Reading passages

85- The voice synthesiser …………….. .
A)is a way of helping people with no voices to 
communicate 
B)is a device which intensifies the voices of mute 
people, thus enabling them to speak 
C)is a big help for all handicapped people 
D)has revolutionised the lives of deaf people 
E)gives the best performance when attached to a 
laptop computer 
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.