Distantly related to the larger, better-known black-and-white giant panda, the red panda is a mere creature found in the mountains of Nepal, Myanmar, and central China.

The red panda is dwarfed by the black-and-white giant that shares its name. These pandas typically grow to the size of a house cat, though their big, bushy tails add an additional 46 centimeters. They use their ringed tails as wraparound blankets in the cold mountain heights.

The red panda shares the giant panda’s rainy, high-altitude forest habitat, but has a wider range. Red pandas live in the mountains of Nepal and northern Myanmar, as well as in central China.

These animals spend most of their lives in trees and even sleep aloft. When hunting, they are most active at night as well as in the hours ofdusk and dawn.

Red pandas have a taste for bamboo but, unlike their larger relatives, they eat many other foods as well — fruit, acorns, roots, and eggs. Like giant pandas, they have an extended wrist bone that functions almost like a thumb (拇指) and greatly aids their grasp.

They are shy and alone except when mating. Females give birth in the spring and summer, typically to one to four young. Young red pandas remain in their nests for about 90 days, during which time their mother cares for them. Males take little or no interest in their young babies.

The red panda has given scientists taxonomic (分类的) fits. It has been classified as a relative of the giant panda, and also of the raccoon, with whichitshares a ringed tail. Currently, red pandas are considered members of their own unique family — the Ailuridae.

Red pandas are endangered, victims of deforestation. Their natural space is shrinking as more and more forests are destroyed by logging and the spread of agriculture.

【小题1】Which of the following best describes the red panda?

A．Big and bushy.	B．Particular about food.
C．Active in the day.	D．Hard to fit into a category.

【小题2】How can we easily tell a red panda from a giant panda?

A．By their size.	B．By their habitat.
C．By the way they hunt.	D．By their wrist bone.

【小题3】What does the underlined word“it”in Paragraph 7 refer to?

A．The raccoon.	B．The red panda.
C．The giant panda.	D．The taxonomic fit.

【小题4】What is the purpose of the text?

A．To compare a variety of pandas.

B．To explain the classification of pandas.

C．To raise awareness of protecting wildlife.

D．To make an introduction to a unique animal.