Section B

1b Listen and check (√) the numbers you hear.

Do you have any questions about baby pandas?

Are they much smaller than an adult panda?

Yes. When they're born, they only weigh about 0.1 to 0.2 kilos.

Wow, that's small!

I know an adult panda weighs many times more than a baby.

That's right. And the adult pandas weigh around 100 kilos.

What about the size of a baby panda?

How small is it?

At birth, it's only around 15 cm long, but an adult panda is around 150 cm long.

Is a baby panda also black and white?

No, you would never guess!

A baby panda is pink and it cannot see.

It also doesn't have any teeth.

How long can pandas live?

They can live up to 20 to 30 years.

1c Listen again and complete the sentences.

Do you have any questions about baby pandas?

Are they much smaller than an adult panda?

Yes. When they're born, they only weigh about 0. 1 to 0. 2 kilos.

Wow, that's small!

I know an adult panda weighs many times more than a baby.

That's right. And the adult pandas weigh around 100 kilos.

What about the size of a baby panda?

How small is it?

At birth, it's only around 15 cm long, but an adult panda is around 150 cm long.

Is a baby panda also black and white?

No, you would never guess!

A baby panda is pink and it cannot see.

It also doesn't have any teeth.

How long can pandas live?

They can live up to 20 to 30 years.

2b Scan the article to find out what these numbers mean: 10, 12, 200, 2, 000. It is 8: 30 a. m. at the Chengdu Research Base. Lin Wei and the other panda keepers are preparing the milk for the baby pandas' breakfast. At 9: 00 a. m., they find that most of the babies are already awake and hungry. When the babies see the keepers, they run over with excitement and some of them even walk into their friends and fall over! 

"They're so cute and lovely. I take care of them like they're my own babies. I wash, feed and play with them every day. They're very special to me. 

" Lin Wei loves her job, but it is a difficult one. 

Pandas do not have many babies, maybe only one every two years. The babies often die from illnesses and do not live very long. Adult pandas spend more than 12 hours a day eating about 10 kilos of bamboo. Many years ago, there were a lot more bamboo forests and pandas in China, but then humans started to cut down the forests. Scientists say there are now fewer than 2, 000 pandas living in the remaining forests. Another 200 or so live in zoos or research centers in China and other countries. 

An education program in Chengdu teaches children in cities about pandas and other endangered animals. They send people to schools to tell children about the importance of saving these animals. The children sing songs or make artwork about pandas and other wild animals. Teaching children is one way to help save pandas. The Chinese government is also planting more bamboo trees so there will be more forests for pandas to live in. We all hope that in the future there will be a lot more pandas than now.