31 L4-All About Desert Life

Oxford Read and Discover level 4 All About Desert Life by Julie Penn

牛津大学阅读和发现第4关所有关于沙漠生活的朱莉佩恩

Introduction There are many deserts on Earth. All deserts are dry, but they aren't all hot there are cold deserts, too. Millions of people, animals, and plants live in deserts. What deserts do you know? What do you know about deserts? What people, animals, and plants live in deserts? Discover! Now read and discover more about desert life around the world!

地球上有许多沙漠。 所有的沙漠都是干燥的，但它们并不都是热的——也有冷的沙漠。 数以百万计的人、动物和植物生活在沙漠中。 你知道什么沙漠?你对沙漠了解多少? 什么人、动物和植物生活在沙漠里? 发现!现在阅读和发现更多关于世界各地的沙漠生活!

Chapter 1 What Is a Desert? A desert is a dry place that has less than 25 centimeters of rain every year. Some deserts have no rain for months or years. Some deserts have sand, but others have stones or rocks. Some deserts are in the mountains. In the day, temperatures in hot deserts are usually from 20 to 35 degrees centigrade, but temperatures can be more than 50 degrees. At night, the air gets very cold. Sometimes, it's less than 0 degrees. Most cold deserts are warm in summer, but they are very cold in winter. In summer, temperatures are usually from 21 to 26 degrees centigrade. In winter, they are usually from 2 to 4 degrees. Most of the water in cold deserts comes from snow or fog. It doesn't come from rain. Discover! It snows in Antarctica, but this only makes about 5 centimeters of water every year. It's the biggest and coldest desert on Earth.

第一章什么是沙漠? 沙漠是每年降雨量少于25厘米的干燥地区。 有些沙漠数月甚至数年不下雨。 有些沙漠有沙子，但有些沙漠有石头或岩石。 有些沙漠在山里。 白天，炎热沙漠的温度通常在20到35摄氏度之间，但温度可能超过50摄氏度。 在晚上，空气变得很冷。 有时小于0度。 大多数寒冷的沙漠夏天很温暖，但冬天很冷。 在夏天，气温通常在21到26摄氏度之间。 在冬天，它们通常在2到4度之间。 寒冷沙漠中的大部分水来自雪或雾。 它不是来自雨。 发现!南极洲下雪，但每年只产生大约5厘米的水。 它是地球上最大最冷的沙漠。

Chapter 2 Different Deserts More than 20 percent(%) of the land on Earth is desert. There are many different deserts. The Sahara Desert, in North Africa, is the biggest hot desert on Earth. It's 9 million square kilometers that's about as big as the USA! The Sahara has sand dunes, rocks, and mountains. Some of the sand dunes are 180 meters tall. The Sahara has very strong winds that make big sandstorms. The sandstorms can take plants and animals into the air! The Atacama Desert is in Peru and Chile. It's not very hot, and it's one of the oldest and driest deserts on Earth. It has less than 1 millimeter of rain every year! Scientists think that at one time, it didn't rain here for 400 years. Discover! There aren't many deserts in Europe. There's one small desert in Spain. It's called the Tabernas Desert. The Gobi Desert is in Mongolia and China. It's 1,300,000 square kilometers and it's in the mountains. Most of the land is rock. It's one of the coldest deserts on Earth. In winter, the temperature can be minus 40 degrees centigrade!

第二章不同的沙漠地球上百分之二十以上的土地是沙漠。 有许多不同的沙漠。 位于北非的撒哈拉沙漠是地球上最大的热沙漠。 它有900万平方公里，大约和美国一样大!撒哈拉沙漠有沙丘、岩石和山脉。 有些沙丘高达180米。 撒哈拉沙漠有很强的风，可以形成大沙尘暴。 沙尘暴会把植物和动物带到空中!阿塔卡马沙漠位于秘鲁和智利。 它不是很热，它是地球上最古老、最干燥的沙漠之一。 它每年的降雨量不到1毫米!科学家们认为，这里曾经有400年没有下雨了。 发现!欧洲没有很多沙漠。 西班牙有一个小沙漠。 它被称为塔伯纳斯沙漠。 戈壁沙漠位于蒙古和中国。 它有130万平方公里，在山区。 大部分土地都是岩石。这是地球上最冷的沙漠之一。 在冬天，温度可以达到零下40摄氏度!

Chapter 3 Plants Deserts are very dry places, but plants can still grow there. Desert plants collect and use water in special ways. The cactus has big roots, so it can collect water fast when it rains. It stores water in its stem for when there isn't any rain. Many cactus plants have spikes. The spikes also collect water, and they stop animals eating the plant. Discover! There are about 1,200 different types of plant in the Sahara Desert. The welwitschia plant gets water from fog. The leaves collect the water and it goes down into the soil. Then the plant takes up the water with its roots. The baobab tree grows in the deserts in Africa and Australia. It can store thousands of liters of water. Some baobab trees are more than 9 meters across! Desert people can drink the water from this tree. The seeds of many desert plants can stay in the soil for a long time. When it rains they grow fast and produce flowers. Then they die, but they leave seeds for the next time it rains.

沙漠是非常干燥的地方，但植物仍然可以在那里生长。 沙漠植物以特殊的方式收集和利用水分。 仙人掌的根很大，所以下雨时它能很快地收集水分。 它把水储存在茎中，以备不时之需。 许多仙人掌都有尖刺。 这些尖刺还能收集水分，阻止动物吃掉这种植物。 发现!撒哈拉沙漠中大约有1200种不同的植物。 威兰草从雾中汲取水分。 树叶收集水分，然后进入土壤。 然后植物用它的根吸收水分。 猴面包树生长在非洲和澳大利亚的沙漠中。 它可以储存数千升水。 一些猴面包树直径超过9米!沙漠里的人可以喝这棵树上的水。 许多沙漠植物的种子可以在土壤中停留很长时间。 下雨时，它们长得很快，还会开花。 然后它们就死了，但它们会留下种子，以备下次下雨时使用。