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The Sahara Desert is the world’s largest hot desert. The Sahara is in North Africa and is as large as the
United States. Many people think that an area like this has no animals or plant life, but they are incorrect.
In fact, the Sahara Desert has many different ‘ecoregions’. Each ecoregion ha different plants and animals
living there. The biggest ecoregion is called ‘Sahara Desert ecoregion’. In this area, the climate is
extremely dry and extremely hot. The landscape is sandy and dusty with many high dunes.
Because the Sahara Desert ecoregion is so hot and dry, there are very few plants and
animals.
Scientists estimate that there are only 500 species of plants. This is not very much when thinking of how
enormous the region is. These plants include acacia trees, plants, spiny shrubs, and grasses. The Sahara is
also home to 70 species of mammals. Twenty of these are large mammals. Thre are about 90 species of
birds and around 100 reptiles.
The biggest threat to plants and animals in this environment is drying up. Because of this, plants have
ability to recover their health after their leaves have dried out completely. Animals can lose 30-60% of
their body mass and still survive. Most animals do not get their water from drinking like other ecosystem.
Instead, they have adapted to get their water through metabolic processes. This is why they can survive in
a place like Sahara Desert ecosystem.
Question 1. What is the text mostly about?
A. Location of the Sahara desert.
B. Hot weather of the Sahara Desert.
C. How animals survive on this Desert.
D. The Sahara Desert and its ecosystem.
Question 2. Which of the following is TRUE?
A. The Sahara Desert has no animals or plants.
B. It is the second largest desert.
C. It is in North Africa.
D. It is in the United States.
Question 3. In paragraph 1, the word they refers to
A. people
B. plants
C. animals
D. ecoregions
Question 4. In paragraph 2, the word estimate is closest in meaning to
A. confirm
B. calculate
C. formulate
D. participate
Question 5. All of the following are true about the Sahara Desert EXCEPT
A. there are abot five hundred types of plants.
B. seventy species of mammals can be found there
C. it is home to about ninety species of birds
D. fewewr than 100 reptiles are found there
Question 6. Why can animals and plants survive in the Sahara Desert?
A. They try to reduce the water intake.
B. They get water from the irrigation system.
C. They get water through metabolic process.
D. They don’t really need water for a long time.