TOEFL Sample Question

 

The world's deserts are incredible places of great mystery. Yet there are many misperceptions about what traits constitute a desert biome. By definition, a desert is an area that receives very little or no rain at all. Any other feature only speaks to the grate diversity among the different deserts in the world. Some, such as the Sahara Desert in Africa, are large expanses of hot, sandy terrain. But not all of these are hot. In fact, the largest desert in the world is actually located in Antarctica.

Antarctica is a frigid area that covers 5.4 million square miles, ninety-eight percent of which is completely covered with ice. Because of its location on the globe, weather fronts rarely travel past the coastal regions. This explains why, on average, the continent receives less than four inches of precipitation a year, making the Sahara's annual ten inches seem like a deluge. In addition Antarctica also boasts the highest average elevation of any continent, which explains why the temperatures there are more frigid still than the North Pole. Unlike other montane deserts (a deserts in the mountains), it plays host to very few forms of life. This is due to the harsh weather conditions and lack of water sources.

 

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misperception : an incorrect belief about something

constitute : to make up

biome : a major ecological community such as a desert or rain forest

expanse : a large stretch of land

frigid : extremely cold

deluge : a heavy flood

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      (A) world's deserts

      (B) misperceptions

      (C) traits 

      (D) expanses

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A > (A)