Adesertisabeautifullandofsilenceandspace．Thesunshines，thewindblows，andtimeandspaceseemendless．Nothingissoft．Thesandandrocksarehard，andmanyoftheplantsevenhavehardneedlesinsteadofleaves．Thesizeandloc

Question

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 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 years，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．Mauritania is planting a similar wall around Nouakchott，the capital．Iran puts a thin covering of oil on sandy areas and plants trees．The oil keeps the water and small trees in the land，and men on motorcycles keep the sheep and goats away．The USSR and India are building long canals to bring water to desert areas．
5．In this passage，the underlined word"needles"refers to___．
A．small，thin pieces of steel
B．long，thin pieces of branches
C．thin，hard，pointed leaf
D．small，thin pieces of sticks
6．Which of the following is NOT true？___
A．The greatest desert makers are human beings．
B．There aren't any living things in the deserts．
C．Deserts have been changing quickly．
D．The size of the deserts is always growing．
7．People in some countries are fighting a battle against___．
A．the growth of deserts
B．desert climate
C．natural changes
D．the disappearance of desert
8．What does the author want to tell us？___
A．Deserts are lands of hardness，silence and space．
B．The deserts of the world are changing from time to time．
C．Man is to take measures to control the growth of deserts．
D．Deserts have grown at a fast pace in the past 10years．

Answer 1

5．C 猜测词义题．根据划线后的"instead of leaves．"可推断出沙漠里植物的叶子又细又硬又尖．A、B、D三项均不符合逻辑，故选C．
6．B 细节理解题．根据第二段的最后一句"but the greatest makers are humans"可知A项表述符合文意；根据第一段的最后一句"The sand and rocks are hard，and many of the plants even have hard needles instead of leaves．"可知沙漠里有植物，B项表述不正确；根据第二段的"But within the last 100 years，deserts have been growing at a frightening speed．"可知C项表述符合文意；根据第二段的内容和第三段的第一句"Humans can make deserts，but humans can also prevent their growth．"可知D项表述符合文意．选B．
7．A 细节理解题．根据第三段的首句"Humans can make deserts，but humans can also prevent their growth．"和下面的内容可知人们正在与沙漠作斗争．A项表述符合文意，选A．
8．C 主旨大意题．通读全文可知，作者通过对沙漠及其扩张的描述指出，人类导致了沙漠不断扩大，人类必须采取措施控制沙漠的扩张．A、B、D三项仅仅是文章的细节，不能概括作者的意图，故选C．