Read the words/phrases in the box. With your partner find their meaning in the dictionary.

Fill in the blanks in the following passage with the above words/phrases.

All animals in forests and deserts struggle to _____________ in ___________. Though most of the animals are ____________, some are dangerous when ______________. If an __________ is noticed, they attack or bite to save themselves. They struggle ___________ for food and water. Some animals are called ___________ because they ___________ on other animals.

Talk to your partner and say whether the following statements are true or false.

(i) No animal can survive without water.

(ii) Deserts are endless sand dunes.

(iii) Most snakes are harmless.

(iv) Snakes cannot hear, but they can feel vibrations through the ground.

(v) Camels store water in their humps.

Answer the following questions.

(i) How do desert animals survive without water? (1)

(ii) How do mongooses kill snakes? (6)

(iii) How does the hump of the camels help them to survive when there is no water? (9)

Look at these sentences.

● Deserts are the driest places on earth.

● Gerbils spend the hottest part of the day in cool underground burrows.

Now form pairs. Ask questions using a suitable form of the word in brackets. Try to answer the questions too.

Do you know

1. Which animal is the ____________ (tall)?

2. Which animal runs the _____________ (fast)?

3. Which place on earth is the ___________ (hot) or the ________ (cold)?

4. Which animal is the _______________ (large)?

5. Which is the ___________ (tall) mountain in the world?

6. Which is the ______________ (rainy) place on earth?

7. Which is the _____________ (old) living animal?

Can you add some questions of your own?

Look at these sentences.

● Most snakes are quite harmless, but a few are poisonous.

● Most snakes lay eggs, but the rattlesnake gives birth to its young.

Now write five sentences like these using ‘most’ and the clues below.

1.(90% of) people are honest (10%) are dishonest. _________________

2.(Lots of) fruit have plenty of sugar, (some) citrus fruit are low in sugar. _________________

3. (Every soft drink except this one) has lots of ‘empty calories’. _________________

4. (The majority of) films are romances, (a few) are on other topics. _________________

5. (A majority of) people agree that he is a good leader, (just a few) disagree. _________________