Read the text. Match the headings 1-8 with the texts A-G. There is one extra sentence which you do not need to use

1. Two distinct reasons for selection                                   

2. Who owns the museum exhibits

3. A lengthy, but necessary task                                            

4. Collections for research purposes

5. The need to show as much as possible to visitors         

6. The 'global' size of the problem

A. When, in 1938, the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, in Washington DC, decided it had run out of space, it began transferring part of its collection from the cramped attic ad basement rooms where the specimens had been languishing to an out-of-town warehouse. Restoring those speciments to pristine conditions was a monumental task. One member staff, for example, spent six months doing nothing but gluing the legs back on the crane flies. But 30 million items and seven years later, the job was done.

B. At least for the moment. For the Smithsonian owns 130 million plants, animals, rocks and fossils and that number is growing at 2-3% a year. On an international scale, however, such numbers are not exceptional. The Natural History Museum in London has 80 million speciments. And the Science Museum has 300,000 objects recording the history of science and technology. Deciding what to do with these huge accumulations of things is becoming a problem They cannot be thrown away, but only a tiny fraction can be put on display.

C. The huge, invisible collections behind the scenes at science and natural history museums are the result of the dual functions of these institutions. On the one hand, they are places for the public to go and look at things. On the other, they are places of research - and researchers are not interested merely in the big, showy things that curators like to reveal to the public.

D. The public is often surprised at the Science Museum's interest in recent objects. Neil Brown, the senior curator for classical physics, says he frequently turns down antique brass and mahogany electrical instruments on the grounds that they are already have enough of them, but he is happy to receive objects such as the Atomic domestic coffee maker, and a 114-piece Do-It- Yourself toolkit with canvas case, and a green beer bottle.

E. Natural history Museums collect for a different reason. Their accumulations are part of attempts to identify and understand the natural world. Some of the plants and animals they hold are "type speciments". In other words, they are the standard reference unit, like a reference weight or length, for the species in question. Other speciments are valuable because of their age. One of the most famous demonstrations of natural selection in action was made using museum speciments. A study of moths collected over a long period of time showed that their wings became darker (which made them less visible to birds) as the industrial revolution made Britain more polluted.