Feature
The Sahara and Sahel
Roberto Barerra
1The Sahara is a giant desert located in northern Africa. It is the world’s largest traditional desert, meaning a hot, dry desert with large amounts of sand, and it is the second largest desert in the world. The largest desert is Antarctica, but that is a very different type of desert compared to the dry, hot sands of the Sahara.
2The Sahara stretches across northern Africa from the coast of the Red Sea in the east all the way to the Atlantic Ocean in the west. It covers an area of about 3.5 million square miles and is large enough to contain almost the entire continental United States. Furthermore, as if the Sahara was not large enough already, it is expanding south into the Sahel about thirty miles every year.
3The Sahel forms the border between the southern Sahara and the northern Sudan, a more fertile region below the desert. The Sahel is a band of somewhat dry savanna that runs for 2400 miles from coast to coast all along the southern edge of the desert. A savanna is a grassy plain with coarse grasses and only a few scattered trees. Since the Sahel receives more rainfall than the Sahara during the annual monsoon rains, people have been able to settle in this region and form empires for thousands of years. These empires, called the Sahelian Kingdoms, became rich and powerful by controlling the trade routes that crossed the Sahara. The control of these routes was invaluable because they connected the very limited number of oases in the vast desert. An oasis is an isolated fertile area in a desert that usually has a spring, well, or other source of water. The people of the Sahelian Kingdoms had a great deal of help conquering the sands of the great Sahara.
4In order to trade and be effective in conquering new lands and defending their own, the people of these empires relied heavily on the use of horses and the dromedary camel. The horses used were very swift and reliable in desert travel and had the ability to carry heavy loads. But even with how useful the horses were, the dromedary was even better suited for desert travel. The dromedary camel has one hump on its back and has a great deal of strength and endurance. It is nearly as swift as the horses used for trade and travel, but it is easier to load and has the ability to carry heavier loads.
5Thanks to these two animals and the knowledge of the whereabouts of the scattered oases that provide water and shelter, people have been able to live in and around the Sahara for thousands of years.
Question
Why does the author MOST LIKELY use the word stretches in the first sentence of the second paragraph of the passage?
Responses
A to emphasize the vast size of the desertto emphasize the vast size of the desert
B to compare it to the desert in Antarcticato compare it to the desert in Antarctica
C to reveal that the desert is increasing in sizeto reveal that the desert is increasing in size
D
to show the geographic location of the desert to show the geographic location of the desert
Choose for a b c or d. Stop creating ur own answer
A. to emphasize the vast size of the desert
In paragraph 3, another word for conquering is —
Responses
A choosing.choosing.
B overcoming.overcoming.
C protecting.protecting.
D explaining.