A New Role for Livestock Guard Dogs IELTS Reading Answers with Explanation

“A New Role for Livestock Guard Dogs” is Passage 3 of Cambridge IELTS 20 Academic Reading Test 4. This page gives the answers for Questions 27–40 with a short explanation of why each answer is right, so you can check your work and learn from every mistake. The question types are: Matching Information, Matching Features, Summary Completion.

Quick answers: Questions 27–40

Question	Answer
27	D
28	G
29	B
30	C
31	B
32	D
33	E
34	B
35	C
36	A
37	jackals
38	diseases
39	food
40	foxes

Questions 27–31: Matching Information

Q	Question	Answer	Why
27	A predator that guard dogs have helped protect	D	This information is found in paragraph D.
28	An optimistic view of future uses of guard dogs	G	This information is found in paragraph G.
29	How guard dogs' behaviour deters predators	B	This information is found in paragraph B.
30	Several academics say guard dogs protect herds well	C	This information is found in paragraph C.
31	How guard dogs acquire their skills	B	This information is found in paragraph B.

Questions 32–36: Matching Features

Q	Question	Answer	Why
32	Dogs may protect both livestock and wild animals	D	The passage links this point to: D.
33	Reported changes in predator-killing may be inaccurate	E	The passage links this point to: E.
34	Problems if few farmers use guard dogs	B	The passage links this point to: B.
35	Dogs are the best protection if properly managed	C	The passage links this point to: C.
36	Training differs from training a house guard dog	A	The passage links this point to: A.

Questions 37–40: Summary Completion

Q	Question	Answer	Why
37	Predator whose deaths increased in Namibia: ___	jackals	Use exactly this wording from the passage, within the word limit.
38	Possible effect of dogs on other species: ___	diseases	Use exactly this wording from the passage, within the word limit.
39	Resource that wild carnivores may lose to dogs: ___	food	Use exactly this wording from the passage, within the word limit.
40	Predators that raid ground-nesting birds: ___	foxes	Use exactly this wording from the passage, within the word limit.

Tips for these question types

• Matching information: find the paragraph that contains the idea, not the same words. The same letter can be used more than once.
• Matching features: underline the names or terms first, then scan for them in the passage.
• Completion tasks: check the word limit and the grammar of the gap before you write the answer exactly as it appears in the passage.
• Review every mistake. Find the exact sentence in the passage that proves the answer so you can spot the same trap next time.

FAQ

How many questions does this passage have? A New Role for Livestock Guard Dogs covers Questions 27–40, which is 14 questions.

Where is this passage from? It is Reading Passage 3 in Cambridge IELTS 20, Academic Test 4.

How should I use these answers? Attempt the passage under timed conditions first, then check your answers here and read the reason for every mistake.

Cambridge IELTS 20 Reading Test 4: all passages
Part 1: Georgia O’Keeffe  |  Part 2: Adapting to the Effects of Climate Change  |  Part 3: A New Role for Livestock Guard Dogs (you are here)

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