39.~41.
                             Growing Deserts         There are deserts all over the world. They can be found in Africa, China, South America, and NorthAmerica. In some places, deserts are growing. This is a serious problem because deserts destroyfarmland and ruin land where animals live. When people cannot grow food or find animals to eat, theyhave to leave their homes.
        Sometimes, nature can cause deserts to spread. Wind can move sand away from deserts and ontouseful land. When there is no rain for a long time, plants die and deserts grow. However, humans canalso cause deserts to grow. This is called desertification, and it happens in many ways. One way iswhen people cause too much air pollution and it can make an area hotter. Hotter weather can reducethe amount of rain as well. Too many people in one area can also damage the land. In addition, havingmany animals can harm the land. When large animals like cows walk on soil too much, they turn it intodust. The wind easily blows this dust away. Trees help hold water in the ground. When people cutdown too many trees, less water stays in the ground, and the soil is ruined.
       All of these things can speed up desertification. To stop deserts from growing, people must think ofways to treat the land better.
※ desert 沙漠 ruin 毀壞 cause 導致 spread 蔓延 human 人 desertification 沙漠化 pollution 汙染as well 也 damage 損害 harm 傷害 soil 土壤 dust 灰塵 speed up 加速 ※ ＜文鶴＞
【題組】39. What is the main idea of the reading?
(A) Where the world’s deserts are
(B) Why some deserts are growing
(C) How people live in deserts
(D) How cows can stop deserts from growing