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

• The word "they" in paragraph 2 refers to .................

• It is stated in the passage that torches for lighting were made from ................

• The word this in paragraph 2 refers to ............

ZUNIA12

• What can the word invokes be best replaced by?

• In the second paragraph, the word “stored” is closest in meaning to _________.

• The word “proliferated” is closest in meaning to ......

• The word “splendors” in the passage could be best replaced by which of the following?

• The expression “in concert” in paragraph 3 could best be replaced by ________.

• The word “sensational” is closest in meaning to ...........

• The word "fine" in the passage is closest in meaning to ______.

• The topic of this passage is______________.

• What does the author mention about the American Red Cross?

• What is the main purpose of this passage?

• The author mentions all of the following as requirements for slang expressions to be created EXCEPT ......

• The author mentions the “ shoesbox under the bed” in order to ................

• The word “These” in paragraph 3 refers to__________.

•  According to the passage, the benefit of listening to music while learning and studying is that it ..............

• Nowadays, there are ...............

• What does the word concentric mean?

• What is the main topic of this passage?