Passage8

Animals in the desert have a problem getting water and keeping it.Insect — eaters get their liquids from their food.Most desert dwellers avoid the drying heat as much as possible, spending their time in burrows, where the damp earth and coolness cut down the amount of evaporation from their breathing.With the exception of the coyote which adapts to have its home in the shelter of rocks or in dense vegetation, nearly all mammals have burrows of one sort or another.All birds seek whatever shade they can find.Reptiles have an added reason for avoiding the desert sun.They are cool—blooded creatures which lack the protection of fur, feathers, and other cooling devices. They can be killed by a relatively short exposure to full sunshine.Many desert animals have an additional source of water through the breakdown of body fatsLizards, for example, store fat in their tails much as the camel stores it in his hump.

1. As a whole the paragraph suggests that A)desert animals can survive without water.

1. desert animals are all cold—blooded.

2. animals adapt to their surroundings.

3. heredity does not affect survival.

1. The opening sentence suggests that

   1. desert animals live short lives.

   2. water cannot be found in the desert.

   3. rain never falls on the desert.

   4. water is scarce and it evaporates quickly.

2. The author implies that on the edesert A)reptiles are harmless during daylight.

1. birds sleep by day and hunt by night.

2. coyotes are vegetarians.

3. insects store eater in their bodies.

1. From the paragraph we can infer that burrows are . A)underground holes for animals

B)small ponds of water C)streams

D)nestles that protect animals