31 Life in the Desert

Life in the Desert by Sheila Black Table of Contents Introduction page 2 Chapter 1 Desert Plants page 6 Chapter 2 Desert Animals page 8 Chapter 3 people in the Desert page 12 Conclusion page 14 Glossary/ Index page 15 Comprehension Check page 16

《沙漠生活》作者希拉·布莱克目录介绍第二页第一章沙漠植物第六页第二章沙漠动物第八页第三章沙漠中的人第十二页结论第十四页词汇/索引第十五页理解检查第十六页

Introduction Deserts cover one-seventh of Earth. They can be sandy or rocky. They are very hot and dry. Some deserts are formed, or made, by wind. The wind blows warm air that makes the land very dry. Other deserts form because of tall mountains. It only rains on one side of the mountain, and the other side gets dry. This is part of the Sonoran Desert. All of the deserts in the United States are in the Southwest or West. This lake covers desert land in Arizona and Utah. It was created by the Glen Canyon Dam. Deserts are mainly dry. But rivers and streams flow through parts of the desert. Some deserts also have lakes. These lakes form when people build dams. A dam stops the flow of a river and creates a lake. Desert rocks are made of different kinds of minerals. Some rocks are very colorful. Desert soil, or dirt, is made mostly of sand, gravel, and clay. minerals: hard materials like gold and iron that are formed naturally in the ground

沙漠覆盖了地球的七分之一。 它们可以是沙质的，也可以是岩石的。 它们又热又干。 有些沙漠是由风形成的。 风吹来的温暖空气使土地非常干燥。 其他沙漠是由高山形成的。 只在山的一边下雨，山的另一边就干涸了。 这是索诺兰沙漠的一部分。 美国所有的沙漠都在西南部或西部。 这个湖覆盖了亚利桑那州和犹他州的沙漠地带。 它是由格伦峡谷大坝形成的。 沙漠主要是干燥的。但是河流和小溪流经沙漠的部分地区。 一些沙漠也有湖泊。 这些湖是人们修建水坝时形成的。 大坝阻止了河流的流动，形成了一个湖泊。 沙漠岩石是由不同种类的矿物构成的。 有些岩石颜色很鲜艳。 沙漠土壤或泥土主要由沙子、砾石和粘土构成。 矿物:像金和铁这样在地下自然形成的硬物质

Dry streams fill with water when it rains. There is very little rainfall in the desert. It only rains a few months of the year. The ground is hot and dry. When it rains, it rains a lot. The water moves fast. A dry area can be flooded in minutes. Sometimes it snows high in the mountains. When the snow melts, it flows down into the desert. Plants and animals that live in the desert need the water from snow. Without it, they could not survive during the hot, dry times when no rain falls. The plants and animals have survived by adapting to the severe weather. severe: harsh; very bad The La Sal Mountains in the state of Utah are surrounded by desert. It's a Mirage If you travel in the desert on a hot day, you might think you see a pool of water in the distance. But when you get to that place, you find that the water is not there. This is called a mirage. Light rays from the sun bend in the air before they hit the ground. This makes the mirage.

下雨时干涸的小溪充满了水。 沙漠里很少下雨。 一年中只有几个月下雨。 地面又热又干。 下雨的时候，雨下得很大。 水流得很快。干旱地区几分钟内就会被洪水淹没。 有时高山上会下雪。 雪融化后流入沙漠。 生活在沙漠中的动植物需要雪中的水。 没有水，他们就无法在炎热干燥的无雨季节生存。 动植物通过适应恶劣的天气而生存下来。 严重:严厉;犹他州的拉萨尔山脉被沙漠包围着。 如果你在一个炎热的日子里在沙漠里旅行，你可能会认为你看到了远处的一池水。 但是当你到达那个地方时，你发现那里没有水。 这叫做海市蜃楼。太阳光在到达地面之前会在空中弯曲。 这就产生了海市蜃楼。

CHAPTER 1 Desert Plants Water evaporates quickly in the desert. Plants need water to live. How do desert plants survive with so little water? Cactus plants grow all over the desert. When it rains, their underground roots take in a lot of water. Their big stems, or bodies, can hold the water for a long time. The cactus plants have thick skin. The skin is covered in a kind of wax. It helps keep water inside the cactus. A saguaro cactus can take in a ton of water in a single day. A ton is 2,000 pounds! Seeds Desert plants make seeds. Some seeds have hard coats. When it rains, the water bounces the seeds over the rocky ground. The seed coats break. The seeds sprout and grow into plants. This is a mesquite plant. Other desert plants have long roots. The roots help them absorb water. The roots of the mesquite plant are over 100-feet long. Some desert plants survive by losing their leaves in the summer. These plants rest during the hot summer. The winter rains restore, or bring back, their energy and they wake up again. The ocotillo is one of these plants. In summer, it looks dead. But when it rains, its tiny leaves and pretty orange flowers begin to grow. Language DETECTIVE Clue: Leaves is a multiple meaning word. Can you find another multiple meaning word on this page? The ocotillo plant is sometimes called candlewood.

水在沙漠中蒸发得很快。 植物需要水才能生存。 沙漠植物是如何在如此缺水的情况下生存下来的? 沙漠里到处都是仙人掌。 下雨时，它们的地下根部会吸收大量的水。 它们的大茎或身体可以长时间保持水分。 仙人掌的表皮很厚。 皮肤上覆盖着一种蜡。 它有助于保持仙人掌内部的水分。 一棵仙人掌一天能吸收一吨的水。 一吨等于2000磅!沙漠植物结出种子。 有些种子有坚硬的外皮。 下雨时，雨水使种子在岩石地上弹起。 种皮破裂。种子发芽长成植物。 这是一种豆科植物。其他沙漠植物有长长的根。 根部帮助它们吸收水分。 豆科植物的根有100多英尺长。 一些沙漠植物在夏天靠落叶生存。 这些植物在炎热的夏天休息。 冬雨恢复了它们的能量，它们又醒来了。 奥科提洛就是其中一种植物。 在夏天，它看起来死了。但是当下雨的时候，它的小叶子和漂亮的橙色花朵开始生长。 线索:Leaves是一个多重意思的单词。 你能在这页上找到另一个多重意思的词吗? 这种植物有时被称为蜡烛木。

CHAPTER 2 Desert Animals Animals need water, too. Desert frogs and toads lay their eggs in pools of rainwater. The eggs hatch and the baby frogs quickly grow into adults. Soon the hot sun dries the earth. The adult toads and frogs survive by going underground. They stay in the ground for a year or more. They rest and wait for the rain. A desert frog grows quickly and then rests for a long time. A kangaroo rat stores water in its body. The kangaroo rat also saves water. It builds an underground home called a burrow. When the rat breathes, it gives off water. This water stays inside the burrow. Pack rats store seeds and nuts in their burrows. The seeds and nuts have absorbed water from the air. The pack rats get water by eating the seeds and nuts. Pack rats will chew on cacti if they are suffering from thirst. Many birds live in the desert. Some desert birds get their water by eating bugs, lizards, and other small animals. This is a pack rat. The Gambel quail digs up seeds from the ground. It gets water from seeds.

第二章沙漠动物动物也需要水。 沙漠蛙和蟾蜍在雨水池中产卵。 卵孵化后，小青蛙迅速成长为成年青蛙。 很快，炎热的太阳晒干了大地。 成年蟾蜍和青蛙躲到地下生存。 它们在地下停留一年或更长时间。 他们休息等待下雨。 沙漠蛙长得很快，然后休息很长时间。 袋鼠鼠把水储存在体内。 袋鼠鼠也节约水。 它在地下建造一个叫做洞穴的家。 当老鼠呼吸时，它会释放出水。 这些水留在洞穴里。 群鼠在洞穴里储存种子和坚果。 种子和坚果从空气中吸收了水分。 鼠群通过吃种子和坚果来获取水分。 大鼠口渴时会啃食仙人掌。 许多鸟生活在沙漠里。 一些沙漠鸟类通过吃虫子、蜥蜴和其他小动物来获取水分。 这是一只收藏鼠。甘贝尔鹌鹑从地里挖出种子。 它从种子中获取水分。