APPROXIMATELY ONE-THIRD OF THE EARTH'S LAND SURFACE IS DESERT, ARID LAND WITH MEAGER RAINFALL THAT SUPPORTS ONLYSPARSE VEGETATION AND A LIMITED POPULATION OF PEOPLE AND ANIMALS

Exercise 18:Approximately one-third of the Earth's land surface is desert, arid land with meager rainfall that supports onlysparse vegetation and a limited population of people and animals. Deserts have been portrayed as fascinatingenvironments of adventure and exploration. These arid regions are called deserts because they are dry. They maybe hot. They may be cold. They may be regions of sand or vast areas of rocks with occasional plants.Deserts are natural laboratories in which to study the interactions of wind and sometimes water on the aridsurfaces of planets. They contain valuable mineral deposits that were formed in the arid environment or that wereexposed by erosion. Because deserts are dry, they are ideal places for human artifacts and fossils to be preserved.Deserts are also fragile environments. The misuse of these lands is a serious and growing problem in parts of ourworld.There are many animals in the desert. Some are very large, like the kangaroo or the gazelle. Both are big andhave to travel long distances for water at a spring, or an oasis. Another fairly large animal is the addax. The addaxis a desert antelope. They live in the Sahara Desert. All addaxes are herbivores. There are less than 200 of themleft because of hunting and tourists. Some animals crawl along. Examples of these are snakes and lizards. Snakesrarely drink water; they get their moisture from other prey that they eat. So do others, like the kangaroo rat.Lizards are commonly found in the desert. They stay out of the sun and move as little as possible. There are alsoother animals in the desert. The fennec lives in northern Africa in the Sahara Desert. They are a relative of the fox.They eat mice, small birds, lizards, and insects. When necessary, they will eat fruit. One more desert animal is thejerboa. The jerboa is a small, long distance jumper that lives in the desert. They are free drinking animals and theyeat plants, seeds, and bugs.1. Deserts ________.A. are rare in the world B. are more arid more populousC. are all hot all the time D. may be both hot and cold2. The wordTheyrefers to ________.A. deserts B. natural laboratories C. planets D. mineral deposits3. Which is not true about deserts?A. arid B. hot C. humid D. dry4. According to the second paragraph, ________.A. we should use desert land properly to avoid serious problemsB. we can exploit as much fossil as possible in desertsC. there are no erosion in desertsD. deserts are ideal places for growing land5. The last paragraph expresses that ________.A. none of animals can survive in desertsB. hunting and tourists cause the decreasing of addaxes in the Sahara Desert.C. snakes in deserts need more water than any other speciesD. addaxes are the most populous species in deserts