课时作业8（word练习）-【状元桥·优质课堂】2023-2024学年新教材高中英语必修第三册（北师大版2019）

课时作业(八) (限时：40分钟) Ⅰ.阅读 Thorny devils, rattlesnakes, kangaroo rats and more have developed smart ways for surviving in water-scarce(缺水的) environments. Thorny devils In Australian deserts live some animals known as thorny devils.These animals specialize in eating ants, which are also where they get their water. But when ants are scarce, or conditions are even drier than normal, they have a backup.All they have to do is to kick the sand up onto their backs and let the network of tiny canals(沟渠) on their skins to catch small amounts of water and guide the liquid directly to their mouth. Namib desert beetles An ocean away in southwestern Africa, the Namib desert beetles pull off a similar trick.They use their backs as a cooler to catch water trapped in the morning fog.As the droplets grow in size, they run down the insects' backs toward their mouths. Desert rattlesnakes Desert rattlesnakes of the western US are able to live on just one hearty meal a year.But without a drink of water now and then, the snakes would dry up and breathe their last in a few days. So how do they survive way up in the Rocky Mountains, where water is scarce? Easy.They turn their bodies into bowls in the evening to collect the dew(露水)．With their cold bodies flattened into a bowl, the dew gathers on their skin. Kangaroo rats These pocket-size animals in the US Midwest plains never drink water.They spend 75 percent of their time in underground holes to avoid the heat in the desert.They survive on a diet of dry grass seeds, which they first bury underground.Because the underground soil is wetter than the surface soil, stored seeds may absorb as much as 30 percent more water than ones above ground.So when the rats eat their seeds, they get both food and water. 语篇导读　主题语境：人与自然/自然生态。本文为说明文，介绍了棘蜥、响尾蛇等动物如何以独特的方式在缺水环境中存活。 1．Where do Namib desert beetles live? A．In Australian deserts. B．In the US Midwest plains. C．In southwestern Africa. D．In Canada's Rocky Mountains. 答案　C 解析　细节理解题。根据Namib desert beetles部分