Synonym Practice

Below is a reading exercise to practise synonyms. As you know, being able to spot paraphrases and synonyms is essential in IELTS Reading. This lesson will help you develop skills which will improve your ability to tackle IELTS Reading questions successfully.

Reading Passage: Did Birds Evolve from Dinosaurs?

Evidence that birds evolved from, dinosaurs, the carnivorous predators that ruled the Mesozoic ecosystems, is plentiful. Traditionally, the prime source of evidence in support of this scientific view was the similar shape of the bones of birds but spectacular new discoveries have added other lines of evidence to the table. One of these involves a suite of features from the eggs of these dinosaurs. A host of fossils have shown that not only did maniraptoran dinosaurs resemble birds in the way they laid their eggs but that these eggs also looked like the eggs of birds. Another line of evidence involves fossils of animals in a brooding pose or in a resting postures also show a startling similarity with the behaviours we see among living birds. Yet, perhaps the most compelling new line of evidence comes from the discovery of soft tissues associated with the skeletons of these predatory dinosaurs, many fossils of these creatures are now known to have been covered by plumage. All this evidence has highlighted the fact that many features that were previously thought to be exclusively avian – from feathers to a wishbone – have now been discovered in the immediate dinosaur predecessor of birds. Even flight is likely to have been an attribute inherited by birds from their dinosaurian forebears! If the new wealth of fossils has clarified the old controversy of the origin of birds, many other fossils have provided a vivid testimony of the early phases of avian evolution. Hidden in these fossils are the clues to how birds perfected their flying abilities and how they evolved warm bloodedness.

Source: Article adapted from Natural History Museum

Questions 1-8: Find the following synonyms in the passage above. Answers come in order.

  1. meat-eating
  2. a group / set
  3. stance / position
  4. resemblance
  5. persuasive
  6. feathers
  7. ancestor
  8. characteristic / quality

Answers

The answers are available on the following page: click here Answers to Synonyms Practice Lesson

All the best

Liz

Note: This type of question does NOT come in the IELTS reading test. This is a practice lesson to help you review your knowledge of synonyms.

Comments

  1. are a paraphrase and synonym types of questions for the general reading test?

    • Synonyms practice lessons on my website are to help you develop skills needed to tackle IELTS questions. They are skills based lessons as well as language based lessons. I’ve just put information about this into the page above for clarification.

  2. Nancy Okeke Chidera says

    Please does it mean for paraphrasing, the questions come in order?
    Because I saw where you said X came before Y and, therefore, shouldn’t he the answer.

    • Paraphrasing is a skill, not a question type. All lessons for paraphrasing are only used for building skills – not for practising IELTS test questions.

  3. Thank you, i just fall in love with your teaching always.

  4. 1. carnivorous
    2. A host of
    3. posture/pose
    4. similarities
    5 compelling
    6.flight
    7. forebears
    8. attribute

  5. Carnivorous
    Suite
    Pose
    Similarity
    Compelling
    Plumage
    Forebears
    Attribute

  6. Suryandaru says

    1. Carnivorous
    2. Suite
    3. Postures
    4. Similarity
    5. Compelling
    6. Plumage
    7. Forebears
    8. Clues

  7. Samiksha Pandey says

    Hi,

    When we would get answers??

    Thanks
    Sam

  8. 1. Carnivorous
    2. Mesozoic
    3. In support
    4. Similarity
    5. Compelling
    6. Plumage
    7. Forebears
    8. Controversy

  9. 1. Carnivorous
    2. Suite
    3. Pose/Posture
    4. Similarity
    5. Compelling
    6. Plumage
    7. Predecessor
    8. Attribute/Feature

  10. 1. Carnivorous
    2. suite
    3. phase
    4. similarity
    5. compelling
    6.tissues
    7. predecessor
    8. attribute/ behaviour/ feature

  11. Emmanuel Frimpong says

    1. Carnivorous
    2. Suite
    3. Pose
    4. Similarity
    5. Compelling
    6. Plumage
    7. Forebears
    8. Attribute

  12. Farhana Aktar says

    1.Carnivorous
    2.School
    3.take place
    4.Similarity
    5.Motivating
    6.Plumage
    7.Forefather/seniour
    8.Trait

  13. 1) carnivorous
    2) suite
    3) pose/postures
    4) similarity
    5) compelling
    6) plumage
    7) early phases
    8) abilities

  14. Got my results for test taken on May 4 , Academic IELTS. Overall Band Score 8. Your lessons played a critical role in my achievement .Thanks Liz.

  15. 1, carnivorous
    2, mesozoic
    3, posture
    4, suite
    5, compelling
    6, plumage
    7, forebears
    8, features

  16. carnivorous
    suite
    posture
    similarity
    compelling
    plumage
    predecessor
    attribute

  17. 1. carnivorous
    2.suite
    3.pose/postures
    4.similarity
    5.compelling
    6.plumage
    7.forebears/predecessor
    8. attribute

  18. Carnivorous
    Suite
    Posture
    Similarity
    Compelling
    Plumage
    Predecessor
    Attribute

  19. Oduah onyinyechi says

    Meat-eating-carnivorous
    A group/set-suite
    Stance/position-view
    Resemblance-similarity
    Persuassive-compelling
    Feathers-plumage
    Ancestor-forebears
    Characteristic/qualitiy-attribute

    • 1. carnivorous
      2.suite
      3.pose/postures
      4.similarity
      5.compelling
      6.plumage
      7.forebears/predecessor
      8. attribute

  20. Hsio Ching says

    1. Carnivorous
    2. Suite
    3. Posture
    4. Similarity
    5. Compelling
    6. Plumage
    7. Predecessor
    8. Attribute

  21. Jihad Jabbouri says

    Jabbouri Jihad from Morocco:
    1-carnivorous
    2-shape
    3- view
    4- similarity
    5- compelling
    6- plumage
    7- forebears
    8- abilities

  22. Kolawole Vincent says

    Carnivorous
    Unit
    Posture
    Similarity
    Include action
    Plume
    Antecedent
    Feature

  23. 1. Carnivorous
    2. Suite
    3. Posture
    4. Similarity
    5. Compelling
    6. Plumage
    7. Predecessor
    8. Attribute

  24. Joann N. Baniago says

    1. Carnivorous
    2. Suite
    3. Posture
    4. Similarity
    5. Compelling
    6. Plumage
    7. Predecessor
    8. Attribute

  25. 1) Carnivorous
    2) a suite
    3) pose
    4) similarity
    5) compelling
    6) predecessor
    7) attribute

  26. 1. Carnivorous
    2. A host of
    3. Posture
    4. Similarity
    5. Evidence
    6. Plumage
    7. Predecessor
    8. Attribute

  27. 1. carnivorous
    2. host
    3. pose
    4. similarity
    5. compelling
    6. plumage
    7. forebears
    8. abilities

  28. meat-eating – carnivorous
    a group/set – suite
    stance/position – pose/posture
    resemblance – similarities
    persuasive – compelling
    feathers/plumage
    ancestors – predecessors/forebears
    characteristic/quality – abilities

  29. Anita B.K says

    1.carnivorous
    2.suite
    3.predecessor
    4.similarity
    5.vivid
    6.plumage
    7.forebear
    8.attribute

  30. 1. Carnivorous
    2. Host
    3. Pose
    4. Similarity
    5. Compelling
    6. Plumage
    7. Predecessor
    8. Attribute

  31. 1. carnivorous
    2. predators
    3. view
    4. similarity
    5. compelling
    6. plumage
    7. predecessor
    8. attribute

  32. Carnivorous
    Host
    pose
    similarity
    Compelling
    Plumage
    predecessor
    Features

  33. 1 carnivorous
    2. ecosystem
    3. pose/postures
    4. Similarity
    5. compelling
    6. plumage
    7. forebears
    8. ability

  34. 1. Carnivorous
    2. A host of fossils
    3. Brooding Pose / Resting Postures
    4. Similarities
    5. Compelling
    6. Plumage
    7
    8. Flying Abilities

  35. 1. Carnivorous
    2. Host of fossils
    3. In the way
    4. Looked like
    5. Compelling
    6. Plumage
    7. Predecessor
    8. Abilities

  36. 1- Carnivorous
    2-host
    3-posture
    4-similarity
    5-compelling
    6-plumage
    7-predecessor
    8-testimony

  37. 1. Predators
    2.Suite
    3.Posture
    4.Similarity
    5.Compelling
    6.Plumage
    7.Forebear
    8.Ability

  38. Misethical says

    Carnivorous
    Mesozoic
    View
    Similarity
    Compelling
    Plumage
    Predecessor
    Attribute

  39. 1- Carnivorous
    2-Predators/a suit
    3-posture
    4-similarity
    5-compelling
    6-plumage
    7-forebears
    8-attribute

  40. Meat Eating – Carnivorous
    a group of – a suite of
    stance / position – posture
    resemblance – similarity
    Persuasive – compelling
    feathers – plumage
    ancestors – predecessors
    characteristics – features

  41. Johnson Avith Crasta says

    1.CARNIVOROUS
    2.HOST
    3.POSE
    4.SIMILARITY
    5.COMPELLING
    6.PLUMAGE
    7.FOREBEARS
    8.ATTRIBUTE

  42. meat-eating- carnivorous
    a group / set- suite
    stance / position- fact
    resemblance- look alike
    persuasive- compelling
    feathers- plummage
    ancestor- forebears
    characteritics – Abilities

  43. Biju Achankutty says

    1. Carnivorous
    2. Suite
    3. Posture
    4. Similarity
    5. Compelling
    6. Plumage
    7. Forebear
    8. Attribute

  44. 1. carnivorous
    2. suite
    3. pose / posture
    4. similarity
    5. compelling
    6. plumage
    7. predecessor
    8. attribute

    Thanks google

  45. 1. carnivorous
    2. suite
    3. pose/posture
    4. similarity
    5. compelling
    6. plumage
    7. forbears
    8. features

  46. Jot kaur says

    Hello mam! Please check my answers
    1.Carnivorous
    2.Ecosystems/host
    3.Postures
    4.Similarity
    5.Compelling
    6.Plumage
    7.Predecessor
    8.Attribute

  47. 1, carnivorous
    2, suite
    3, postures
    4, similarity
    5, compelling
    6, plumage
    7, forebears
    8, wealth

  48. Sirajuddin says

    1.Carnivorous
    2.plentiful
    3.suite
    4.resemble
    5.compelling
    6.plumage
    7.predecessor
    8.attribute

  49. Amandeep Singh says

    Carnivorous
    a suite
    posture
    similarity
    compelling
    plumage
    predecessor
    attribute

  50. Rajan Patel says

    1. Carnivorous
    2. Suite
    3. Pose
    4. Similarity
    5. Compelling
    6. Plumage
    7. Forebear / predecessor
    8. Attribute / feature

  51. 1) Carnivorous
    2) a Suite
    3) pose/ posture
    4) similarity
    5) compelling
    6) plumage
    7) predecessor
    8) attribute/ abilities

  52. CARNIVOROUS
    BIRDS
    BROADING POSE
    ASSOCIATED
    EVIDENCE
    WISHBONE
    PREDECESSOR
    ATTRIBUTE

  53. Uma Aravind says

    1.carnivorous
    2.suite
    3.postures
    4.similarity
    5.Compelling
    6.plumage
    7.forebears
    8.abilities

  54. Shahzaib says

    1) Carnivorous
    2) suite
    3) posture
    4) looked like
    5) compelling
    6) soft tissues
    7) Predecessor
    8) attribute

  55. 1.cranivorous
    2.suite
    3.pose/posture
    4.tissue
    5.compelling
    6.plumge
    7.predecessor
    8.attribute

  56. Chidera Emmanuel Alajemba says

    1. CARNIVOROUS
    2. A HOST
    3. POSE/ POSITION
    4. SIMILARITY
    5. COMPELLING
    6. PLUMAGE
    7. PREDECESSOR
    8 ATTRIBUTE

  57. 1. carnivorous
    2. host
    3. posture
    4. similarity
    5. compelling
    6. plumage
    7. predecessor/ forebears
    8. attribute

  58. 1.meat eating – carnivorous
    2.a group – suite
    3. stance/ position-host
    4. resemblance- similarity
    5. persuasive- compelling
    6. feathers- plumage
    7. ancestor- predecessor , forebears
    8. characteristic/ quality – attribute

  59. rajesh k says

    Carnivorous
    host
    postures
    similarity
    avain
    forebears
    origin
    bloodedness

  60. Carnivorous
    A host/a suite
    Brooding pose/posture
    Similar
    Compelling
    Plumage
    Forebears
    Abilities/attributes

  61. 1. Carnivorous
    2. host
    3. pose
    4. startling similarities
    5. compelling
    6. forebear
    7. early phase/origin
    8. bloodedness/clues

  62. 1. CARNIVOROUS
    2. PREDATORS
    3. POSTURES
    4. SIMILARITY
    5. COMPELLING
    6. PLUMAGE
    7. FOREBEARS
    8. ATTRIBUTE

    • okafor franca says

      1. canivorious
      2. a host of
      3.pose
      4. similarity
      5. compelling
      6. avian
      7. predecessor
      8. attribute inherited

  63. Ija Junita says

    1. Meat- eating : carnivoelus
    2. a group / set : ecosystems
    3. stance / position : host
    4. resemblance : resemble
    5. persuative : compelling
    6. ancestor : forebear, predecessor
    7. characteristic / quality : feature

  64. 1. Carnivorous
    2. Suite
    3. Posture
    4. Similarity
    5. Compelling
    6. Plumage
    7. Predecessor
    8. Attribute

  65. Compelling =persuasive
    Support =stance

  66. Himali Vyas says

    1. Carnivorous
    2. Suite
    3. Pose
    4.Resemble
    5. Compelling
    6.Plumage
    7.Forebears
    7.Abilities

  67. 1. carnivorous
    2. suite
    3. posture
    4. similarity
    5. compelling
    6. soft tissues
    7. forebears
    8. abilities

  68. 1 carnivorous
    2 host
    3 brooding pose
    4 looked like
    5 compelling
    6 flight
    7 old controversy
    8 abilities

  69. 1-Carnivorous
    2-Suite
    3-Pose
    4-Similarity
    5-Compelling
    6-plumage
    7-Forebears
    8-Abilities

  70. carnivorous,
    suite
    brooding pose
    similarity
    compelling
    plumage
    predecessor
    attribute

  71. Abraham Ola says

    predator
    set
    position
    looked like
    compelling
    plumage
    predecessor
    feature

  72. Francesca Augustine says

    1- carnivororous
    2- host
    3- pose/posture
    4- similarity
    5- compelling
    6- plumage
    7- predecessor
    8- attribute

  73. 1.carnivourous
    2.suite
    3.brooding pose/resting posture
    4.looked like
    5.compelling
    6.plumage
    7.forebears
    8.attribute

  74. Prateek Madaan says

    1. meat-eating – carnivorous
    2. a group – suite
    3. stance/position – postures
    4. resemblance – similarity
    5. persuasive -compelling
    6. feathers – plumage
    7. ancestor – predecessor
    8. characteristic/ quality – attribute

  75. 1. Carnivorous predators
    2. Brooding pose
    3. Resting postures
    4. Features
    5. Compelling
    6. Plumage
    7. Forebears
    8. Attributes

  76. 1. Carnivorous
    2. Plentiful
    3. Posture
    4. Looked-like
    5. Compelling
    6. Plumage
    7. Forebears
    8. Attribute

  77. 1. carnivorous
    2. host
    3. posture
    4. similarity
    5. compelling
    6. plumage
    7. predecessor
    8. clues

  78. Mohammad umair akhtar says

    Carnivorous
    Suite
    Posture
    Similarity
    Compelling
    Soft tissues
    Forebears
    Abilities

  79. neha kohli says

    meat eating – carnivorous
    a group/set – plentiful
    stance/position – posture
    resemble – looked like
    persuasive – compelling
    feathers – plumage
    ancestors – forebears
    quality/characteristics – abilities

  80. 1. carnivorous
    2. suite
    3. brooding pose
    4.
    5.compelling new line of evidence
    6. soft tissues/plumage
    7.forebears
    8. abilities

  81. Carnivorous
    Predators
    Support
    Similar
    Compelling
    Plumage
    Predecessor
    Attribute

  82. Benjamin says

    1. Carnivorous
    2. Lines.
    3. Pose/posture
    4. Similarities
    5. Compelling
    6. Plumage
    7. Forebears
    8. Abilities

  83. Perpetual says

    1.carnivorous
    2.maniraptoran dinosaurs
    3.posture
    4.resemble
    5.compelling
    6.avian
    7.attribute
    8.features

  84. CLEMENTINE says

    1.carnivorous
    2. suite
    3. pose
    4. similarity
    5. compelling
    6. plumage
    7. predecessor
    8. attribute

  85. inimotimi says

    1. carnivorous
    2.suite
    3.pose/posture
    4.similarity
    5.compelling
    6.plumage
    7.forebears
    8.attribute

  86. 1 carnivorous
    2 suite
    3 pose
    4 similarity
    5 compelling
    6 plumage
    7 predecessor
    8 attribute

  87. 1 meat eating -Carnivorous
    2 a group- suite
    3 stance- posture
    4 resemblance- resemble
    5persuasive- compelling
    6feathers- plumage
    7ancestors- forebears
    8 characteristic – features

  88. Carnivorous
    suite
    Posture
    Similarity
    Compelling
    Plumage
    Predecessor
    Atttibute

  89. Subir Danda says

    1.Carnivorous
    2.Suite
    3.Pose/ posture
    4. Similar
    5.Compelling
    6.
    7.Predecessor
    8.Attribute

  90. Carnivorous
    Brooding
    Similar
    Compelling
    Plumage
    Forebears
    Attribute

  91. Carnivorous
    Host
    Similarity
    Compelling
    Plumage
    Forebears
    Attribute

  92. 1. Carnivorous
    2. A Suite
    3. Posture
    4. Similarity
    5. Compelling
    6. Plumage
    7. Forebear
    8. Controversy

  93. 1.carnivorous
    2.a host
    3. Posture
    4. Similarity
    5.compelling
    6.plumage
    7.origin
    8. Abilities

  94. 1.carnivorous
    2.a host
    3.pose
    4.looked like
    5.compelling
    6.plumage
    7.forebears
    8.attribute

  95. 1 Carnivorous
    2. Plentiful
    3.Posture
    4.Similarity
    5.Compelling
    6.Avian
    7.Forebear
    8.Attribute

  96. Carnivorous. A suite. Pose/posture. Similarity. Compelling. Plumage. Forebears. Attribute.

  97. Divya Choudhry says

    1. Carnivorous
    2. Ecosystems
    3. Evidence
    4. Features
    5. Compelling
    6. Plumage
    7. Forebears
    8. Attribute

  98. 1. Carnivorous
    2. A host
    3. Posture
    4. Looked like
    5. Wish bone
    6. Forebears
    7. Attribute

  99. Sneha Jattani says

    Answers to above given synonyms exercise are as follows:
    1. Carnivorous
    2. A host of
    3. Pose / posture
    4. Similarity
    5. Compelling
    6. Plumage
    7. Forebears
    8. Attribute

  100. 1)carnivorous (meat eating)
    2)suite (a group/set)
    3)pose/posture (stance/position)
    4)similarity (resemblance)
    5)compelling (persuasive)
    6) ——- (feathers)
    7)old (ancestor)
    8)ability (characteristic/quality)

  101. 1.Carnivorous
    2.similar shape
    3.
    4.looked like
    5.highlighted
    6.wishbone
    7.forebears
    8.Abilities

  102. Jaskaran says

    Carnivorous
    Suite
    Posture
    Similarity
    Compelling
    Plumage
    Forebears
    Abilities

  103. Carnivorous,
    Predators
    Postures
    Similarity
    Compelling
    Plumage
    Forbear
    Features

  104. 1.carnivorous
    2.mesozoic
    3.postures
    4.looked like
    5.compelling
    6.plumage
    7.forbearers
    8.abilities

  105. 1.Carnivorous
    2.Host
    3.Evidence
    4.Similarity
    5.Compelling
    6.Plumage
    7.Old
    8.Abilities

  106. 1. Carnivorous
    2. Host
    3.
    4. Similarity
    5. Compelling
    6. Plumage
    7. Predecessor
    8. Attribute

  107. 1. Carnivorous
    2. Suite
    3. Pose/ Posture
    4. Similarity
    5. Compelling
    6. Plumage
    7. Predecessor
    8. Attribute

  108. FAIZA NAZ says

    1. Carnivorous
    2. Suite
    3. posture
    4. similarity
    5. compelling
    6. plumage
    7. forebears
    8. abilities

  109. Mary Ann says

    1.carnivorous
    2. Mesozoic ecosystem
    3.pose /posture
    4. Similarity
    5. Evidence
    6. Avian
    7. Forebears
    8.warm bloodedness

  110. 1. Carnivorous
    2. Predators
    3. Evidence
    4. Similarity
    5. Compelling
    6. Avian
    7. Fossils
    8. Clues

  111. carnivorous
    suite
    pose
    startling similarity
    compelling
    plumage
    predecessor
    attribute

  112. Juan pablo says

    carnivorous
    a suite
    posture
    similarity
    compelling
    plumage
    predecessor
    attribute

  113. 1. Carnivorous
    2.predators
    3.evidence
    4.similarity
    5.compelling
    6.avian
    7.fossils
    8.clues

    • Bolanle Helen says

      1. carnivorous
      2. host
      3. pose
      4. similarity
      5. compelling
      6. plumage
      7. forebears
      8. attribute

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