Part One Reading Comprehension (2’×10 = 20’)
Directions: There are 2 passages in this section. Each passage is followed by some questions or unfinished statements. For each of them there are four choices marked A), B), C) and D). You should decide on the best choice and mark the corresponding letter on the Answer Sheet with a single line through the centre.
Passage One
Scientists are trying to make the deserts into good land again. They want to bring water to the deserts so that people can live and grow food. Even so, more and more of the earth is becoming desert all the time.
Why? Scientists think that people make deserts. People are doing bad things to the earth. Some people on the earth do not get very much rain. Yet, they still do not become deserts. This is because there are some small green plants growing there. Plants help keep water in the earth. Plants do not let the wind blow the dirt away. Without plants, the land can become a desert much more easily.
A man decides to make a farm in a very dry place. He digs in the earth and takes away the grass and plants that are already growing on the dry land.
He makes a farm. He puts plants in rows. The sun is very hot. It makes the land even drier. When the rain comes, it runs between the row of plants. It washes the good dirt away. When the wind comes, it blows between the rows of plants. It blows the good dirt away. Soon the land is not good enough for a farm any more. The man lets his animals eat all the plants on it. Now the land does not have any plants on it. The sun and wind dry the land and all of the good dirt away. Now the land is a desert.
1. A desert is probably _____________.
A. grassy B. wet C. treeless D. muddy
2. Land is becoming desert because of lack of _____________.
A. rain B. people C. wind D. plants
3. Which of the following is NOT the reason why small green plants are very important to dry places?
A. They keep the earth from becoming even drier.
B. They do not let wind blow the earth away.
C. They add color to the dry places.
D. They hold water.
4. It can be inferred from the passage that _____________.
A. it is bad to plant in rows in a dry place
B. it is better to raise animals on dry land than to make a farm
C. it is bad to make a farm in a dry place, but it is good to raise animals there
D. all lands that don’t get very much rain are deserts
5. What’s the writer’s purpose in giving an example of the man?
A. To criticize him. B. To tell an interesting story.
C. To prove man makes deserts. D. To prove the hot sun makes a desert.
