12. The ancient civilization of Mesopotamia __ a remarkable societal advancement due to the development of a sophisticated agriculture and trade. A) could experience B) would be experiencing C) would rather experience D) must have experienced E) might experience

## Step 1<br />The problem is a multiple-choice question that tests your understanding of verb tense and modal verbs in English. The sentence is about the ancient civilization of Mesopotamia and its societal advancements due to the development of agriculture and trade.<br /><br />## Step 2<br />The sentence is in the past tense, so the verb that fills the blank should also be in the past tense. This eliminates options B) and C), which are in the future tense.<br /><br />## Step 3<br />Option A) 'could experience' is a modal verb that expresses possibility. However, it doesn't necessarily imply that the event actually happened.<br /><br />## Step 4<br />Option E) 'ight experience' is similar to 'could experience', expressing possibility rather than certainty.<br /><br />## Step 5<br />Option D) 'ust have experienced' is a modal verb that expresses necessity or logical deduction. This means that the event is likely to have happened given the context.<br /><br />## Step 6<br />Therefore, the most appropriate verb to fill the blank is 'ust have experienced', which is option D).