Reading passages

197 -We understand from the passage that, the Danube and the Rhone ---- . 
A) have, over the years, lessened the commercial importance of the Rhine 
B) flow through more countries than does the Rhine 
C) are of greater significance for Europe than the Rhine 

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D) flow into the same sea as the Rhine 
E) are not connected with the Rhine naturally but artificially 
198 -Apart from being a transportation route, the Rhine ---- . 
A) contributes to the tourist industry in the Ruhr region 
B) is seen by the Dutch as a link to the east 
C) provides natural beauty for the local people 
D) serves as a political barrier as well 
E) has no other important function 
Herodotus was a Greek historian born in Halicarnassus four years before the battle of Thermopylae. 
He is believed to have been exiled in his later life because of his opposition to the tyrant Lygdamis. 
He spent much time on Samos, thereafter travelling in the Persian Empire, Scythia and Egypt, 
observing with fascination the local customs and beliefs. He lived some time in Athens and travelled 
as an Athenian colonist to Thurli, in Italy, where he is supposed to have spent the rest of his life 
writing The Persian Wars, earning the title of Father of History from Caesar. This 9 -book work is an 
inquiry into the origins of, and a description of, the Persian invasions of Greece. The first 6 books tell 
of the customs, geography and history of the combatants and their neighbours; the last three treat the 
war itself. 
199-The passage suggests that Herodotus ---- . 
A) made a fortune from the sale of his books 
B) is one of the earliest historical writers 
C) did not actually visit the places he wrote about 
D) played a major role in the history of the Persian Empire 
E) could speak Persian, Arabic and Scythian