30. The word "excavating" in line 19 is closest in meaning to
(A) Living
(B) digging
(C) assembling
(D) building

26. The word "some" in line 14 refers to (A) Archaeologists (B) Sumerians (C) years (D) clay tablets

27. Which of the following can be inferred from the passage concerning the Sumerians? (A) They were descendants of the Persians. (B) They were the first people to cultivate the valley of the Tigris. (C) They were accomplished musicians. (D)They had the beginnings of an economy.

28. According to the passage, when did archaeologists begin to be able to understand tablets inscribed in Sumerian? (A)IN the early nineteenth century (B) More than 150 years ago (C) After the 1890's (D) In the mid-eighteenth century

29. According to the passage, in what way did the Sumerian language resemble ancient Greek and Latin? (A) It was invented in Mesopotamia. (B) It became well established around 3000 B.C. (C) It became a classical language. (D) It was used exclusively for business transactions.

31. According to the passage, how did archaeologists learn to read the Sumerian language? (A) By translating the work of the Subarians (B) By using their knowledge of spoken Semitic languages (C) By comparing Sumerian to other classical languages (D) By using their knowledge of Akkadian

32. According to the passage, an organism without hard body parts (A)is not likely to appear in the fossil record (B)is not heavy enough to sink below the surface (C)is not attractive to predators (D)takes a long time to decay

33. The word "agents" in line 5 is closest in meaning to (A) dangers (B) examples (C) areas (D) causes

34. Why are marine organisms good candidates for fossilization? (A) they have more fleshy structures than land organisms. (B) It is likely that they will be buried rapidly (C) The water environment speeds the decay caused by bacteria. (D) It takes longer for them to be preserved.

35. The fact that the "land is largely the site of erosion" (line 7) is significant because (A) erosion is less destructive than sedimentation (B) fossils are most common in areas subject to erosion (C) erosion contributes to the destruction of skeletal remains (D) few organisms live in areas that experience extensive erosion

36. According to the passage, why were the remains of organisms trapped in swamps better preserved for the fossil record than those that were not? (A) The swamp environment reduced the amount of bacterial decay. (B) Swamp waters contained higher amounts of materials such as calcium carbonate. (C) There were fewer sediments in swamps than in other bodies of water. (D) Swamp vegetation accelerated the decomposition of organisms.