Read the excerpt from "Bone Detective." Diane made a rubber silicone mold of the impression. Then, she made a sturdy wax cast of the mold and sent it to a metalworks company. The foundry workers coated the wax mold with plaster and put it in an industrial oven. The wax melted off, leaving a plaster shell. The workers poured melted bronze into the shell, and the metal cooled and hardened into a bronze tiger tongue.Diane’s casts of the tongue and paw allowed zoo visitors to share her amazing experience. People felt the roughness of the big cat’s tongue and spread a hand inside the palm of its giant paw. This, she decided, was one of the coolest things I have ever done. She savored the moment, knowing that far graver matters were always just a phone call away.
Which line from "Bone Detective" best shows that Diane enjoys the challenges of being a forensic anthropologist?
Read the excerpt from "Bone Detective," by Lorraine Jean Hopping.The Hunley recovery team planned to display Diane’s casts in a museum that was about to be built. But did the casts belong in a public exhibit? Some people objected to displaying soldiers' remains—even though they were plastic replicas. Diane saw nothing wrong with it. In fact, she had no qualms about showing the real bones."If people want to really learn about the soldiers,” she said, "you have to show the bones. The bone is a record of a person’s life, especially the last part—the circumstances of death.”How and why did the Hunley sink? What can we learn about the lives—and deaths—of its ill-fated crew? Scientists will likely be investigating the answers for years to come, thanks in part to Diane’s casts.
Read the excerpt from "Bone Detective," by Lorraine Jean Hopping.Diane stood in front of a mirror and stuck out her tongue. It looked like a rosy pink welcome mat to her delicate insides. Her usual rubber mold formula was out of the question—too toxic. She wondered, What is safe to swallow, fast and easy to apply, and hardens quickly into a firm mold?One of her horse-riding pals, a veterinarian named Mary Wright, had the answer: alginate. Mary told Diane that alginate was a pink gummy material used to make molds of teeth. If it was safe for pets, it should be safe for a tiger.And people, too, Diane thought.
Read the excerpt from "Bone Detective," by Lorraine Jean Hopping.Next Diane borrowed Mary’s cat, Whites, for a dress rehearsal of the big event. Mary told Diane that cats vent body heat through the tongue. To avoid overheating the animal, she recommended using cold water—and working quickly.When Mary tranquilized her cat for its regular teeth cleaning, Diane made an impression of the little pink tongue. She had to work around an oxygen tube in the cat’s mouth. But, once again, she was able to produce an amazingly detailed impression. It included all the spines that made the cat’s tongue so rough. Cats need the stiff bristles—called filiform papillae—to clean their fur. Diane wondered what the tiger tongue would feel like—a scrub brush?
Which excerpt from "Bone Detective" best shows that Diane France is well-known in her line of work?
Read the excerpt from "Bone Detective," by Lorraine Jean Hopping.Diane’s favorite "casting character” of all time wasn’t dead, famous, or even human. In March 1997, the National Zoo in Washington, D.C., asked her to make casts of the paw and tongue of a living tiger for an exhibit. Tiger paws have sharp claws, and the tongue is sandwiched between four long, meat-ripping canine teeth. But Diane wasn’t worried about her safety, since the big cat would be tranquilized. She was more worried about the tiger. She didn’t want to harm the animal in any way. She didn’t know—yet—how to cast the body part of a living animal, especially one so large and . . . predatory.
Lorraine Jean Hopping’s viewpoint in "Bone Detective" is that Diane France is an intelligent person with an unusual job.Hopping’s purpose for writing this text is to
Which detail from "Bone Detective" best illustrates Diane France’s firm belief in revealing the truth of past events?
Lorraine Jean Hopping’s viewpoint in "Bone Detective" is that Diane France shows courage in working with a real tiger.Hopping’s purpose for including this section in her text is to
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