Reading passages

12- The author states that, in the Middle Ages, ……… . 
A) Roman numerals had lost their influence 
B) football, tennis and cricket were popular pastimes 
C) people used to count In twenties 
D) numbering systems developed close to their present forms 
E) there were still primitive tribes counting by finger 
Military rockets filled with gunpowder were first used in 1312 by the Chinese against the Tatars. The 
idea caught on in the West, too, and rockets lit up the sky in 1380 in battle between Venice and 
Genoa. Th Indians used them against the British at the end of the 18th century. The British were 
impressed and Colonel William Congreve set to work on the Congreve rocket, with a rang of 1,800 
metres. In 1806, during the Napoleonic wars, some 200 Congreve rockets set fire to Boulogne. This 
had no been part of the plan: they had actually beer aimed at shipping in the harbour. Rockets have 
since been also used to fire lifelines from ship to shore, to fire harpoons into the backs of whales, and 
of course, to launch humans into space. 
13-It is clear from the passage that, originally, rockets were ……. . 
A) created by western inventors 
B) invented before gunpowder
C) used exclusively in warfare
D) developed by the Tatars 
E) unsuccessfully used in battle 
14- The author informs us that Sir William Congreve ………… . 
A)set fire to the French town, Boulogne 
B) was the inventor of the first effective rockets 
C) played a major role during the Napoleonic wars 
D) commanded and lost the war against the Indians 
E) was inspired by the Indians to develop his own rockets 
15- We learn from the passage that rockets …….. . 
A) have only been used in war and in space
B) have a maximum range of 1.800 metres
C) always have a destructive purpose 
D) are also used by ships to call for help 
E) are no longer used in war in any way 
Aspirin, the most common pain relieves known today, was first produced commercially in 1899. 
The Bayer AG, now of Leverskin. Germany, manufactured Aspirin in powder form. Aspirin, a trade 
name, or acetylsalicylic acid, however. had first been synthesised In 1853 by Karl Gerhardt, an 
Alsatian chemist. Unfortunately, its value as a pain reliever was not recognised until 1899, when 
Heinrich Dresser published a paper about its effectiveness. Thereafter, Dr. Felix Hoffman, who 
worked for Bayer, succeeded in manufacturing it in a form pure enough to be used as a medical 
remedy. First available only on a limited scale as a prescription medicine in Germany. Aspirin gained 
wide usage when Bayer began retailing it in tablet form in 1915.