二、阅读理解
It is hard to imagine (想象) a place that is more dangerous than Death Valley. Death Valley is the hottest and the driest place in North America. It also
has the lowest place in the Western Hemisphere (西半球). The natural conditions in Death Valley are terrible, but it is full of life.
Death Valley isn't an easy place to live in. It gets little rain a year, so there isn't much water. In July, temperatures often climb to over 46℃. The ground is mostly sand and rocks. There is even a dried - up lake that has turned into salt crystals (晶体).
None of these stops plants and animals from making Death Valley their home. People have found more than 1,000 kinds of plants there. It also has 51 kinds of mammals (哺乳动物), 36 kinds of reptiles (爬行动物), 6 kinds of fish and more than 300 kinds of birds. The animals aren't all small either. There are big ones like mountain lions.
Finding water is the biggest challenge for anything that lives in Death Valley. Some plants have roots (根) that go 50 feet under the surface to find water. Some animals get the water that they need from the seeds (种子) of desert sunflowers. Small fish can live in the water that is five times as salty as the ocean!
All these make people surprised about the magic of life.
(
) 1. What can we learn about Death Valley from the passage?
A. It is very hot and dry.
B. It has beautiful scenes.
C. It is dangerous for animals.
D. It has the lowest place in the world.
(
) 2. What is TRUE about the animals living in Death Valley?
A. They mainly live on plants.
B. Some of them are big in size.
C. There are more kinds of fish than reptiles.
D. There are over 1,000 kinds of animals living there.
(
) 3. What may be the biggest problem for animals living in Death Valley?
A. The hard rocks.
B. The hot weather.
C. The shortage of water.
D. The salty water.
(
) 4. Where can the animals in Death Valley get water according to the passage?
A. From the underground.
B. From the river.
C. From the ocean.
D. From some plants.
(
) 5. The writer writes the passage
.
A. to tell us the importance of water
B. to teach us how to live in Death Valley
C. to introduce something about Death Valley
D. to tell us how to find animals in Death Valley
