Reading passages

81- One can infer from the passage that plastic......... .
A) should be used in the region instead of other materials
B) has always been an indispensable feature of life in the Middle East
C) wasn’t common in the region until recently
D) has enhanced the standard of living in the region
E) is part of the traditional economy of many Middle East countries


It was death, of course, that prompted the construction of the Egyptian pyramids but the incredible amount of resources, effort and time that went into them was indicative of many aspects of life in those days. The tombs served a lot of purposes, alongside their fundamental purpose to provide the final resting places of the owners and their material possessions. Obviously, the size and grandeur of the tombs were designed to enhance the owners’ glory in the eyes of their subjects during the owners’ lifetimes, but their tombs also became places of worship for their subjects after their deaths.


82- According to the passage, the pyramids were built .......... .
A) after their owners died
B) to provide places for people to rest
C) before the owners passed away
D) when the owners reached a ripe old age
E) to show future generations how the Egyptians lived


83- It is stated in the passage that the owners were buried in the pyramids ........ .
A) after being treated with special substances
B) after a long funeral
C) together with people important to them
D) along with their belongings
E) because they were thought to be gods


84- The author states that the magnificence of the tombs .......... .
A) was due to the owners’ many possessions
B) caused the owners to be worshipped during their lives
C) was due to the fact that they were owned by gods
D) was increased after the owners’ deaths
E) increased an owner’s prominence while he was alive


Though he was a fearless explorer and is often recognised today as the discoverer of the Americas, Christopher Columbus turned out to be a poor geographer. He ended up in a debtor’s prison. He never realised that he had discovered unknown western continents, and to his dying day in 1506 he never admitted to locating any place but the Indies. Geographers overlooked his contribution and named the Western continents after another mariner, Amerigo Vespucci, a merchant from Florence who participated in a Portuguese expedition to South Americas in 1501. In a widely reprinted letter, Vespucci contended that a “new world” had been found, and it was his name that caught on.