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What is the central idea of the subheading “Mysterious Moai”? (RI6.2)
MYSTERIOUS MOAI
This South Pacific island is dotted with hundreds of giant statues, called Moai. Long ago, each statue was carved from blocks of the same igneous, or volcanic, rock that produced the island. Many of the statues are partially buried under shifting soil, so only their heads are visible. “Most people don’t realize that the heads have torsos hidden underneath the ground,” says Robert J. Koestler, director of the Smithsonian’s Museum Conservation Institute. Being covered actually helps protect the statues, he adds. After thousands of years of rain and sea spray pelting the soft igneous stone, weathering has washed away many of the heads’ facial features. Plants, bacteria, and fungi growing in cracks in the moist stone also break down the statues. One of the best-preserved Moai is on exhibit in the British Museum in London –Far from Easter Island’s environment.
a. The Moai on Easter Island are being weathered, because of rain and sea spray pelting the stone and plants, bacteria, and fungi growing in the cracks of the stone.
b. The South Pacific Island is dotted with hundreds of giant statues, called Moai.
c. The Moai on Easter Island were sculpted from igneous rock.
d. The Moai are wondrous statues that are in the British Museum in London.