IELTS Reading Practice Test
How deserts are formed?
A
A. A desert refers to a barren section of land, mainly in arid and semi-arid areas, where there is almost no precipitation, and the environment is hostile for any creature to inhabit. Deserts have been classified in a number of ways, generally combining total precipitation, how many days the rainfall occurs, temperature, humidity, and sometimes additional factors. In some places, deserts have clear boundaries marked by rivers, mountains or other landforms, while in other places, there are no clear-cut borders between desert and other landscape features.
B
B. In arid areas where there is not any covering of vegetation protecting the land, sand anddust storms will frequently take place. This phenomenon often occurs along the desert margins instead of within the deserts, where there are already no finer materials left. When a steady wind starts to blow, fine particles on the open ground will begin vibrating. As the wind picks up, some of the particles are lifted into the air. When they fall onto the ground, they hit other particles which will then be jerked into the air in their turn, initiating a chain reaction.
C
C. There has been a tremendous deal of publicity on how severe desertification can be, but the academic circle has never agreed on the causes of desertification. A common misunderstanding is that a shortage of precipitation causes the desertification— even the land in some barren areas will soon recover after the rain falls. In fact, more often than not, human activities are responsible for desertification. It might be true that the explosion in world population, especially in developing countries, is the primary cause of soil degradation and desertification. Since the population has become denser, the cultivation of crops has gone into progressively drier areas. It’s especially possible for these regions to go through periods of severe drought, which explains why crop failures are common. The raising of most crops requires the natural vegetation cover to be removed first; when crop failures occur, extensive tracts of land are devoid of a plant cover and thus susceptible to wind and water erosion. All through the 1990s, dryland areas went through a population growth of 18.5 per cent, mostly in severely impoverished developing countries.
D
D. Livestock farming in semi-arid areas accelerates the erosion of soil and becomes one of the reasons for advancing desertification. In such areas where the vegetation is dominated by grasses, the breeding of livestock is a major economic activity. Grasses are necessary for anchoring barren topsoil in a dryland area. When a specific field is used to graze an excessive herd, it will experience a loss in vegetation coverage, and the soil will be trampled as well as be pulverised, leaving the topsoil exposed to destructive erosion elements such as winds and unexpected thunderstorms. For centuries, nomads have grazed their flocks and herds to any place where pasture can be found, and oases have offered chances for a more settled way of living. For some nomads, wherever they move to, the desert follows.
E
E. Trees are of great importance when it comes to maintaining topsoil and slowing down the wind speed. In many Asian countries, firewood is the chief fuel used for cooking and heating, which has caused uncontrolled clear-cutting of forests in dryland ecosystems. When too many trees are cut down, windstorms and dust storms tend to occur.
F
F. What’s worse, even political conflicts and wars can also contribute to desertification. To escape from the invading enemies, the refugees will move altogether into some of the most vulnerable ecosystems on the planet. They bring along their cultivation traditions, which might not be the right kind of practice for their new settlement.
G
G. In the 20th century, one of the states of America had a large section of farmland that had turned into desert. Since then, actions have been enforced so that such a phenomenon of desertification will not happen again. To avoid the reoccurring of desertification, people shall find other livelihoods which do not rely on traditional land uses, are not as demanding on local land and natural resource, but can still generate viable income. Such livelihoods include but are not limited to dryland aquaculture for the raising of fish, crustaceans and industrial compounds derived from microalgae, greenhouse agriculture, and activities that are related to tourism. Another way to prevent the reoccurring of desertification is bringing about economic prospects in the city centres of drylands and places outside drylands. Changing the general economic and institutional structures that generate new chances for people to support themselves would alleviate the current pressures accompanying the desertification processes.
H
H. In nowadays society, new technologies are serving as a method to resolve the problems brought by desertification. Satellites have been utilised to investigate the influence that people and livestock have on our planet Earth. Nevertheless, it doesn’t mean that alternative technologies are not needed to help with the problems and process of desertification.
1
a reference to the irregular movement of particles
B
Paragraph B
ĐÁP ÁN & GIẢI THÍCH CÂU 1
Locate
Paraphrasing
Question: a reference to the irregular movement of particles
So sánh các cụm ở câu hỏi với bài đọc, ta có:
irregular movement = vibrating + lifted into the air + fall onto the ground + hit other particles + jerked into the air
particles = fine particles
Giải thích chi tiết
Áp dụng Linearthinking 
Đối với dạng Matching Information, nên làm cuối cùng sau khi đã làm các dạng câu hỏi khác, vì lúc này bạn đã phần nào nắm được bố cục bài đọc
=> có thể tìm info nhanh hơn.
Step 1: Imagine thứ cần tìm + xác định info trong bài:
'irregular movement' 🡪 để ý tìm đoạn mô tả có sử dụng nhiều động từ
=> Dựa vào từ khóa 'particles' và một loạt các động từ 'vibrating' + 'lifted into the air' ..., ta locate được info
Step 2: Phân tích info
Đoạn này có chứa nhiều từ lạ, có thể gây khó khăn cho việc hiểu hết nghĩa của đoạn.
Tuy nhiên, mặc dù ko hiểu hết nghĩa, ta vẫn có thể nhận ra đoạn này có sử dụng rất nhiều động từ khi miêu tả về fine particles bao gồm: vibrating + lifted into the air + fall onto the ground + hit other particles + jerked into the air
=> Có thể đoán rằng những động từ này đang miêu tả chuyển động của particles
=> Tóm lại, đoạn này chứa info cần tìm -> Chọn B 
Lưu ý
- Nội dung giải thích được viết bởi DOL IELTS Đình Lực - Học Viện Tiếng Anh Tư Duy đầu tiên tại Việt Nam
- Đề được viết bởi nhà xuất bản lớn gồm Cambridge và Oxford