Buddy, the Red Panda – A2 English Reading Test

Buddy, the Red Panda

Buddy and his brother, Rusty, are red pandas. They were born on 15 June 2013 and have lived in their own cage at London Nature Centre since 2015. Wild red pandas live in India, China and other Asian countries, but experts think that there are only about 2,500 still living in the wild.

Luckily, a lot of zoos and wildlife parks around the world are trying to protect the red panda. They have to eat special food called ‘bamboo’ which is difficult to buy, so there are over 50 bamboo plants growing at the Nature Centre for the pandas.

Just a few months after the pandas arrived at the Nature Centre, a terrible thing happened – Buddy got out of the Nature Centre. He was very clever though because he stayed close to home, and away from the traffic on the city’s crowded roads. It took four days for the workers of the Nature Centre to find him!

One of the people who worked at the Nature Centre and who went to look for Buddy was Trudy Andrews. Trudy’s father, Mr Andrews, told her that birds don’t like being too close to animals like red pandas and they’ll make a lot of noise to keep the panda away. He told her to look for Buddy up in the trees. Trudy heard some birds and looked up and saw Buddy there, just like her father explained.

Everyone was very happy when Buddy arrived back safely, especially Rusty! He happily shared some bamboo with his brother, who looked tired and was very hungry.

1   Buddy and Rusty

      A   lived in China.

      B   were born on the same day.

      C   live together with other pandas.

2   The Nature Centre

      A   has to buy special food for the red pandas.

      B   gives the red pandas about 50 different types of food.

      C   grows bamboo for the red pandas.

3   Buddy was lost

      A   for less than a week.

      B   far away from the Nature Centre.

      C   with his brother, Rusty.

4   Mr Andrews

      A   found Buddy in a tree.

      B   worked at the Nature Centre.

      C   knew how to find Buddy.

5   When Buddy arrived back home.

      A   he gave his brother some food.

      B   his brother wasn’t very happy.

      C   he had a meal with Rusty.