Direction: Read the following passage and answer the given questions. A desert…
2017
Direction: Read the following passage and answer the given questions.
A desert is basically a wilderness or a wasteland. There is little moisture and poor soil such as sand gravel or rock. There are few plants to offer shade. Deserts can be described as harsh places. Many are burning hot by day and cold by night.
Every continent has deserts. Much of the western United States is a desert. A desert region called The Outback covers Central Australia. The southern tip of South America is largely desert. Northern Africa is covered by the Sahara, a desert as big as the mainland United States. The Arabian Peninsula, between the Persian Gulf and the Red Sea, is almost entirely desert. A large part of central Asia, from China to the Caspian Sea, is mostly desert. Deserts cover 1/8 of our planet.
The popular belief is that a desert is dry, hot, waterless and without shelter. But this is not entirely correct. For those who have studied it, the desert can be a beautiful place. It is home to a variety of people, animals and plants that have learnt to live under hot and dry conditions. A desert is not always a flat, unchanging wasteland of dry sand. It may have mountains and hills. It may have an oasis, big or small. An oasis is like a green island in the middle of a desert where a spring of a well gives plants and trees a better chance to grow.
All living things need water in order to survive. The few plants and animals that live in deserts have developed the ability to require less water than most plants and animals. Desert plants have adapted to heat and dryness of the desert. Plants such as cacti have special means of storing and conserving water. They often have few or no leaves. Some plants have gotten used to arid environments by growing extremely long roots, allowing them to acquire moisture at or by the water table.
The desert animals also have found a way to solve the heat and water problems the desert environment creates. Camels can drink a lot of water at one time. They can live without water for days together. The reason is they sweat very little. We sweat because we must keep our body temperature constant. They sweat when it gets hot, and this cools the body. Camels can stand a high body temperature. They don't need to sweat and can therefore retain the water they drink for long periods of time.
Which of the following statements is not true according to the passage?
Answer: C. The Arabian Peninsula between the Persian Gulf and Caspian Sea is entirely desert. — In a “which statement is NOT true” reading-comprehension question, every option restates a detail from the passage, and exactly one option has been altered —…
- A.
Camels can retain water for a long time because they do not sweat.
- B.
About 1/8 area of the earth is covered by deserts.
- C.
The Arabian Peninsula between the Persian Gulf and Caspian Sea is entirely desert.
- D.
In a desert region there is little moisture and poor soil.
Attempted by 1 students.
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: C
In a “which statement is NOT true” reading-comprehension question, every option restates a detail from the passage, and exactly one option has been altered — a name, place, quantity, or qualifying word (such as “almost” becoming “entirely”) is changed while the sentence structure is kept intact. The task is to compare each option word-for-word against its corresponding passage detail rather than judge it from general knowledge.
The passage locates the Arabian Peninsula “between the Persian Gulf and the Red Sea” and describes it as “almost entirely” desert. The statement about the Arabian Peninsula changes the second landmark to the Caspian Sea and removes the word “almost”, so it asserts something the passage does not — making it the statement that is not true.
the statement about camels retaining water because they don't sweat mirrors the passage's own description of why camels can go without sweating and still hold onto the water they drink
the statement about deserts covering 1/8 of the planet repeats the exact fraction given in the passage
the statement about little moisture and poor soil restates the passage's opening description of a desert word for word
Because three of the four statements restate the passage accurately and only the Arabian Peninsula statement introduces an altered place name and a stronger absolute claim, that is the one statement that is not true according to the passage.
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