Since water is the basis of life, composing the greater part of the tissues of all living things, the crucial problem of desert animals is to survive in a world where sources of flowing water are rare. And since man’s inexorable necessity is to absorb large quantities of water at frequent intervals, he can scarcely comprehend that many creatures of the desert pass their entire lives without a single drop.

   Uncompromising as it is, the desert has not eliminated life but only those forms unable to withstand its desiccating effects. No moist- skinned, water-loving animals can exist there. Few large animals are found. The giants of the North American desert are the deer, the coyote, and the bobcat. Since desert country is open, it holds more swift-footed running and leaping creatures than the tangled forest. Its population is largely nocturnal, silent, filled with reticence, and ruled by stealth. Yet they are not emaciated.

   Having adapted to their austere environment, they are as healthy as animals anywhere else in the word. The secret of their adjustment lies in the combination of behavior and physiology. None could survive if, like mad dogs and Englishmen, they went out in the midday sun; many would die in a matter of minutes. So most of them pass the burning hours asleep in cool, humid burrows underneath the ground, emerging to hunt only by night. The surface of the sun-baked desert averages around 150 degrees, but 18 inches down the temperature is only 60 degrees.

The phrase “those forms” in the passage refers to all of the following EXCEPT ..........

Câu hỏi liên quan

• Which of the following best summarizes this passage?

• Which of the following statements about primary cooperation is supported by information in the passage?

• What does the passage mainly discuss?

ZUNIA12

• The first to support the equality of the sexes was _______.

• In the author’s judgment ................

• The word “captures” in the fourth paragraph is closest in meaning to ______.

• According to the passage, an exuberant tone of voice may be an indication of a person’s ____________.

• Why does the author mention “artistic, political, or pedagogic communication” in the passage?

• As it can be inferred from the passage, what benefits does Internet II have over the Internet I?

• What can the word invokes be best replaced by?

• Some songs of the Beatles now __________

• In the fourth paragraph, the author implies that imagination is most important to scientists when they _______.

• The topic of this passage is______________.

• According to the passage, when did "the Lord of the Rings" trilogy become popular with young people?

• What is NOT true about the passage?

• The phrase "the wee hours" in paragraph 3 probably refers to the period of time _____.

• Sixty years ago, most women ...................

• What is the main topic of the passage?

• According to the passage, Pilgrims are ______.

• The word “rudimentary” is closest in meaning to ___________.