrelevant B. irrational C. incapable D. inactive

Question 24: The word common in paragraph 3 could be best replaced by ________.

A. popular B. shared C. approved D. logical

Question 25: Which of the following best paraphrases the underlined sentence in paragraph 3?

A. Every language has ways to show who did something and when it happened.

B. Languages have a structure that can help distinguish between male and female subjects and show time.

C. All languages include words that can mark gender and indicate past or present actions.

D. Each language uses specific forms to identify gender and express time relations between actions.

Question 26: According to the passage, all of the following are characteristics of language EXCEPT ______.

A. Every language has a way to make a sentence negative.

B. All languages include ways to mark events as past or present.

C. Each language provides tools to identify male and female subjects.

D. Every language has a specific structure for formal education.

Question 27: The word they in paragraph 4 refers to _________.

A. laws B. languages C. children D. rules

Question 28: Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?

A. Before the 1960s, there were no scientific theories about grammar.

B. Chomsky focuses on how people of all ages learn their mother tongue.

C. Every language has a specific way to make a statement negative.

D. A child has to learn languages with peers who follow the same rules.

Question 29: In which paragraph does the writer discuss the idea that all languages have some common characteristics?

A. Paragraph 1 B. Paragraph 2 C. Paragraph 3 D. Paragraph 4

Question 30: In which paragraph does the writer mention Chomsky's belief that children are born with the ability to learn languages?

A. Paragraph 1 B. Paragraph 2 C. Paragraph 3 D. Paragraph 4