Reading passages

217- From the statement in the passage, we can infer that some people ................ .
A) regard crying as a weakness or failure
B) don't consult their doctors about certain ailments
C) find that migraine headaches cause them to weep
D) develop personality problems from ailments such as asthma
E) go to the doctor more often for emotional reasons than physical
218- According to the writer, not crying ............... .
A) is a common characteristic of asthmatics
B) is a sign that a person is in poor health
C) causes the digestion to shut down
D) helps us to control our feelings of shock or anger
E) can bring on many unpleasant side-effects
219- In the writer's opinion ............... .
A) people should visit their doctors in times of emotional emergency
B) we need to cry in order to recover from traumas
C) weeping can cause alarm, shock or even anger in others
D) doctors don't do enough to help patients with motional problems
E) crying when we feel ill is as beneficial as visiting the doctor


For centuries dam design was based upon previous experience. Remains of ancient earth-fill dams still exist in India and Sri Lanka. The earliest recorded dam is believed to be a masonry structure 49 feet high that was built across the Nile River in Egypt around 2900 BC. A rockfill dam built around 1300 BC in what is modern Syria is the oldest dam still in use. Dam builders in ancient Rome did not show the engineering genius that was employed in other projects, but Byzantine engineers utilized the Roman masonry arch to build a prototypical arch- gravity dam in 550 AD. There was little dam building in Europe for several centuries; it began in earnest only when the Industrial Revolution gave rise to the need for water power in the 18th and 19th centuries.
220- It is stated, though indirectly, in the passage that today Syria ............. .
A) is one of the forerunners of dam-building technology
B) has by far the most dams all over the world
C) has the earliest type of dam which hasn't gone out of use yet
D) was regarded as the cradle of dam building
E) copied Egyptian architecture in its dam constructions