TKA English Practice Test 2026 (SMA) — Set 2

The Fisherman’s Lantern

Long ago, in a fishing village on the coast of Sulawesi, there lived an old fisherman named Daeng Bakri. Every evening he lit a small oil lantern and hung it on a pole at the end of the wooden pier. The lantern was not for his own boat. Daeng Bakri no longer went to sea because his legs were too weak. He lit it for the young fishermen who came home after dark.

The village chief thought the lantern was a waste of oil. “Nobody asked you to do this,” he said. “Oil is expensive, and the young men know the way home.” Some villagers laughed at the old man, too. Still, every evening the small yellow light appeared at the end of the pier.

One night, a terrible storm hit the coast. Thick clouds covered the moon and the stars, and heavy rain hid the hills that the fishermen used to find their way. Seven boats were still at sea. Their crews could see nothing but black water — nothing except one tiny yellow light, shaking in the wind.

They steered towards it, one boat after another, until all seven were safely tied to the pier. The last boat to arrive belonged to the village chief’s son.

The next morning, the chief walked to Daeng Bakri’s house carrying a large jar of oil. He did not say much. He only put the jar down by the door and bowed his head.

From that day on, the villagers took turns lighting the lantern. Even after Daeng Bakri passed away, they never let the light go out. Today, a small lighthouse stands at the end of the pier, and the villagers still call it “Bakri’s Lantern”.

How to Make a Simple Water Filter

When clean water is hard to find, for example after a flood, a simple filter can make muddy water much clearer. This filter does not kill germs, so the water must still be boiled before you drink it.

What you need

• a large plastic bottle (1.5 litres) with its cap
• a clean cotton cloth
• 2 cups of clean gravel (small stones)
• 2 cups of clean sand
• 1 cup of charcoal, crushed into small pieces
• scissors and a nail

Steps

1. Cut off the bottom of the bottle. With an adult’s help, make a few small holes in the cap with a hot nail.
2. Turn the bottle upside down, with the cap at the bottom. Push the cloth into the neck of the bottle so that it covers the cap.
3. Put the charcoal on top of the cloth. Charcoal traps smells and some of the colour in the water.
4. Add the sand. The sand catches small pieces of dirt.
5. Add the gravel on top. The gravel stops leaves and twigs, and it keeps the sand from being washed away when you pour.
6. Place the filter over a clean glass jar and slowly pour in the muddy water.
7. Throw away the first two glasses of filtered water, because they may still contain charcoal dust.
8. Boil the filtered water for at least one minute before drinking it.

Wash or change the sand and gravel every week, because dirt collects in the layers and slows down the water.

A Day on a Coffee Farm

Last July, our class visited a coffee farm in Kintamani as part of our economics project. I had always thought coffee came from big factories, so I was surprised by how much of the work is still done by hand.

We left school at six in the morning and arrived at the farm two hours later. The air was so cold that I could see my breath. The owner, Bu Komang, first showed us the coffee trees. They were shorter than I expected — only about two metres tall — and the ripe berries were bright red, like small cherries.

After that, we tried picking the berries ourselves. Bu Komang told us to pick only the red ones. It sounds easy, but after an hour my basket was less than half full, and my fingers were sticky. She laughed and said that an experienced picker can fill ten baskets a day.

Next, she took us to the drying area, where thousands of beans lay on bamboo racks under the sun. The beans have to be turned several times a day for about two weeks. Finally, we visited the small roasting room. The smell was wonderful, and everyone was quiet as we watched the beans turn from green to dark brown.

Before we left, we bought small packs of coffee for our parents. On the bus home, I looked at the pack in my hands and thought about the cold mornings, the sticky fingers and the many days of drying. I will never think that a cup of coffee is “just coffee” again.

Every Student Should Learn to Cook

Many teenagers today can order food with one tap on their phones, but few of them can cook a simple meal. I strongly believe that cooking should be taught at school, at least for one semester in junior or senior high school.

First, cooking is a basic life skill. Sooner or later, most students will live away from their parents, for example when they go to university or start working. A national survey in 2024 found that 62 percent of first-year university students ate instant noodles at least four times a week. Students who can cook a few simple dishes are less likely to depend on unhealthy instant food.

Second, cooking can save money. A plate of fried rice from a delivery app can cost three times as much as the same dish cooked at home. In our own school, the canteen sells about 300 portions of instant noodles every week. Learning to plan meals and shop wisely is also a lesson in managing money.

Third, cooking lessons connect many subjects. Measuring ingredients uses mathematics, and understanding why bread rises is a lesson in science. Students also learn about nutrition and food safety, which are important for their health.

Some people argue that schools have no time or space for cooking lessons. However, cooking classes do not need an expensive kitchen. A few portable stoves and simple recipes are enough, and lessons could be held as an after-school activity.

Therefore, I urge school principals and parents to support cooking lessons in our schools. Let us help young people become healthier, smarter and more independent — one simple meal at a time.

How Do Students Get to School?

The student council at SMA Harapan asked 200 students how they usually travel to school. The results are shown in the chart below.

The most common way to get to school is by motorbike, usually with a parent. Many parents drop their children off on their way to work, which causes long queues at the school gate between 6.30 and 6.45 every morning. Walking is the second most popular choice. Almost all of the walkers live less than one kilometre from school.

Only 25 students cycle, even though 60 students live between one and three kilometres from school — a distance that takes about ten minutes by bicycle. When asked why they do not cycle, most students said that the road in front of the school has no bicycle lane and they do not feel safe. Some also said there is nowhere to park bicycles.

Based on these results, the student council has asked the school to build a covered bicycle park and to talk to the local government about painting a bicycle lane on Jalan Melati. The council believes that if cycling becomes safer, more students will leave motorbikes at home, and the morning queue at the gate will become shorter.