Nature · Level 2 · 186 words

The Cactus and the Rain

Original passage © Studio AM, written for Fluency.

The saguaro is the tall cactus of the Sonoran Desert, in Arizona and northern Mexico. Rain there is rare, and it arrives in short, heavy storms. A plant that cannot use that water within a few hours will not get another chance for months.

The saguaro is built for those hours. Its roots are shallow, but they spread out wide, reaching about as far from the plant as the plant is tall. They sit just under the surface, where the first rain lands. When a storm passes, the roots drink fast.

The body of the cactus is folded like an accordion. As water comes in, the folds open and the trunk grows thicker. A large saguaro full of water can weigh more than a ton. In the dry months the folds close again, and the plant stands thin.

Everything else about the saguaro is slow. It may need ten years to grow as tall as your thumb, and fifty years or more before its first arm appears. A patient plant can live more than a hundred and fifty years in a place where nothing is easy.

Comprehension questions

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4 questions
1. Which sentence best states the main idea?

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C. The saguaro is built to catch rare rain quickly and then live slowly on it.
The passage pairs two ideas: fast collection during the short storms, and a slow life between them. The other choices contradict the text, which says the roots are shallow and growth is slow.

2. How far do the roots of a saguaro spread?

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A. about as far from the plant as the plant is tall
Paragraph two states the comparison directly. The text also says the roots are shallow, which rules out the deep answer.

3. Why are shallow roots an advantage for this cactus?

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D. The rain comes in short storms, so the water is near the surface and must be taken quickly.
The passage says storms are short and the roots sit where the first rain lands. Shallow roots reach that water before it is lost. Wind, rivers and temperature are never mentioned.

4. In this passage, "rare" means

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B. not happening often
The next sentences explain the word: rain arrives in short storms, and then there is no more for months. So "rare" here is about how seldom it happens.

Source: Written for Fluency. Original passage © Studio AM, written for Fluency.