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Bonobo Kanzi Shows Apes Can Pretend (Level A1) — A chimpan sitting on the ground looking at the camera

Bonobo Kanzi Shows Apes Can PretendCEFR A1

13 Feb 2026

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Adapted from Johns Hopkins University, Futurity • CC BY 4.0

Photo by Omar Ramadan, Unsplash

Level A1 – Beginner
2 min
72 words
  • A bonobo can play pretend and imagine things sometimes.
  • Scientists studied a friendly bonobo in careful tests recently.
  • They used clear cups and a pretend pitcher together.
  • The bonobo often pointed to the pretend cup first.
  • He chose real juice when asked for drink carefully.
  • He showed he knew pretend objects were not real.
  • Researchers saw the bonobo imagine grapes inside jars too.
  • The team will test other animals in future studies.

Difficult words

  • pretend — act like something is real when it is not
  • imagine — make a picture in your mind
  • scientist — person who studies nature or animals
    Scientists
  • careful — doing something with attention and care
  • choose — pick one thing from two or more
    chose
  • object — a thing you can see or touch
    objects
  • jar — a round glass container for food
    jars

Tip: hover, focus or tap highlighted words in the article to see quick definitions while you read or listen.

Discussion questions

  • Do you like to play pretend?
  • Have you ever pretended an object was real?
  • Have you seen an animal act like this?

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