Reading passages

86- It’s stated in the passage that the sound produced by the voice synthesiser ……….
A)is sometimes not clearly audible
B)does not change depending on the age and sex of the user
C)lacks certain qualities a natural voice has
D)is difficult to produce in times of emergency
E)ignores the regional accent of the place where the user lives


87-The passage emphasises that ………. .
A)until recent developments, the voice synthesiser was almost useless
B)recent developments have made the voice synthesiser more lifelike
C)anyone who can use a laptop computer should use a voice synthesiser
D)urgency and irony are difficult for most people to convey
E)someday we will all be able to speak using computers
The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean world from about 500 B.C. to about 500 A.D., almost a millennium. From a base around Rome, it spread out to cover North Africa, the Middle East and Northern Europe. It had a complex governmental structure and a bureaucracy which enabled it to administer the areas it conquered. The people surrounding the Empire were barbarians and nomads. Some of these, who were semi-Romanised, were used as buffer states in defence of the Empire, which, to some extent, ensured its existence for centuries. Towards the end of the Empire's rule, some of these buffer states revolted. The final collapse occurred when the German and Slavic barbarians from the buffer states broke through the defences and the Roman Empire fell to the Germans.


88-The passage states that ……….
A) the Roman Empire ruled the world for about five centuries
B) in the end, semi-Romanised barbarians proved to be the greatest threat to the Roman Empire
C) the German tribes always hated the Roman Empire
D) the final collapse of the Roman Empire was caused by the failure of its bureaucracy
E) the Roman Empire was the greatest Empire of all times


89-The Roman Empire…………..
A) lasted longer than any other empire
B) was a democracy except in the buffer states
C) ruled so brutally that its people rebelled
D) fell because it was administered so inefficiently
E) was surrounded by barbarians and nomads