Reading passages

parties during the seventeenth and eighteenth 
centuries introduced the concept of government by 
consent rather than by force. 
25 -In the writer's opinion, politics -----.
A) has always been dominated by monarchs or 
religious leaders 
B) has had little effect on ordinary people since the 
beginning of history 
C) is really what a great deal of history is about 
D) has always been a very expensive business 
E) is a much more interesting subject than history 
26 -Obviously, during the Greek and Roman eras, 
there were short periods ---- .
A) when the government members represented the 
people 
B) when people didn't have to give taxes to the 
government 
C) which were completely free from any kind of 
politics 
D) when government members all came from the 
same, royal family 
E) when there was absolutely no government 
whatsoever 
27 -It is clear from the passage that in the 17th 
century -----.
A) government and politics were always in the 
hands of kings 
B) there was a change in that governments started to 
rule by force 
C) church leaders began to govern countries instead 
of kings 
D) the state of politics was a cause of great concern 
to most leaders 
E) a radical change in the concept of government 
began to take place 
Rubber trees are tapped-that is, cuts are made in the 
bark so that the latex, a milk -like Juice, containing 
about 30 -40% rubber, can be obtained. The latex is 
then processed by exposing it to heat and wood 
smoke, or by mechanical means, so as to separate the 

---

 
 
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rubber from the 'water, mineral salts, sugars, resins 
and protein matters. The rubber obtained in this way 
is known as, 'crude'-latex is extensively used in 
industry for making foam rubber, products. footwear, 
dolls etc. Untreated crude rubber is naturally soft and 
lacks the required strength for making into 
manufactured articles. To improve its strength and 
usefulness, it is vulcanised, or heated with sulphur, 
and the proportion of sulphur used determines the 
hardness and elasticity of, the rubber.