How are deserts formed
Read How are deserts formed and check the IELTS Reading answers. A desert refers to a barren section of land, mainly in arid and semi-arid areas, where there is almost no precipitation and the environment is hostile for any creature to inhabit. Deserts have been classified in a number of ways, gene…
Passage preview
A desert refers to a barren section of land, mainly in arid and semi-arid areas, where there is almost no precipitation and the environment is hostile for any creature to inhabit. Deserts have been classified in a number of ways, generally combining total precipitation, how many days the rainfall occurs, temperature, humidity, and sometimes additional factors. In some places, deserts have clear boundaries marked by rivers, mountains or other landforms, while in other places there are no clear-cut borders between deserts and other landscape features.
Vocabulary from this passage
9 words worth learning before you sit the test, each with the sentence it appears in.
- accelerate verb
To make something happen faster or to increase its speed.
In the passage:
Q24 says "will increase soil erosion"; the passage says livestock farming "accelerates soil erosion" (paragraph D).
Synonyms: speed up, increase
Opposites: slow down
- a common misunderstanding is that noun phrase
Used to introduce a popular belief that the writer says is wrong.
In the passage:
"A common misunderstanding is that a shortage of precipitation causes desertification": the writer rejects this, which decides Q23.
Synonyms: a widespread myth is that
- a great deal of publicity noun phrase
A lot of public attention, usually through the media.
In the passage:
Q22 says the media "is uninterested"; the passage says "a great deal of publicity" about desertification (paragraph C).
Synonyms: the media, media coverage
Opposites: secrecy
- alleviate the pressures verb phrase
To make difficulties or stress less severe.
In the passage:
"would help alleviate the pressures that drive desertification": the solution lessens the causes.
Synonyms: ease the pressures, reduce the strain
Opposites: intensify
- clear-cut borders noun phrase
Boundaries that are obvious and definite, with no doubt about where one thing ends.
In the passage:
"no clear-cut borders between deserts and other landscape features": the reason Q21 (difficult to ascertain where deserts end) is TRUE.
Synonyms: well-defined boundaries, distinct limits
Opposites: blurred boundaries
- devoid of adjective phrase
Completely lacking something that would normally be there.
In the passage:
"extensive tracts of land are left devoid of plant cover": no vegetation is left to hold the soil.
Synonyms: lacking in, empty of
Opposites: full of
- more often than not adverb phrase
In the majority of cases; most of the time.
In the passage:
"In fact, more often than not, human activities are responsible": humans, not low rainfall, are the usual cause (Q23).
Synonyms: in most cases, typically
Opposites: seldom
- susceptible to adjective phrase
Likely to be harmed or affected by something.
In the passage:
"left devoid of plant cover and thus susceptible to wind and water erosion": bare land is easily damaged.
Synonyms: vulnerable to, prone to
Opposites: resistant to
- vibrate verb
To shake quickly with very small, repeated movements.
In the passage:
Q14 asks for "irregular movement of particles"; paragraph B says fine particles on open ground "begin vibrating" and are then jerked into the air.
Synonyms: move, shake, quiver
Opposites: stay still
Answers with explanations
- 14. B
Look for particles. Paragraph B describes dust particles that **vibrate**, are **lifted** and then **jerked into the air**. That is the **irregular movement** in the question. No other paragraph talks about particles.
- 15. G
The date **20th century** is the anchor. **Productive land** is paraphrased as **farmland**, and turning into desert is the same in both. Paragraph G gives the example.
- 16. A
**Types of deserts** matches **classified in a number of ways**. Paragraph A is the one that explains how deserts are defined and grouped, using rainfall, temperature and humidity.
- 17. H
**Technical methods** matches **new technologies**, and **tackle the problems** matches **address the problems**. Paragraph H goes on to name satellites. Paragraph G also offers solutions, but those are new ways of earning a living, not technology.
- 18. F
**Migration** is paraphrased as **refugees ... move into** other areas. Paragraph F links this to desertification: the people bring cultivation practices that are unsuitable for their new settlements.
- 19. C
**Scientists** is paraphrased as **the academic circle**, and **lack of agreement** as **has never agreed**. The sentence names desertification and its causes, so the paragraph is C.
- 20. D
Look for a farming practice and its damage. Paragraph D follows **overgrazing** through to the harm: **trampled**, **pulverised** and **exposed** topsoil. Paragraph C is about population growth pushing crops into dry land, so its focus is the cause, not a farming practice.
- 21. TRUE
**Difficult to ascertain where deserts end** is a paraphrase of **no clear-cut borders** between deserts and other landscape. The text says this is true of some places, which matches "in some areas". TRUE.
- 22. FALSE
**The media** is paraphrased as **publicity**. A **great deal of** publicity is the opposite of **uninterested**, so the statement is FALSE.
- 23. FALSE
The deciding words are **most common cause**. The writer calls a lack of rainfall a **common misunderstanding** and says **human activities** are responsible more often. The statement contradicts this: FALSE.
- 24. TRUE
**Farming animals** is paraphrased as **livestock farming**, and **will increase** as **accelerates**. The first sentence of paragraph D says exactly what the statement says, so it is TRUE.
- 25. FALSE
The deciding words are **no longer**. The present tense **is the chief fuel** shows firewood is still the main fuel in many Asian countries, so the statement is FALSE.
- 26. FALSE
**Has not yet been invented** is contradicted: **satellites have been utilised** to study the influence of **people and livestock**. The next sentence says other technologies are still needed, but that does not mean this one doesn't exist. FALSE.