Wild Africa - Deserts 浩瀚沙漠 - 13
But this hasn't always been so. Over the last 15 million years, Africa's climate has repeatedly swung from wet to dry and back again as Ice Ages have come and gone.
At times the Kalahari has been much drier than it is today, its sands stretching as far as the equator, linking it with the largest desert in the world--the Sahara.
Covering 9 million square kilometers , the Sahara is so vast, the whole of Australia could comfortably fit into it. It is bleak 1, inhospitable, and compared to Southern Africa's deserts, very new. Few animals have had time to get to grips with this mighty 2 wilderness 3, a place where only the hardiest 4 can get by. Scimitar-horned oryx are true desert nomads 5 , wandering for hundreds of miles across the Sahara in search of sparse 6 shrubs 7. They've lived long enough in other dry regions of Africa to tackle the hardships of this fierce young desert.
Oryx are unusual among antelopes 8 in that females have horns as long as males. They use these formidable weapons to aggressively deter 9 outsiders from joining their group, especially, when food is limited. Scimitar-horned oryx are among a handful of tough African mammals able to cope with the Sahara. Only one other creature is tougher.
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fit into:适合
get to grips with : 认真处理
Scimitar-horned oryx：弯角剑羚
deter:to prevent or discourage someone from doing something by making it difficult for them to do it or by threatening bad results if they do it. 阻止，威慑
- They showed me into a bleak waiting room.他们引我来到一间阴冷的会客室。
- The company's prospects look pretty bleak.这家公司的前景异常暗淡。
- A mighty force was about to break loose.一股巨大的力量即将迸发而出。
- The mighty iceberg came into view.巨大的冰山出现在眼前。
- She drove the herd of cattle through the wilderness.她赶着牛群穿过荒野。
- Education in the wilderness is not a matter of monetary means.荒凉地区的教育不是钱财问题。
- This trip will season even the hardiest traveller. 这个旅行会让最坚硬的旅行者适应。
- For ten years she dwelled among the nomads of North America. 她在北美游牧民中生活了十年。
- Nomads have inhabited this region for thousands of years. 游牧民族在这地区居住已有数千年了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
- The teacher's house is in the suburb where the houses are sparse.老师的家在郊区，那里稀稀拉拉有几处房子。
- The sparse vegetation will only feed a small population of animals.稀疏的植物只够喂养少量的动物。
- The gardener spent a complete morning in trimming those two shrubs. 园丁花了整个上午的时间修剪那两处灌木林。
- These shrubs will need more light to produce flowering shoots. 这些灌木需要更多的光照才能抽出开花的新枝。
- One jump, and you're out, and we'll run for it like antelopes.' 你只要一跳就出来了，我们可以像羚羊那样飞快地逃掉。”
- Most antelopes can withhold their young for weeks, even months. 绝大部分羚羊能把分娩期推迟几个星期，甚至几个月。