[1] For centuries, the dry climate of the library of Saint Catherine's Monastery in Egypt preserved layers of hidden writing on parchment pages known as palimpsests. [2] To reuse the expensive animal hides, medieval scribes frequently scraped away older texts, such as translations of ancient Greek medical treatises, before writing new prayers over them. [3] Modern conservationists, however, have begun employing multispectral imaging to photograph these pages under various wavelengths of light, exposing the faint traces of iron-gall ink left behind by the original authors. [4] These manuscripts are kept in highly controlled environments where temperature and humidity are regulated to prevent the parchment from warping. [5] By combining these digital images, researchers have successfully reconstructed lost works, providing scholars with unprecedented access to classical philosophy.
The writer is considering deleting Sentence 4 from the preceding paragraph. Should the sentence be kept or deleted?
- Akept, because it offers essential details about the specific tools conservationists use to regulate temperature and humidity.
- Bkept, because it clarifies the relationship between medieval writing materials and the chemical properties of iron-gall ink.
- deleted, because it departs from the paragraph’s focus on the technological process of reading and restoring erased writing.Answer
- Ddeleted, because it contradicts the earlier assertion that the monastery’s natural climate was sufficient to preserve the manuscripts.