雅思阅读真题（Part 3）

Moving and singing sand dunes

会移动会唱歌的沙丘

本篇也叫：会唱歌的沙丘、鸣沙、响沙、移动沙丘、barchan沙丘、新月形沙丘

Part 3 · 最近考试：2026.10.24苏州大学

本篇为雅思阅读真题（Part 3）《Moving and singing sand dunes》，共 14 题，2026.10.24苏州大学雅思考试真题回忆，页面提供完整原文、题目、答案与解析，并支持在线机考模式免费练习。本页同时提供 Markdown 版本 供 AI 助手与搜索引擎直接读取。

文章大意

文章介绍沙漠中能移动并发出声响的沙丘，重点讲解新月形沙丘（barchan）如何在一维风作用下保持形态移动，并提及英国探险家Bagnold对沙粒运动机制的解释，以及沙丘对石油设施和铁路的威胁。

题目原文

Things don't come much stranger than heaps of sand that can move and sing of their own accord. Sally Palmer investigates.

 

A 

Armies of giant sand dunes are advancing across the world's deserts, engulfing anything that crosses their path. They are tens of metres tall and hundreds of metres long. Fortunately, they aren't going very fast. Even the smallest, speediest dunes only travel about 100 metres over the course of a year, while the bigger ones, which weigh something in the order of 10,000 tonnes, barely move one metre in that time. However, their insidious creep can have serious consequences if there is an oil installation or a railway line in their path.

 

B 

About 47% of the world's land mass, including Antarctica, most of Australia and large areas of Africa, is classified as arid or semi-arid desert. Only around 20% of that is sand-covered, however, and over half of that is classified as 'linear' sand dunes. These form in a long curving wave, as a result of wind blowing strongly from several quarters, flipping them from side to side. Although linear dunes are static, sand blowing off them can cause problems for desert villages, burying crops and buildings.

 

C 

Moving dunes make up just a small percentage of the rest, but they are the most interest to scientists. They are known as 'barchans': heavy, crescent-shaped sand piles with a ridged crest and two elongated arms, one curving away to either side. 'Barchan dunes only tend to form where you have one-directional winds on the edge of sandy deserts near coastal areas,' says Giles Wiggs, a geomorphologist at Oxford University, who has been studying the formation and movement of sand dunes for more than a decade.

 

D 

But even with strong winds, how can entire barchans move while retaining their form? That question was first answered in the mid-20th century by British explorer Ralph Alger Bagnold, and his answer hinges on the fact that dunes aren't solid, but granular. Bagnold figured out how barchan dunes are able to move and gain by grain. Imagine a single grain of sand being blown up the back of a dune by the wind and deposited on the top. More grains follow the same pattern, until the accumulated weight of piled-up sand finally pushes the top down the dune face. The grain tumbles, then stops on the face until subsequent mini-avalanche bury it. Eventually, it reappears at the back of the dune, ready to repeat the process. As this happens to every grain of sand in the dune, the whole thing creeps in the direction of the prevailing wind.

 

E 

The relationship between the wind and barchan dunes is complex. As a dune grows, it modifies the speed and course of the wind, which in turn alters how that dune and its neighbours evolve. 'Interestingly the dune can regulate its own shape, and maintain it as it moves,' says Dr Stéphane Douady, a physicist at École Normale Supérieure (ENS) in France. 'Even when two dunes collide, they quickly take on their distinctive shapes again. It's like a living organism.'

 

F 

Douady and his colleagues have also been studying an even odder phenomenon than moving dunes: some barchans actually sing. Local legends attribute the sounds to dangerous spirits which were trying to trap unwary travellers. Douady is more pragmatic. 'It's a strong booming noise with a low frequency,' he explains, making a noise like a foghorn to demonstrate. 'It can last for a long time – up to several minutes. It's a very loud sound and you don't understand where it's coming from when you first hear it.' There are about 50 dunes distributed across 35 deserts round the world that are known to sing. Douady says the sound is caused by the way sand avalanches down the faces of particular dunes. Rather than tumbling randomly, the sand grains flow in synchrony and set each other vibrating like the membrane on a gigantic loudspeaker. The synchronisation causes the air to move in and out between the grains, creating a powerful sound wave.

 

G 

What really surprised the scientists, however, was that they were able to take samples of the singing sand back to France and replicate the sound at the ENS, proving that it's the sand, not the dune shape, that causes the sound. Their study show the grains are a uniform shape, well-rounded from years of striking each other, and that the variations in size affect the tone. Crucially, the grains are coated with a special veneer, which Douady calls 'desert glaze', made from a precise combination of minerals from surrounding rocks including iron, aluminium, manganese, silicon and calcium. The team found that after a month or so, the veneer wore off and the grains lost their 'voice'. 'We managed to reproduce the desert glaze and then the grains started to sing again,' says Douady. 'We tried putting the coating onto different sand, but they weren't round enough and it didn't work. But some American colleagues made some artificial grains and managed to make them sing, after covering them in desert glaze.' Douady has now made recordings of dunesong from all over the world which is to be made into a CD.

想在线练习这套卷子？进入机考练习

题目与答案

  1. Paragraph A
    • Moving rapidly across the desert
    • Recreating the process in a laboratory
    • Strange music created by human movement
    • A potential threat to industry and communications
    • Dunes coming together and re-forming
    • Needing a specific combination of conditions

    答案：A potential threat to industry and communications

    原文定位：However, their insidious creep can have serious consequences if there is an oil installation or a railway line in their path

    同义替换：「potential threat」↔「can have serious consequences」，「industry」↔「oil installation」，「communications」↔「railway line」

  2. Paragraph B
    • Moving rapidly across the desert
    • Recreating the process in a laboratory
    • Strange music created by human movement
    • A potential threat to industry and communications
    • Dunes coming together and re-forming
    • Needing a specific combination of conditions

    答案：The commonest type of dune

    原文定位：Only around 20% of that is sand‑covered, however, and over half of that is classified as 'linear' sand dunes

    同义替换：「commonest」↔「over half of」

  3. Paragraph C
    • Moving rapidly across the desert
    • Recreating the process in a laboratory
    • Strange music created by human movement
    • A potential threat to industry and communications
    • Dunes coming together and re-forming
    • Needing a specific combination of conditions

    答案：Needing a specific combination of conditions

    原文定位：Barchan dunes only tend to form where you have one‑directional winds on the edge of sandy deserts near coastal areas,' says Giles Wiggs, a geomorphologist at Oxford University

    同义替换：「Needing a specific combination of conditions」↔「only tend to form where you have」

  4. Paragraph D
    • Moving rapidly across the desert
    • Recreating the process in a laboratory
    • Strange music created by human movement
    • A potential threat to industry and communications
    • Dunes coming together and re-forming
    • Needing a specific combination of conditions

    答案：A continuous cycle

    原文定位：Imagine a single grain of sand being blown up the back of a dune by the wind and deposited on the top;Eventually, it reappears at the back of the dune, ready to repeat the process

    同义替换：「A continuous cycle」↔「ready to repeat the process」

  5. Paragraph E
    • Moving rapidly across the desert
    • Recreating the process in a laboratory
    • Strange music created by human movement
    • A potential threat to industry and communications
    • Dunes coming together and re-forming
    • Needing a specific combination of conditions

    答案：Dunes coming together and re-forming

    原文定位：Interestingly the dune can regulate its own shape, and maintain it as it moves,' says Dr Stéphane Douady;Even when two dunes collide, they quickly take on their distinctive shapes again. It's like a living organism

    同义替换：「Dunes coming together」↔「two dunes collide」，「and re‑forming」↔「quickly take on their distinctive shapes again」

  6. Paragraph F
    • Moving rapidly across the desert
    • Recreating the process in a laboratory
    • Strange music created by human movement
    • A potential threat to industry and communications
    • Dunes coming together and re-forming
    • Needing a specific combination of conditions

    答案：Old superstitions demystified

    原文定位：Local legends attribute the sounds to dangerous spirits which were trying to trap unwary travellers. Douady is more pragmatic. 'It's a strong booming noise with a low frequency,' he explains;Douady says the sound is caused by the way sand avalanches down the faces of particular dunes

    同义替换：「Old superstitions」↔「Local legends attribute the sounds to dangerous spirits」，「demystified」↔「the sound is caused by the way sand avalanches down the faces of particular dunes」

  7. Paragraph G
    • Moving rapidly across the desert
    • Recreating the process in a laboratory
    • Strange music created by human movement
    • A potential threat to industry and communications
    • Dunes coming together and re-forming
    • Needing a specific combination of conditions

    答案：Recreating the process in a laboratory

    原文定位：What really surprised the scientists, however, was that they were able to take samples of the singing sand back to France and replicate the sound at the ENS, proving that it's the sand, not the dune shape, that causes the sound

    同义替换：「Recreating the process」↔「replicate the sound」，「in a laboratory」↔「at the ENS」

  8. 34 What are we told about linear dunes?
    • They are formed by strong winds blowing from one direction.
    • They can move up to 100 metres in a twelve-month period.
    • They develop in a recognisable shape.
    • They make up about 20% of the world's deserts.

    答案：They develop in a recognisable shape.

    原文定位：These form in a long curving wave, as a result of wind blowing strongly from several quarters, flipping them from side to side. Although linear dunes are static, sand blowing off them can cause problems for desert villages, burying crops and buildings

    同义替换：「linear dunes」↔「linear sand dunes」，「They develop in a recognisable shape」↔「form in a long curving wave」

  9. 35 Bagnold discovered that movement in barchans was caused by
    • the long straight shape of the dunes.
    • the particular composition of the dunes.
    • the exceptionally heavy nature of the sand grains.
    • the unusual strength of the wind in certain seasons.

    答案：the particular composition of the dunes.

    原文定位：That question was first answered in the mid‑20th century by British explorer Ralph Alger Bagnold, and his answer hinges on the fact that dunes aren't solid, but granular. Bagnold figured out how barchan dunes are able to move grain by grain

    同义替换：「Bagnold」↔「Ralph Alger Bagnold」，「movement in barchans」↔「how barchan dunes are able to move」

  10. 36 Why does Dr Douady compare a barchan dune to a living organism?
    • It starts small and then increases in size.
    • It has an effect on its immediate surroundings.
    • Its relations with desert organisms are quite developed.
    • Its outline stays the same even after a period of movement.

    答案：Its outline stays the same even after a period of movement.

    原文定位：Interestingly the dune can regulate its own shape, and maintain it as it moves,' says Dr Stéphane Douady;Even when two dunes collide, they quickly take on their distinctive shapes again. It's like a living organism

    同义替换：「compare a barchan dune to a living organism」↔「It's like a living organism」

  11. Singing dunes
    Singing dunes, which belong to the type of dunes known as 37_____ , produce a very loud sound which is transmitted at a low frequency. Researchers have worked out that sand grains fall down the dune and start vibrating against other grains, forming a sound wave.

    答案：barchans

    原文定位：Moving dunes make up just a small percentage of the rest, but they are the most interest to scientists. They are known as 'barchans;some barchans actually sing

    同义替换：「Singing dunes」↔「some barchans actually sing」，「known as」↔「known as」

  12. Research proves that the individual grains have a similar 38_____

    答案：shape

    原文定位：Their study show the grains are a uniform shape, well‑rounded from years of striking each other, and that the variations in size affect the tone

    同义替换：「grains」↔「grains」，「have a similar」↔「a uniform shape」

  13. but that the differences in dimensions alter the 39_____ of the 'song'.

    答案：tone

    原文定位：Their study show the grains are a uniform shape, well‑rounded from years of striking each other, and that the variations in size affect the tone

    同义替换：「differences in dimensions」↔「variations in size」，「alter」↔「affect」，「song」↔「tone」

  14. Each grain is covered with a mixture of different 40_____ and this is vital to the sound production.

    答案：minerals

    原文定位：Crucially, the grains are coated with a special veneer, which Douady calls 'desert glaze', made from a precise combination of minerals from surrounding rocks including iron, aluminium, manganese, silicon and calcium

    同义替换：「Each grain is covered with」↔「the grains are coated with」，「a mixture of different」↔「a precise combination of」，「this is vital to the sound production」↔「Crucially」

相关雅思阅读真题

去机考系统练习这篇真题 →