Unit 9: DESERTS
READING

Before you read
* Work in pairs. Ask and answer the following questions.
1. What do you know about deserts?
They are the large area of sand without tree and water,
but with severe climates, very hot during the day and
very cold at night. There is very little rainfall there; very
few people and animals except for in oases.

2. What kinds of plants and animals live in a desert?
Plants: cacti, date palm, grass, etc.

Animals: Camels, snake, lizard, etc.

3. Name some of the countries which have deserts?
Australia, Mongolia, the USA and North Africa

New words and phrases
1. Aerial survey ( n) ['eəriəl
2. Royal Geographical
Society of Australia ( n)

1. Tr¾c l­îng trªn
kh«ng
2. Héi §Þa lý
Hoµng gia óc

3. Australian Aborigine

3. Thæ d©n óc

4. Dune ( n) [dju:n]
5. Spinifex ( n) ['spainəfeks]

4. Cån c¸t
5. Cá l¸ nhän

'sə:vei]

['rɔiəl dʒiə'græfikəl sə'saiəti
əv ɔs'treiljə]

( n) [ɔs'treiljən ,æbə'ridʒini:z]

TASK 1

Match the words in A with their Vietnamese equivalents in B.

A

B

1. Stretch (n/ v) [stret∫]

a. Dèc thoai tho¶i

2. Sandy ( adj) ['sændi]

b. Dèc ®øng

3. Sloping ( adj) ['sloupiη]

c. Cã c¸t

4. Steep [sti:p]

d. D¶i ®Êt/ kÐo c¨ng

5. Hummock ( n) ['hʌmək]

e. §Ønh ( gß, ®èng)

6. Crest ( n) [krest]

f. Gß, ®èng

1. d

2. c

3. a

4. b

5. f

6. e

Aerial survey

Australian aborigines

dunes

Spinifex

TASK 2 Decide whether the statements are True ( T), False ( F) or No
Information ( N.I)

No

Statements

T

F

1

According to the passage, there are three
great deserts in Australia.



2

The Simpson Desert is the largest one in
Australia.



3

The desert was named after Simpson in
1929.

4

Colson and Madigan travelled across the
Simpson Desert in 1936.

5

There are more dunes in the western part of
the desert.

6

Dry salt lakes are in the northern part of the
desert.







Paragraph 1

Three great stretches of sandy desert
almost circle the centre of Australia. To the
north of Nullabor Plain stretches the Great
Victoria Desert. In the west, the Gibbon,
Great Sandy, and Tanami Deserts
comprise an enormous sandy area. North
of Lake Eyre lies the Simpson Desert, the
last part of Australia to be explored

Paragraph 2
The Simpson desert lies between Lake Eyre in the
south, the Macdonnel Ranges in the north, the
Mulligan and the Diamantina Rivers in the east,
and the Macumba and Finke Rivers in the west.
The first European entered the Simpson Desert in
1845. But the desert remained a mystery until
Madigan made an aerial survey
in 1929. He
named the desert after Simpson, President of the
South Australian Branch of the Royal
Geographical Society of Australia.

Paragraph 3
In 1936, Colson and an Australian
Aborigine took camels across the desert.
They travelled along the border of South
Australia and the Northern Territory.
Three years later Madigan led a scientific
expedition across the sand dunes on a
mote northerly route. Colson and Madigan
both travelled eastward across the
Simpson Desert.

Paragraph 4
In the Simpson Desert there are
different types of dunes. In the western
part of the desert, there is a network of
short dunes, mostly less than 10 metres
high. Hummock grasses grow in loose
sand on the crest and spinifex grows in the
corridors between dunes and on the more
stable slopes.

Paragraph 5
In the northern part of the desert, the
dunes are parallel and separated by
corridors of low, open shrubland. Spinifex
grows on the slopes of the dunes. These
dunes are deep red – brown, but the sand
is pale in the area where Queensland,
South Australia and Northern Territory
meet. Dry salt lakes up to 70kilometres
long and 15 kilometres wide lie between
long dunes with crests 20 metres high.

TASK 3
Answer the following questions
1. What are the names of the three great stretches of
sandy deserts which circle the centre of Australia?
2. Where is the Simpson Desert?
3. When did the first European enter the desert?
4. Who was Simpson?
5. How did E.A Colson and an Australian aborigine travel
across the desert?
6. What are the dunes like in the western and northern
parts of the desert?
7. How many kinds of grass grow in the Simpson Desert?
What are they?

Game
 Each group takes turns to choose a question.
 For each question you will have three choices A,
B or C for the answer.
 Whistle to have the right to answer in 12
seconds.
 Raise the card to get the 2 points.
 The turn is passed to the other group if the first
one has a wrong answer. They will get 1 point if
the answer is correct.

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

1. What are the names of the three great

stretches of sandy deserts which circle
the centre of Australia?
A.
B.

C.

The Great Victoria Desert, Tanami
Deserts and the Simpson Desert.
the Simpson Desert,The Great
Victoria Desert, the Gibbon, Great
Sandy and Tanami Deserts
The Great Victoria Desert, the
Gibbon, and Tanami Deserts and
the Simpson Desert.

2. Where is the Simpson Desert?

A. In the north of Lake Eyre
B. In the west of the centre
C. To the north of Nullabor Plain

3. When did the first European
enter the desert?

A. In 1945
B. In 1854
C. In 1845

4. Who was Simpson?
A.
B.

C.

He was the president of the Royal
Geographical Society of Australia.
He was the president of the South
Australia Branch of the Royal
Geographical Society of Australia.
He was the president of the North
Australia Branch of the Royal
Geographical Society of Australia.

5
How did E.A Colson and an Australian
aborigine travel across the desert?
A.They traveled across the desert by camels.
B.They drove across the desert.
C. They flown across the desert.

6. What are the dunes like in the western
and northern parts of the desert?
In the western part, they are
---------, mostly less than 10 metres
high, and in the northern part, they
are -------- and are up to 20
metres high.
A. parallel/ short
B. short/ parallel
C. parallel/ long

7. How many kinds of grass grow in the
Simpson Desert? What are they?
Two kinds of grass grow in the
Simpson Desert. They are
________________.
A.hummock grass and spinifex
B.hummock grass and cacti
C.cacti and spinifex

Homework
• Learn the new words and phrase
• Read the funny story in textbook
page 99
• Prepare for the next lesson : Unit 9
Deserts - Speaking

Thank you