Reading passages

78- The word ‘timidly’ in line 5 most probably means .......... .

A) timely
B) tamely
C) bashfully
D) highly
E) clamorous

The Middle East faces a difficult environmental problem. Until the 1960s, many countries in the region had economies based totally on recyclable materials. No harmful waste existed. Everything was usable and anything that was thrown away was reused by nature. Since then the region has wholly embraced the pre-packaged, thrown-away life style. Unfortunately, the modern man-made waste continues to be treated as though it were organic, and is thrown away carelessly, so now there is litter everywhere, including plastic, which was one of the worst things that could have happened to the region.
79- The passage claims that .......... .
A) pollution used to be a greater menace to the environment in the past
B) modern technology has created environmental challenges for the Middle East
C) most of the man-made waste is organic
D) being technologically advanced is an advantage for the Middle East
E) pre-packaging has enhanced people’s lives
80- The author thinks there is so much litter in the region because people ........ .
A) don’t realise that man-made materials are not reused by nature
B) are concentrating more on their profits than on the environment
C) already know that litter is a world wide problem with no solution
D) believe creating a modern economy is more important than environmental concerns
E) do not treat their waste in a special way before they discard them
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.