Reading passages

214 -The passage tells, us that archaeologists are worried ----- .
A) about the impoverished state of the farmers and shepherds
B) because they are not allowed to continue excavations in Syria
C) because buildings of historical value have officially been given to villagers
D) due to the government's decidedly anti - Christian stance
E) because the growing population is threatening historic sites in Syria


215 -The passage suggests that the villagers’ lack of concern comes from --- .
A) the government's policy of not fining them heavily for destruction
B) their belief that the cities have always belonged to Syrians
C) their cultural and religious distance from Syria's Christian past
D) the government's lax attitude to drive them out of their new homes
E) the great profit to be made from selling antiquities to archaeologists
216 -It may be gathered from the passage that the ancient cities of northern Syria ---- .
A) are in very good condition despite being empty for a thousand years
B) are hard to find since they are simply shapeless piles of rocks
C) are really quite new cities but are very poorly maintained
D) have been continuously inhabited for a least a millennium
E) are also home to a large number of Christians

For the first time after the Apollo moon landings, NASA is launching a mission into outer space to bring back extraterritorial material. This time, NASA is going after comet and interstellar dust. "Stardust", the robotic spacecraft that will collect the tiny grains, is scheduled for a journey of seven years that will cover 5.1 billion kilometres. It is NASA's first attempt to bring back pieces of a comet. This particular comet, Wild -2, rarely came close to the Sun until the 1970s, and so still should contain the original, frozen components of the solar system. By studying samples from this well -preserved comet, scientists hope to better understand how icy, rocky comets may have provided the water and organics necessary for life to form on the Earth, and possibly elsewhere.