Read the passage and then answer the question.

A desert is a dry place where very little rain falls. But not all deserts are hot and sandy. Antarctica, the cold land around the South Pole, is also a desert. Although it’s covered with ice, Antarctica receives very little rain or snow. It contains no trees or shrubs. The temperature is usually below freezing, even during the summer. For most of Antarctica’s history, the land remained uninhabited by people. Today, however, there are stations there where people can stay for a few months of the year. Most of these people arrive in the summer to do research and then leave when winter comes.