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Academic Reading Sample Task - Table Completion

1) Dung beetles are introduced into cow pastures by releasing handfuls of approximately 1,500 beetles into fresh cow patties, where they burrow underground. 2) Different species of dung beetles originate from different places and have varying sizes, burrowing behaviors, and climate preferences. 3) To ensure dung is buried year-round, farms need a variety of species that are active at different times, with the French and Spanish species commonly used together in cooler Australian climates.

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147 views

Academic Reading Sample Task - Table Completion

1) Dung beetles are introduced into cow pastures by releasing handfuls of approximately 1,500 beetles into fresh cow patties, where they burrow underground. 2) Different species of dung beetles originate from different places and have varying sizes, burrowing behaviors, and climate preferences. 3) To ensure dung is buried year-round, farms need a variety of species that are active at different times, with the French and Spanish species commonly used together in cooler Australian climates.

Uploaded by

Pipe Castaño
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Academic Reading sample task – Table completion

[Note: This is an extract from an Academic Reading passage on the subject of


dung beetles. The text preceding this extract gave some background facts about
dung beetles, and went on to describe a decision to introduce non-native varieties
to Australia.]
1
Introducing dung beetles into a pasture is a simple process: approximately 1,500
2
beetles are released, a handful at a time, into fresh cow pats in the cow pasture. The
beetles immediately disappear beneath the pats digging and tunnelling and, if they
successfully adapt to their new environment, soon become a permanent, self-
sustaining part of the local ecology. In time they multiply and within three or four
years the benefits to the pasture are obvious.

Dung beetles work from the inside of the pat so they are sheltered from predators
such as birds and foxes. Most species burrow into the soil and bury dung in tunnels
directly underneath the pats, which are hollowed out from within. Some large species
originating from France excavate tunnels to a depth of approximately 30 cm below
the dung pat. These beetles make sausage-shaped brood chambers along the tunnels.
The shallowest tunnels belong to a much smaller Spanish species that buries dung in
chambers that hang like fruit from the branches of a pear tree. South African beetles
dig narrow tunnels of approximately 20 cm below the surface of the pat. Some
surface-dwelling beetles, including a South African species, cut perfectly-shaped
balls from the pat, which are rolled away and attached to the bases of plants.

For maximum dung burial in spring, summer and autumn, farmers require a variety of
species with overlapping periods of activity. In the cooler environments of the state of
Victoria, the large French species (2.5 cms long), is matched with smaller (half this
size), temperate-climate Spanish species. The former are slow to recover from the
winter cold and produce only one or two generations of offspring from late spring
until autumn. The latter, which multiply rapidly in early spring, produce two to five
generations annually. The South African ball-rolling species, being a sub-tropical
beetle, prefers the climate of northern and coastal New South Wales where it
commonly works with the South African tunneling species. In warmer climates, many
species are active for longer periods of the year.

Glossary
1. dung: the droppings or excreta of animals

2. cow pats: droppings of cows


Academic Reading sample task – Table completion

Question 9 – 13

Complete the table below.

Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the passage for each answer.

Write your answers in boxes 9-13 on your answer sheet.

Number of
Preferred Complementary Start of active
Species Size generations
climate species period
per year

French 2.5 cm cool Spanish late spring 1-2

Spanish 1.25 cm 9 temperate 10 late spring 11 2-5

South African 12 sub-


tropical 13 south african
ball roller
Academic Reading sample task – Table completion

Answers:

9 temperate
10 early spring
11 two to five / 2-5
12 sub-tropical
13 South African tunneling/tunnelling

Alternative answers are separated by a slash (/).

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