Academic/General Training Module by Adam Smith First Published in 2015

 
 

---

 IELTS
 JOURNAL 
 
85 
Diagram Label Completion Activity 
Sample Task 
 
Questions 6 – 8 
 
Label the tunnels on the diagram below using words from the box. 
 
Write your answers in boxes 6-8 on your answer sheet. 
 
 
Dung Beetle Types 
 
French
Spanish 
Mediterranean
South African 
Australian native
South African ball roller 
 
 
[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 nonnative varieties to 
Australia.] 
 
Introducing dung
1
beetles into a pasture is a simple process: approximately 1,500 
beetles are released, a handful at a time, into fresh cow pats
2
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 

---

 IELTS
 JOURNAL 
 
86 
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.