Question

   Deserts are areas of the world that are extremely dry. They don't get much rain. Officially a desert is an area that gets less than 10 inches of precipitation (降 雨) a year. Deserts don't necessarily have to be hot. Some of the world's largest deserts are cold deserts located at one of the Earths poles or in a cold area of the world. One thing is for sure,deserts are dry and barren places.

   Antarctic Desert (南极荒漠) 

   This is the world's largest desert and is located at the South Pole. Basically the entire continent of Antarctica is considered a desert because it gets very little precipitation. The Arctic desert covers the North Pole. They are both called polar deserts.

   Sahara Desert 

   The Sahara Desert is the largest non-polar desert in the world. It is located in North Africa,is nearly as large as Europe or the United States. The name Sahara comes from the Arabic word for desert,sahra. Areas of the Sahara Desert look like the classic desert you see in the movies sometimes with giant sand dunes that can get over 500 feet tall!There are oases of life in the Sahara such as the area along the Nile River in Egypt.

   Kalahari Desert 

   The Kalahari Desert is located in Southern Africa. Like many deserts,it has large temperature swings,with temperatures dropping to zero at night and then rising to above 40 degrees C ( 104 degrees F) in the day.

   Mohave Desert 

   The Mohave Desert is located in the Southwest of the United States. It is home to Death Valley,the hottest and lowest spot in the US. Mohave Desert means high desert and is named after the Mohave tribe of Native Americans.

1. We call the continent of Antarctica a desert because.

   A. it hardly rains all the year round

   B. the weather is very cold

   C. it's far away and no one lives there

   D. there is a lot of ice on the ground

2. The underlined word “dunes” in the passage can be replaced by.

   A. farms   B. gardens

   C. hills   D. lakes

3. The Kalahari Desert can be discovered .

   A. at the South Pole

   B. in North Africa

   C. in Southern Africa

   D. in the Southwest of the US

4. Death Valley is a desert valley located in .

   A. Antarctic Desert

   B. Sahara Desert

   C. Kalahari Desert

   D. Mohave Desert

5. The passage is most probably taken from .

   A. a geography magazine

   B. a police report

   C. a government information booklet (小册子)

   D. an advertisement (广告)

Answer 1

1. A 2. C 3. C 4. D 5. A

  沙漠是指地面完全被沙所覆盖、植物非常稀少、雨水稀 少、空气干燥的荒芜地区。本文向我们介绍了南极荒漠、撒 哈拉沙漠、喀拉哈里沙漠和莫哈维沙漠这四大沙漠。

1. A 细节理解题。由第二段的 because it gets very little precipitation可知，南极大陆是一个沙漠是因为那里全 年基本上不下雨，由此可知正确答案为A项。

2. C词义猜测题。由画线词后面的that can get over 500 feet tall可知，有500多英尺高的应该是沙丘。由此可猜测 dimes在此可与hills相互替换，意为“沙丘”。

3. C细节理解题。倒数第二段提到了“The Kalahari Desert is located in Southern Africa. ”，由此可知嗜拉哈里沙漠 在非洲南部，故正确答案为C项。

4. D细节理解题。由最后一段“The Mohave Desert is located. .. It is home to Death Valley." 可知，死亡谷 位于莫哈维沙漠。由此可知正确答案为D项。

5. A推理判断题。本文主要介绍的是南极荒漠、撒哈拉沙漠、喀拉哈里沙漠和莫哈维沙漠的相关情况。由此可 推断本文应该摘自地理方面的杂志，故选A项。

necessarily adv.必要地，必需地 barren adj.贫瘠的

consider v.认为，把……看作

tribe n.部落

障碍句分析

   Areas of the Sahara Desert look like the classic desert you see in the movies sometimes with giant sand dunes that can get over 500 feet tall!撒哈拉沙漠地区看起来就像你有时在电影 中看到的那种经典沙漠，巨大的沙丘有500多英尺高！

   ... you see in the movies是省略了关系代词的定语从 句，修饰desert; look like意为“看起来像”；介词with意为 “具有，带有”；“数字+长度单位+ tall”表示“……高”。