UNIT
4 The longer read
Living
in the desert
When people think of the desert, they
think of hot, dry weather with lots of sun.
But some deserts are also very cold. For
example, in the Mojave Desert in the
south-west of the USA, the average low
temperature in winter is about −1 °C, but
in summer the average high temperature
is about 34 °C. It often snows in the colder
months. The Gobi Desert in northern China
and southern Mongolia in Asia is even
colder than the Mojave Desert. Because
it is very windy there, the temperature
can fall to around −40 °C. It is one of the
coldest places on Earth in the winter! So,
people who live in these kinds of deserts
need special houses. It is important for
their houses to be cool in summer but
warm in winter.
In some deserts, like the Gobi, people
live in yurts, which are large round
Influence 1 · © Macmillan Education Limited 2020 · Your Influence A2
tents. Because they are round, the
wind goes around the yurt. So the
yurts are good in windy weather. In the
desert regions of the USA, such as in
New Mexico, houses are traditionally
made of adobe. This is a special type
of material made of earth. It’s a good
material because it helps the house
to be cool in summer. These kinds of
houses have thick walls, too. They are
usually not wooden because wood
isn’t good in hot weather. Wood is also
dangerous in dry weather because of
the risk of fire. The roof is often made of
metal. It needs to be strong because of
the desert wind.
Windows in desert houses are usually
smaller and darker than normal houses.
If the windows are dark, the sun does not
come into the house. Desert houses are
often light colours like white or cream.
This is because light colours reflect
heat and stop it coming into the house.
Sometimes desert houses can be the
colours of the desert, like yellow or brown.
The roof is sometimes pink, like the sky in
the morning or evening.
The weather in the desert is very
extreme. The most important thing is
that these houses can last for a long
time. So, they need to be stronger than
normal houses.
 UNIT

4 The longer read

4 Word work Match the definitions to the

Subskill: Understanding the main idea
Sometimes more than one idea is
mentioned in a text. Think about which
idea is the most important. This is
usually the main idea.
1 Read the text quickly. All of the ideas below
are mentioned. Which one is the main
idea? Choose the correct option.
a A description of the desert climate
b Colours of desert homes
c What desert homes are like
underlined words in the text.
1 make something go back the same way
it came
2 the thing that trees are made of
3 something hard, like gold or silver
4 you look through these to see outside
5 this is in the ground and helps plants grow
6 something you use to make things
5 Would you like to stay in a desert home?
Why/Why not?

2 Read the text again and complete the

summary with the words from the box.
cool freezing hot strong warm
Deserts can be very 1 in
summer but 2 in winter. So,
people in deserts need special houses.
These houses need to stay 3
in summer and 4 in winter.
They also need to be 5
because of the desert wind.

3 Are the sentences T (true) or F (false)?

1 The Gobi Desert is colder than
the Mojave Desert. T/F
2 Wood is a good material for
desert houses. T/F
3 It is important to have a strong
roof on a desert house. T/F
4 The windows of desert houses
are different to normal houses. T/F
5 Desert houses are light colours
because they make the house warm. T/F

Influence 1 · © Macmillan Education Limited 2020 · Your Influence A2