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.

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Comments

  1. Hey dear Liz
    Thank you for all the great content.
    I’m a little confused about the first sentence; Evidence is singular and the verb is singular though the adjective used at the end is baffling to me; Plentiful is kind of shows quantities so why the subject and the verb are singlular?

    • I understand your concern. This is because you need to identify that the word “evidence” is an uncountable noun, which means you will use different adjectives. The words “a piece of evidence” is countable but that’s because the main noun in the phrase is “a piece” which is countable. Also, all uncountable nouns will use a singular third person verb “is”. So, I think the issue you face is your understanding of using uncountable noun. Now you know the issue to tackle, try researching the grammar around uncountable nouns. This page of mine might help: https://ieltsliz.com/uncountable-nouns-word-list/

  2. kiran says

    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.

  3. 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.

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

  5. nelly says

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

  6. Nada says

    Carnivorous
    Suite
    Pose
    Similarity
    Compelling
    Plumage
    Forebears
    Attribute

  7. Suryandaru says

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

  8. Samiksha Pandey says

    Hi,

    When we would get answers??

    Thanks
    Sam

  9. Cristy says

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

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

  11. Malika says

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

  12. Emmanuel Frimpong says

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

  13. Farhana Aktar says

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

  14. Kene says

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

  15. 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.

  16. Ernie says

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

  17. Azmina says

    carnivorous
    suite
    posture
    similarity
    compelling
    plumage
    predecessor
    attribute

  18. Rose Si says

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

  19. H.kaur says

    Carnivorous
    Suite
    Posture
    Similarity
    Compelling
    Plumage
    Predecessor
    Attribute

  20. Oduah onyinyechi says

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

    • Rose Si says

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

  21. Hsio Ching says

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

  22. Jihad Jabbouri says

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

  23. Kolawole Vincent says

    Carnivorous
    Unit
    Posture
    Similarity
    Include action
    Plume
    Antecedent
    Feature

  24. Joann says

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

  25. Joann N. Baniago says

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

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

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

  28. Esther says

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

  29. gee tee says

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

  30. Anita B.K says

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

  31. Laura says

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

  32. Beauty says

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

  33. Abbey says

    Carnivorous
    Host
    pose
    similarity
    Compelling
    Plumage
    predecessor
    Features

  34. Kemi says

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

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

  36. Luciana says

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

  37. PhaNaVa says

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

  38. Drashti says

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

  39. Misethical says

    Carnivorous
    Mesozoic
    View
    Similarity
    Compelling
    Plumage
    Predecessor
    Attribute

  40. yasmeen says

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

  41. Geetika says

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

  42. Johnson Avith Crasta says

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

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

  44. Biju Achankutty says

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

  45. Aliyyan says

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

    Thanks google

  46. Dina says

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

  47. 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

    • Elvis says

      1.carnivorous
      2 a suite
      3.view
      4.similarity
      5.startling
      6.plumage
      7.forebear
      8.attribute

  48. Tapiwa says

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

  49. Sirajuddin says

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

  50. Amandeep Singh says

    Carnivorous
    a suite
    posture
    similarity
    compelling
    plumage
    predecessor
    attribute

  51. Rajan Patel says

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

  52. krystal says

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

  53. CARNIVOROUS
    BIRDS
    BROADING POSE
    ASSOCIATED
    EVIDENCE
    WISHBONE
    PREDECESSOR
    ATTRIBUTE

  54. Uma Aravind says

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

  55. Shahzaib says

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

  56. soly says

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

  57. Chidera Emmanuel Alajemba says

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

  58. Mariam says

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

  59. Mariam says

    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

  60. rajesh k says

    Carnivorous
    host
    postures
    similarity
    avain
    forebears
    origin
    bloodedness

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

  62. klaw says

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

  63. 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

  64. 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

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

  66. TRESA says

    Compelling =persuasive
    Support =stance

  67. Himali Vyas says

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

  68. Eresha says

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

  69. 1 carnivorous
    2 host
    3 brooding pose
    4 looked like
    5 compelling
    6 flight
    7 old controversy
    8 abilities

  70. 1-Carnivorous
    2-Suite
    3-Pose
    4-Similarity
    5-Compelling
    6-plumage
    7-Forebears
    8-Abilities

  71. Sana says

    carnivorous,
    suite
    brooding pose
    similarity
    compelling
    plumage
    predecessor
    attribute

  72. Abraham Ola says

    predator
    set
    position
    looked like
    compelling
    plumage
    predecessor
    feature

  73. Francesca Augustine says

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

  74. SHANTI says

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

  75. 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

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

  77. Ejike says

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

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

  79. Mohammad umair akhtar says

    Carnivorous
    Suite
    Posture
    Similarity
    Compelling
    Soft tissues
    Forebears
    Abilities

  80. 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

  81. Karina says

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

  82. Carnivorous
    Predators
    Support
    Similar
    Compelling
    Plumage
    Predecessor
    Attribute

  83. Benjamin says

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

  84. Perpetual says

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

  85. CLEMENTINE says

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

  86. inimotimi says

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

  87. 1 carnivorous
    2 suite
    3 pose
    4 similarity
    5 compelling
    6 plumage
    7 predecessor
    8 attribute

  88. Luffy says

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

  89. Carnivorous
    suite
    Posture
    Similarity
    Compelling
    Plumage
    Predecessor
    Atttibute

  90. Subir Danda says

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

  91. Rubaba says

    Carnivorous
    Brooding
    Similar
    Compelling
    Plumage
    Forebears
    Attribute

  92. Rubaba says

    Carnivorous
    Host
    Similarity
    Compelling
    Plumage
    Forebears
    Attribute

  93. Jolie says

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

  94. Lola says

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

  95. bhagi says

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

  96. Mamata says

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

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

  98. Divya Choudhry says

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

    • Eze Jonas says

      Predator
      Fossil
      Posture
      Similarity
      Compelling
      Plumage
      Dinosaur
      Feature

  99. Agatha says

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

    • Agatha says

      2. A host of

    • Agatha says

      I. Carnivorous
      2. A host of
      3. Postures
      4. Looked like
      5. Most compelling
      6. Wish bone
      7. Forebears
      8. Attribute

      • Meat eating – Carnivore
        A group/set – Plentiful
        Stance/positions posture
        Resemblance – Similar
        Persuasive – Compelling
        Feathers – Wish bone/Flight
        Ancestors -Predecessors
        Characteristics/Quality – Features

  100. 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

  101. Yasoda says

    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)

  102. Sagun says

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

  103. Jaskaran says

    Carnivorous
    Suite
    Posture
    Similarity
    Compelling
    Plumage
    Forebears
    Abilities

  104. Grewal says

    Carnivorous,
    Predators
    Postures
    Similarity
    Compelling
    Plumage
    Forbear
    Features

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

  106. Julie says

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

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

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

  109. FAIZA NAZ says

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

  110. Mary Ann says

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

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

  112. Shyam says

    carnivorous
    suite
    pose
    startling similarity
    compelling
    plumage
    predecessor
    attribute

  113. Juan pablo says

    carnivorous
    a suite
    posture
    similarity
    compelling
    plumage
    predecessor
    attribute

  114. Edith says

    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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