30 ARTICLES FOR READING - B1 AND B2 LEVEL
THE GIANT PANDA
The giant panda is a bear that lives in central China. It is special because of its black and
white fur. Pandas belong to the most endangered species of our world. About 2000
pandas live in the wilderness, 300 live in various zoos around the world.
Recently, there have been campaigns in many countries to save the giant panda. It has
been driven away from its natural habitat because of deforestation, intensive farming
and the creation of new settlements.
The giant panda can reach a height of up to 1.5 metres and weigh up to 150 kg. Pandas
have bodies like bears, but scientists do not know why they grow a black and white fur.
The thick fur keeps them warm during the cold winter months and the white
colour protects them from possible enemies in the snow-covered mountains in which
they live. Pandas have large teeth, which they need to eat bamboo, their basic food. The
animals can eat up to 15 kg of bamboo a day. Because it is low in nutritional value it does
not give pandas much energy to move around for longer periods of time. They spend most
of the day roaming around and looking for food and water
Giant pandas can live up to 20 years in the wilderness and 30 years in zoos. They
start reproducing between 4 and 8 years of age. Mothers carry their babies in their bodies
for a period of 3 to 5 months. When panda cubs are born they are blind. They are
extremely tiny, only about a thousandth the size of the mother. Like all mammals, they get
their food from their mother, whom they stay with for one and a half to three years before
being able to survive alone.
Pandas have a low birth rate. When a female gives birth to two pandas, only one
normally survives. In her lifetime, a female may give birth to 5 to 8 cubs a year. They are
in danger of dying out completely because their living space is becoming smaller. Giant
pandas have been hunted for centuries, mainly because of their soft fur.
Pandas have been an important species throughout history. They first became known in
the western world during the middle of the 19th century. In the 1960s, the
Chinese government realized it had to do something to protect the giant pandas. Since
then they have set up 40 reserves in which the animals are protected. In the 1970s, pandas
played a part in the opening of Communist China to the west. They were sold to zoos in
other countries.
Today, about 45 pandas live in zoos outside China. The first one arrived in New York in
1937. Zoologists are putting millions of dollars into breeding the animals in captivity.
When they get older they may be released again into their natural habitat.
Words
• bamboo= a tall tropical plant that is hollow inside
• basic = necessary
• birth rate = the number of babies based on the whole population
• breed = to keep animals in order to produce new ones with special qualities 32
• campaign = movement , actions that are carried out by people
• captivity = here: kept in a cage
TELEGRAM: @MULTILEVELTOP COMPILED BY MOKHIDA KHAKIMOVA
30 ARTICLES FOR READING - B1 AND B2 LEVEL
• completely =totally
• creation = make something new
• cub = baby animal
• deforestation = cut or burn down trees in an area
• drive away = here: to make them leave
• endangered species = group of animals or plants that are in danger of dying out
completely
• enemy = not your friend; here: animals that want to hurt them
• fur = the thick soft hair of an animal
• government = people who rule a country
• habitat = living area
• height = how high something is
• lifetime = during your whole life
• mainly = mostly
• mammal = type of animal that drinks milk from its mother’s body when it is small
• nutritional value = substances in the food that help you stay healthy
• opening = the beginning of …
• period = time
• protect = defend, guard, to keep safe from
• realize = understand
• recently = a short time ago
• release = set free
• reproduce = to have babies
• reserve = an area of land where plants and animals are protected
• roam = wander around
• scientist = a person who is trained in science and works in a laboratory
• settlement = place where people build new houses and start to live
• size = how big something is
• species = group of animals or plants that are alike
• survive = to stay alive
• throughout = all of
• tiny = very small
• various = different
• weigh = how heavy something is 33
• wilderness = area of land that has never been developed or farmed
• zoologist = scientist who studies animals and the way they behave
TELEGRAM: @MULTILEVELTOP COMPILED BY MOKHIDA KHAKIMOVA