The Camel
The camel can go without water for a long
time. Some people think it stores water in its hump.
This is not true. It stores food in its hump. The camel's body changes the food
into fat. Then it stores the fat in its hump. It cannot store the fat all
over its body. Fat all over an animal's body keeps the animal warm.
Camels live in the desert. They do not want to be warm during the
day.
The desert is very hot. The camel gets hotter and hotter
during the day. It stores this heat in its body because the
nights are cool.
The Arabian camel has one hump. The Bactrian camel of Central Asia has two
humps. It also has long thick hair because the
winters are cold in Central Asia.
There is a lot of sand in the desert. The
camel has long eyelashes. Then the sand cannot go into the
camel's eyes.
Arabic has about 150 words
to describe a camel. Arabs need all these words because the camel
is very important to them.
Photo credit: The Camel
Put the right word in the blanks. The sentences are from the text.
all over during eyelashes hump
also cool thick desert
stores camel describe winters
sand about fat heat
1. Arabic has _____________________ 150 words to ____________________________ a camel.
2. The ____________________ can go without water for a long time.
3. The camel has long _______________________.
4. Some people think it ________________________ water in its_____________.
5. Camels live in the _______________________ .
6. It ________________________ has long, _______________________ hair because the winters are cold in Central Asia.
7. It cannot store the fat _____________________ its body.
8. It stores this __________________ in its body because the nights are _____________________.
B Vocabulary (new context)
Put the right word in the blanks. These are new sentences for the same words.
also winters about hotter
camels cool heat desert
during food all over describe
hump eyelashes thick store
1. We ___________________________ milk, fruit, and vegetables in the refrigerator.
2. Fall is _________________ in Canada. Winter is cold. Winter is ____________cold in Russia.
3. Can you ________________________an elephant? What does it look like?
4. There are different animals ______________________the world.
5. Some camels have one _____________________ and some have two.
6. Some people have long ______________________by their eyes.
7. It does not rain very much in the ________________________.
8. Mark’s engineering textbook is very ____________________it has more than 1,000 pages.
9. We cook food with ____________________from a stove.
10. Not money Arabs ride on _______________________________Now they use cars.
11. Tom is _________________________________ 25 years old. Maybe he is 24 or 27.
C Questions
1. Where do camels live?
2. What does a camel store in its hump?
3. The camel doesn’t store fat all over its body. Why?
4. Why does it store heat during the day?
5. Which camel has one hump? Which has two?
6. Why does a Bactrian camel have long, thick hair?
7. Why does a camel need long eyelashes?
8. Why does Arabic have 150 words to describe a camel?
D Comprehension
Put a circle around the letter of the best answer.
1. The camel can go without _______for a long time.
a. food c. fat
b. water d. hear
2. It some ___________in its hump.
a. water c. food
b. hear d. hair
3. The _________ camel has one hump.
a. Arabian b. Bactrian
4. Long ________keep sand out of the camel’s eyes.
a. thick hair c. eyelashes
b. humps d. ears
5. The Bactrian camel has long, thick hair because _________.
a. It lives in a hot desert c. winters are cold in Central Asia
b. It stores fat in its hump d. the sand gets in its eyes
E Main Idea
Circle the number of the main idea of the text.
1. There are two kinds of camels.
2. The camel has a good body for life in the desert.
3. The camel stores food in its hump.
EmoticonEmoticon