Question

chile’s atacama desert is one of the driest places on earth. mary beth wilhelm and other astrobiologists search for life, or its remains, in this harsh place because the desert closely mirrors the extreme environment on mars. the algae and bacteria found in atacama’s driest regions may offer clues about martian life. by studying how these and other microorganisms survive such extreme conditions on earth, wilhelm’s team hopes to determine whether similar life might have existed on mars and to develop the best tools to look for evidence of it.

which choice best describes the function of the underlined sentence in the text as a whole?
a to contrast the conditions in the atacama desert with those on mars
b to explain why many life - forms cannot survive in the atacama desert
c to indicate why astrobiologists choose to conduct research in the atacama desert
d to describe certain limitations to conducting scientific study in the atacama desert

Explanation:

The underlined sentence links the Atacama Desert's harsh environment to Mars, explaining that this similarity is why astrobiologists study life in the desert to gain insights about Mars. This directly shows the reason for choosing the Atacama Desert for their research.

Answer:

C. To indicate why astrobiologists choose to conduct research in the Atacama Desert