进入查看：2021-2022学年学英语报八年级第20期答案及试题

 

Death Valley is a beautiful but extremely(极端 ) dangerous land. There high mountains reach more than 3000 meters into the sky. But there is also a low place called Badwater. It is the lowest area of land in the Western Hemisphere ( 西半球 ). If there were water there, it would be 86 meters below the level of the ocean.

Death Valley can be dangerously cold during the winter months. Storms in the mountains can produce sudden flooding on the floor of the Valley.

The air temperature during the summer has been as high as 57 ℃. The heat of Death Valley has killed people in the past. It will continue to kill those who do not honor this extreme climate (气候 ). Death Valley does not forgive those who are not careful.

However, it would be wrong to think that nothing lives in Death Valley. The Valley is full of life. Wild flowers grow very quickly after a little rain. Some desert plants can send their roots (根) down more than 18 meters to reach water deep in the ground. Many kinds of birds live in Death Valley. So do mammals and reptiles ( 哺乳动物与爬行动物).

The area was named by a woman in 1849. Thousands of people from other parts of the country traveled to the gold mining (矿) areas. They were in a hurry to get there before other people did. Many people were not careful. They made bad choices or wrong decisions. One group decided to take a path called the Old Spanish Trail. By December they had reached Death Valley. They first did not have to survive the terrible heat of summer, but there was still an extreme lack (缺乏 ) of water. There were few plants for their work animals to eat.

The people could not find a pass through the tall mountains to the west of the Valley. Slowly, they began to suffer from a lack of food. To survive, they killed their work animals for food and began to walk out of the Valley. As they left, one woman looked back and said, "Good-bye, death valley." The name has never been changed.

38. Death Valley is known as a dangerous place because of its ______.

A. extreme climate B. high mountains C. serious pollution D. dry deserts

39. Although Death Valley is dangerous, it is a place where ________.

A. people like to spend their holidays B. water can easily be found

C. no people have been killed D. lots of animals can survive

40. It was proved to be a wrong decision _______.

A. to look for gold in the valley B. to take the Old Spanish Trail

C. to get there before other people did D. to kill their work animals for food

41. In the passage, the writer doesn’t tell us _______.

A. what the weather is like in the valley B. why people were travelling in a hurry

C. how plants in the valley get water D. that the valley has some other names