Use the passage to answer the question.
Read the table below.
Effect
Some people believe the Maori came from the Cook
Islands.
Which is the cause of the effect above?
• The stars could help direct the sailors.
• Migratory birds leave from the Cook Islands.
• The winds in that part of the Pacific blow southeast.
Maori culture is similar to the culture on the Cook
Given the passage, which is focused on the origins of the Maori people and potential reasons for the belief that they came from the Cook Islands, the cause of the effect described cannot be determined with certainty from the listed possible causes.
All three listed items may contribute to the belief but without additional context, it's difficult to pinpoint a singular cause for the belief that the Maori originated from the Cook Islands based on the options provided:
1. "The stars could help direct the sailors." - This suggests that celestial navigation could have been used by ancient sailors, possibly implying that the Maori could have navigated from the Cook Islands to New Zealand.
2. "Migratory birds leave from the Cook Islands." - This may imply a natural path or connection between the Cook Islands and where the Maori settled, suggesting that the Maori could have followed the birds during their migration.
3. "The winds in that part of the Pacific blow southeast." - This could indicate that prevailing wind patterns would assist sailors traveling from the Cook Islands towards New Zealand.
Each of these factors could have facilitated the migration of the Maori people from the Cook Islands to their eventual home in New Zealand. However, the table also mentions that "Maori culture is similar to the culture on the Cook Islands." This could be the strongest cause among the options provided since cultural similarities often point to a common origin or significant contact between two peoples.
Without more context, we cannot definitively identify the exact cause from the options given, but if we were to prioritize, cultural similarity is often a primary indicator used by anthropologists and historians when tracing the origin of a group of people. Therefore, the cause that "Maori culture is similar to the culture on the Cook Islands" could represent the most direct evidence supporting the belief that the Maori came from the Cook Islands.