ABSTRACTrnThe study is entitled: “A STUDY ON READING COMPREHENSION ABILITY OFrnELEVENTH GRADE STUDENT’S OF SMA MUHAMMADIYAH KUPANG IN THErnSCHOOL YEAR 2012/2013”. The statement of the problems of the study are: (1) are therneleventh grade students of SMA Muhammadiyah Kupang able to understand the text theyrnhave read?, (2) what is the ability level of the eleventh grade students of SMArnMuhammadiyah Kupang in understanding the texts they have read?(3) what are therndifficulties encountered by eleventh grades students of SMA Muhammadiyah Kupang inrncomprehending the texts they have read? While the objectives of the study are: (1) To findrnout whether the students of SMA Muhammadiyah Kupang able to understand the texts theyrnhave read?(2) To find out the ability level of the eleventh grades students of SMArnMuhammadiyah Kupang in understanding the text they have read.(3) To find out therndifficulties encountered by eleventh grades students of SMA Muhammadiyah Kupang inrncomprehending the texts they have read. The study was conducted at SMA MuhammadiyahrnKupang, in conducting this study the writer used Normative Survey Method. The subject ofrnthe study was 24 students of eleventh grades students of SMA Muhammadiyah Kupang in thernschool year 2012/2013. In collecting the data the writer prepared two reading texts followedrnby some essay test and multiple choice tests. The result of the study shows that: (1) therneleventh grade students of SMA Muhammadiyah Kupang in the school year 2012/2013 arernable to understand the text they have read. (2) The ability level of the eleventh gradesrnstudents of SMA Muhammadiyah Kupang in the school year 2012/2013 in comprehending orrnunderstanding the text they have read was classified as “Below Average”. It is determined byrnpercentage of the whole test is 55.5 or the grade is 5.5. It was also found that there was 1rnstudent (4%) at “Very Good” level, 3 students (12%) at “Good” Level, 1 student (4%) atrn“Fairly Good” level, 8 students (32%) at “Average” level, 8 students (32%) at “BelowrnAverage” level, 3 students (12%) at “Poor” level. (3) The difficulties faced by the students inrncomprehending the test they read are poor vocabulary knowledge and the general knowledgernof the test. It can be know from the wrong choice answers for comprehension questions.rnBased on the result above, the writer would like to offer some suggestions for the Englishrnteachers and the students in general and the researched school in particular. So because thernlevel was below average, so, (1) the English teacher should give more explanation andrnexercises to the students during the learning process of English, especially about reading textrnand how to answer the questions about the text correctly. (2) The teacher should give morernexercises of reading text, and it should be done in the class and at home to strengthen therncomprehension of the students and also to make them familiar with the text. (3) the teacherrnshould pay attention more in students vocabulary and give more exercises to the studentsrndealing with difficult words found in the text, since vocabulary mastery influences very muchrnthe students reading text comprehension.