A desert is a beautiful land of silence and space. The sun shines, the wind blows, and time and space seem endless. Nothing is soft. The sand and rocks are hard, and many of the plants even have hard needles instead of leaves. The size and location(分布) of the world’s deserts are always changing. Over millions of years, as climates change and mountains rise, new dry and wet areas develop. But within the last 100 yeas, deserts have been growing at a frightening speed. This is partly because of natural changes, but the greatest makers are humans.Humans can make deserts, but humans can also prevent their growth. Algeria Mauritania is planting a similar wall around Nouakchott, the capital. Iran puts a thin covering of petroleum(石油) on sandy areas and plants trees. The oil keeps the water and small trees in the land, and men on motorcycles(摩托车) keep the sheep and goats away. The USSR and India are building long canals to bring water to desert areas.

1. In this passage, “needles” refers to _______.
A. small, thin pieces of steel. B. long, thin pieces of branches.
C. small pointed growth on the stem(茎) of a plant. D. small, thin pieces of sticks.

2. Which of the following is NOT true?
A. The greatest desert makers are humans. B. There aren’t any living things in the deserts.
C. Deserts have been growing quickly. D. The size of the deserts is always changing.

3. People in some countries are fighting a battle against _______.
A. the growth of deserts               B. the disappearance of desert plants
C. natural changes                        D. congenital climate

4. We can guess that Mauritania and Algeria belong to _______.
A. Asian countries 　　　　          B. American countries
C. European counties　　　           D. African countries


【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instead of leaves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many of the plants even have hard needles instead of leaves可知B项错误。

3. A。细节题。从Humans can make deserts, but humans can also prevent their growth(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。

5. B。主旨题。文章第2 段讲沙漠增长速度惊人，第 3 段举例说明人类正采取措施控制沙漠增长, 可见文章谈沙漠增长的目的是为了引出人类对它的治理，故答案为B。