Adesertisabeautifullandofsilenceandspace.Thesunshines,thewindblows,andtimeandspaceseemendless.Nothingissoft.Thesandandrocksarehard,andmanyoftheplantsevenhavehardneedlesinsteadofleaves.Thesizeandlocation(分布)oftheworld’sdesertsarealwayschanging.Overmillionsofyears,asclimateschangeandmountainsrise,newdryandwetareasdevelop.Butwithinthelast100yeas,desertshavebeengrowingatafrighteningspeed.Thisispartlybecauseofnaturalchanges,butthegreatestmakersarehumans.Humanscanmakedeserts,buthumanscanalsopreventtheirgrowth.AlgeriaMauritaniaisplantingasimilarwallaroundNouakchott,thecapital.Iranputsathincoveringofpetroleum(石油)onsandyareasandplantstrees.Theoilkeepsthewaterandsmalltreesintheland,andmenonmotorcycles(摩托车)keepthesheepandgoatsaway.TheUSSRandIndiaarebuildinglongcanalstobringwatertodesertareas.

　　1.Inthispassage,“needles”refersto___.

　　A.small,thinpiecesofsteel.B.long,thiniecesofbranches.

　　C.smallpointedgrowthonthestem(茎)ofaplant.D.small,thinpiecesofsticks.

　　2.WhichofthefollowingisNOTtrue?

　　A.Thegreatestdesertmakersarehumans.B.Therearen’tanylivingthingsinthedeserts.

　　C.Desertshavebeengrowingquickly.D.Thesizeofthedesertsisalwayschanging.

　　3.Peopleinsomecountriesarefightingabattleagainst__.

　　A.thegrowthofdesertsB.thedisappearanceofdesertplants

　　C.naturalchangesD.congenitalclimate

　　4.WecanguessthatMauritaniaandAlgeriabelongto__.

　　A.AsiancountriesB.Americancountries

　　C.Europeancounties　D.Africancountries

　　【答案与解析】文章主要讲的是人们正采取措施控制和治理沙漠.

　　1.C.词汇猜测题.从insteadofleaves可知needles是沙漠中植物的叶子,众所周知沙漠中植物的叶子是针状的,再看steel(钢)、)branches(树枝)、stick(棒)都不是与叶对应的物体,只有C项(长在植物茎上的尖的小物体)是“是针状叶”的意思,故答案选C.

　　2.B.细节题.从manyoftheplantsevenhavehardneedlesinsteadofleaves可知B项错误.

　　3.A.细节题.从Humanscanmakedeserts,buthumanscanalsopreventtheirgrowth(认为可能造成沙漠,但人类也可以防止沙漠的增长)可知答案A正确.

　　4.D.推断题.根据常识非洲沙漠远近闻名,这说明那里最需要治理,作者举例也会举典型的,增加文章的可信度,故答案选D.