The first trenches that were cut into a 500-acre site at tell hamoukar, syria, have yielded strong evidence for centrally administered complex societies in northern regions of the middle east that were arising simultaneously with but independently of the more celebrated city-states of southern mesopotamia, in what is now southern iraq.

The answer would be: e) cut into a 500-acre site at Tell Hamoukar, Syria, have yielded strong evidence that centrally administered complex societies in northern regions of the Middle East arose simultaneously with but

The name of the game is the process of elimination. Nonetheless, you have to go through the text in an analytical manner when the sentences get very technical, very long or disengaging. The verbs, pronouns and the connections to and from the underlined part are the best words to compare.

the answer is b.2008 and 2012 were presidential election years.