Here we have given NCERT Solutions for Class 7 English Alien Hand Chapter 3 The Desert.
Chapter 3 The Desert
About the Chapter:
A desert is generally a place without water and vegetation. The popular belief is that it is an area of endless sand with no greenery, dry, hot and without shade. But this belief is not all correct. The desert can be a beautiful place, a home of many people, animals and plants. When it rains, desert owers bloom. A desert is not just a sandy wasteland. It may have mountains and even a greenland, called oasis. An oasis takes shape around a spring or well. A desert may be hot like the Thar or cold like Ladakh. Strong winds raise heaps of sand and deposit them as mounds. These are called sand dunes.
All living things including plants and animals, need water to survive. But desert creatures and plants require less water than green land plants. Camels can do without water for days together. The reason is that they sweat very little. Human beings sweat when it gets hot. The sweat cools the body. Camels can stand high body temperature. The smaller desert plants, such as cactus store water in their thick stems. They quickly absorb moisture even from the light rains. The major feature of all deserts is dryness and variations in temperature. Since there is no moisture in the air, the desert heats up repidly during the day and also cools off rapidly at night. Deserts have their own importance. They are part of nature’s plan. One should not call them useless.
Chapter 3 The Desert Part-1
- A desert is generally without water and vegetation.
- A green patch with fresh water and green trees in the middle of a vast desert is a beautiful sight.
- A desert may be too hot or too cold.
[THOSE of us who live in regions covered with forests and surrounded by hills may find it difficult to imagine what a desert is really like. The popular belief is that it is an endless stretch of sand where no rain falls and, therefore, no vegetation grows. It is dry, hot, waterless and without shelter. But this is not entirely correct. For those who have studied it, the desert can be a beautiful place. It is the home of a variety of people, animals and plants that have learnt to live under very hot and dry conditions.]
[True, the ground is not always hidden by a cover of grass, plants and trees as it is in other climates. But whenever it rains, which is rare, desert flowers bloom and the sight can be as rewarding as that of any tropical garden. A desert is not always a flat, unchanging wasteland of dry sand. It may have mountains and hills. It may have an oasis, big or small. An oasis is like a green island in the middle of a desert where a spring or a well gives plants and trees a better chance to grow. A desert may be hot like the Thar or cold like Ladakh. But, generally speaking, if a place has little or no water and vegetation, people usually call it a desert.]
[Some deserts are almost totally without water. In such places, strong winds blow raising heaps of sand and depositing them as mounds. These are called ‘sand dunes’ that shift and move endlessly across the desert. Few plants can survive on such dry, shifting sands.]
Comprehension Check: 1
1. From the first paragraph
(i) pick out two phrases which describe the desert as most people believe it is;
(ii) pick out two phrases which describe the desert as specialists see it. Which do you think is an apt description, and why?
Ans: (i)
“dry, hot, waterless and without shelter”
“a flat, unchanging wasteland of dry sand”
Ans: (ii)
“a beautiful place”
“a home of variety of people, animals and plants”
The description of the desert as specialists see it is more apt as their description is based on actual studies, and not just on beliefs and presumptions (guess= अनुमान).
2. The phrases on the left in the following box occur in the text. Match each of them with a phrase on the right.
(i) an endless stretch of sand …….. fertile place with water and plants in a desert
(ii) waterless and without shelter ………. not visible because the grass is thick
(iii) an oasis ……. nothing but sand as far as one can see
(iv) hidden by a cover of grass ……. no water and no shade
Ans:
(i) an endless stretch of sand ……. nothing but sand as far as one can see
(ii) waterless and without shelter …….. no water and no shade
(iii) an oasis …….. fertile place with water and plants in a desert
(iv) hidden by a cover of grass …….. not visible because the grass is thick
Chapter 3 The Desert Part-2
[All living things need water in order to survive. The few plants and animals that live in deserts have developed the ability to require less water than most plants and animals. The camel, popularly known as the ‘ship of the desert’, can drink a lot of water at one time. Camels can do without water for days together. The reason is they sweat very little. We sweat because we must keep our body temperature constant. We sweat when it gets hot, and this cools the body. Camels can stand high body temperature. They don’t need to sweat and can, therefore, retain the water they drink for long periods of time.]
[The smaller desert animals do not drink water. They burrow underground during the hot day and come out at night to eat. Some of them eat other animals and get the water they need from the moisture in the meat. Others eat plants and seeds and get the water they need from plant juices.]
Desert plants also adapt themselves to the life they lead. Cactus plants store water in their thick stems. Their roots lie close to the surface of the ground and quickly absorb the moisture from the light rains that occasionally fall. The major feature of all deserts is, of course, dryness and variations of temperature. In humid climates, the moisture in the air acts like a blanket and protects the earth’s surface from the hot rays of the sun. The absence of this blanket in desertlands causes the desert to heat up rapidly during the day and to cool off rapidly at night.]
Glossary:
Burrow: move underground by digging
Moisture: wetness
Adapt: change
Absorb: take in completely
[Deserts are an important part of nature’s great plan. They are there like the dense forests and the deep oceans. Just because they are hot and dry, one should not look upon them as useless parts of the earth.]
Comprehension Check: 2
Q1. A camel can do without water for days together. What is the reason given in the text?
Ans: Camels can stand high body temperature. They don’t need to sweat and can, therefore, retain the water they drink for long periods of time.
Q2. How do the smaller desert animals fulfil their need for water?
Ans: The smaller desert animals do not drink water. They burrow underground during the hot day and come out at night to eat. Some of them eat other animals and get the water they need from the moisture in the meat. Others eat plants and seeds and get the water they need from plant juices.
Q3. In a desert the temperature rises during the day and falls rapidly at night. Why?
Ans: In humid climates, the moisture in the air acts like a blanket and protects the earth’s surface from the hot rays of the sun. The absence of this blanket in desert landscauses the desert to heat up rapidly during the day and to cool off rapidly at night.
I hope that you would have enjoyed NCERT Solutions for Class 7 English An Alien Hand Chapter 3 The Desert. If you have any query regarding this chapter, please feel free to get in touch with me through comment box or social media and I assure you to resolve all your queries related to the topic as soon as possible.
