Reading passages

198 -Apart from being a transportation route, the Rhine ---- .
A) contributes to the tourist industry in the Ruhr region
B) is seen by the Dutch as a link to the east
C) provides natural beauty for the local people
D) serves as a political barrier as well
E) has no other important function

Herodotus was a Greek historian born in Halicarnassus four years before the battle of Thermopylae. He is believed to have been exiled in his later life because of his opposition to the tyrant Lygdamis. He spent much time on Samos, thereafter travelling in the Persian Empire, Scythia and Egypt, observing with fascination the local customs and beliefs. He lived some time in Athens and travelled as an Athenian colonist to Thurli, in Italy, where he is supposed to have spent the rest of his life writing The Persian Wars, earning the title of Father of History from Caesar. This 9 -book work is an inquiry into the origins of, and a description of, the Persian invasions of Greece. The first 6 books tell of the customs, geography and history of the combatants and their neighbours; the last three treat the war itself.

199-The passage suggests that Herodotus ---- .
A) made a fortune from the sale of his books
B) is one of the earliest historical writers
C) did not actually visit the places he wrote about
D) played a major role in the history of the Persian Empire
E) could speak Persian, Arabic and Scythian
200 -It can be inferred from the passage that during the battle of Termophylae, Herodotus --- .
A) took detailed notes and did not fight
B) attacked the evil king Lygdamis
C) was too young to have played a role
D) lost his father through a Persian arrow
E) was assisting the enemy Persian army
201 -The author tells us that Herodotus died ---- .
A) having completed only 6 of a planned 9 -book collection
B) while paying a visit to Caesar in Italy
C) before he could visit his own country
D) in a battle in the Persian War
E) in the Athenian colony of Thuril

Vitamin C occurs most abundantly in oranges, lemons, grapefruit, and raw tomatoes and cabbage. Several other fruits and vegetables, including potatoes, contain lesser amounts. It is, however, easily destroyed by cooking. vitamin C is necessary for the development of bones, teeth, blood vessels, and other tissues, and plays a part in the functioning of most of the cells in the hotly. Deficiency shows itself in painful haemorrhages around the bones and in swollen, bleeding gums,

a condition called scurvy. For a long time, in the days when a sailor's diet consisted of salted and dried food and ship's biscuits, scurvy was the curse of sailors on long voyages.