▶ Your Answer :
According to the reading, there are three reasons which can explain why moais are built. However, the lecturer contradicts the reading passage by arguing that researchers are still not close to the causes of moai construction.
First, the reading passage says that a moai was built as a monument for an annual competition between rival chiefs, to celebrate their victory and hold it as a symbol of prestige. In contrast, the lecturer claims that it is not true that a moai acted as a reward. There are over 900 moais in Easter Island, so if they built a moai once in a year to celebrate annual test, the history of Easter Island is supposed to be 900 years. But actually it is 500 years.
Second, the lecturer challenges the reading passage's claim that moais were built as a medium for communication between humans and gods. Unlike reading passage's saying that all moais' head are facing up to the sky, the lecturer asserts that some are facing the sky, but also some are heading down to the ground.
Finally, the lecturer points out that it is not true that moais were constructed to honor ancestors from the west. Only some moais are facing west, while others are looking at other directions. And the DNA of the descendants are not only from the west, but also from north and south. This casts doubt on reading passage's claim that moais were erected to respect their predecessors. |