你见过“沙漠飞雪”的奇观吗？

                                                                                                  

It's quite a time for the strange weather, and it does not get much stranger than snow falling in one of the hottest places in the world.
On Sunday morning, Ain Sefra, a desert town in Algeria known as the "Gateway to the Sahara", experienced a large amount of snow for reportedly the third time in 40 years. Some reports say parts of the area got as deep as 15 inches of snow, but Ain Sefra officially reported less than one inch in some places. Some people are very excited about it. It was strange enough to provide some very special pictures from an area that usually sees some of the hottest temperatures on earth during the summer.
Now, it's common for the temperature across even the hottest of deserts to drop tens of degrees Farenheit at night, meaning any unusual snow could stay there around for a while. But photographers at the scene said the snow actually stayed intact(完好的) for a good portion of the day.
"We were really surprised when we woke up to see snow again," photographer Karim Bouchetata told Shutterstock. "It stayed all day on Sunday and began melting at around 5 p.m." While snow is not often falling down in the desert area, a similar snow phenomenon?happened just last year. Before that, it had been 37 years since Ain Sefra's last snowfall.

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1.What is the passage mainly about?

A It snowed in one of the hottest places in the world.

B The strange weather will make people much happier.

C Algeria is known as the “Gateway to the Sahara”.

D Which place is considered as the hottest place in the world.

解析：选A。主旨大意题。本文主要讲述了在非洲撒哈拉沙漠的一个地方下雪了的故事。故选A。

2.Why do some people feel excited?

A The snow was one inch in some places.

B They never experienced the heavy snow.

C They could take some wonderful pictures.

D They know nothing good about Ain Sefra.

解析：选C。细节理解题。根据文章第二段最后一句的 It was strange enough to provide some very special pictures from an area that usually sees some of the hottest temperatures on earth during the summer.可以得知能够在炎热的地区看到雪，并且能够拍摄一些照片，让那些人感到激动。故选C。

3.Why can the snow stay for a while?

A It is the hottest of deserts.

B The temperature becomes low.

C The snow falls in summer.

D It is unusual to snow.

解析：选B。细节理解题。根据第三段第一句的Now, it's common for the temperature across even the hottest of deserts to drop tens of degrees Farenheit at night可以得知是气温低，雪才不融化的。故选B。

4.What made Karim Bouchetata surprised?

A The snow didn’t melt until 5 p.m. on Sunday.

B The snow was often seen in the desert area.

C The snow phenomenon?happened last month.

D People couldn’t see snow during the night.

解析：选A。细节理解题。根据文章最后一段第一句的We were really surprised when we woke up to see snow again可以得知在这么热的地方，雪能到第二天还不融化，这令他很吃惊。故选A。