Question

continued passages
a subtropical desert is the driest desert people think of. (in a subtropical desert, the day and night can be literally... the land is at least partially covered with sand. 3 months are rarely seen. hot between sands, though far from the water, nothing from the surface. nobody sweat that desert is sunniest. its intense radiant energy from the sun, resulting in extremely high surface temperatures during the day. at night, its temperature plunge here into the low humidity in the atmosphere. rainfall in the subtropical desert are few. so for plants, food here such as cacti, succulents, etc. the addax (旋角羚) will find the arid environment has limited water and nutrients. some animals like the addax are adapted to live in a desert environment. by being nocturnal and foraging for food and water at night when the desert is cooler.

this sentence is from the passage: this makes it difficult for the hamster - like animal (addax = 旋角羚) to find enough food and water. which does the word \it\ refer to?
options:

1. time
2. sun
3. habitat
4. climate

Explanation:

To solve this, we analyze the passage and the options:

1. Understand the Context: The passage describes a subtropical desert (likely the Namib Desert) with details about its climate (hot days, cold nights, low humidity, coastal fog), plant adaptations (like Welwitschia), and animal adaptations (like the fog - basking beetle).
2. Analyze the Options:

• Option 1: Kalahari – The Kalahari is a semi - arid savanna - like region, not a subtropical desert with the specific coastal fog and extreme aridity described.
• Option 2: Sahel – The Sahel is a transition zone between the Sahara and savannas, with more rainfall and different vegetation/ecology than the described desert.
• Option 3: Sahara – The Sahara is a large desert, but the passage mentions coastal fog and specific plant/animal adaptations (Welwitschia, fog - basking beetle) that are characteristic of the Namib Desert, not the Sahara.
• Option 4: Namib – The Namib is a subtropical desert along the southwestern coast of Africa. It has the described features: coastal fog (from the cold Benguela Current), extreme aridity, unique plants like Welwitschia, and animals adapted to fog (like the fog - basking beetle).

Answer:

1. Namib