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IELTS Unit 8B: Synonyms, Antonyms and Lexical Nuance — practice questions

Explore 31 free Unit 8B: Synonyms, Antonyms and Lexical Nuance questions in IELTS English Language. Open each question or exercise to read its content, reference answers and available explanation.

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Unit 8B: Synonyms, Antonyms and Lexical Nuance questions and exercises with answers

Showing questions 1–30 of 31.

True or false: what a synonym isRead the answer and worked solution →Spot the word that does not belongRead the answer and worked solution →Flip and pair: headword with a synonymRead the answer and worked solution →Tap every word Fernald lists under ABANDONRead the answer and worked solution →Assertion and reasonRead the answer and worked solution →Two are true, one is notRead the answer and worked solution →Three of these are wrong. Find the one that holds.Read the answer and worked solution →Positive or negative in tone?Read the answer and worked solution →Reading a synonym entryRead the answer and worked solution →Complete the idea of a synonymRead the answer and worked solution →Order the steps: pick the best synonymRead the answer and worked solution →Which shade of meaning?Read the answer and worked solution →True or false: choosing between near wordsRead the answer and worked solution →More synonym groupsRead the answer and worked solution →Spot the intruderRead the answer and worked solution →In a cloze test, a portion of text is masked and the learner must ____ it.Read the answer and worked solution →The word cloze is derived from ____ in Gestalt theory.Read the answer and worked solution →The cloze exercise was first described in 1953 by ____.Read the answer and worked solution →In a cloze exercise, words may be deleted mechanically (every nth word) or ____.Read the answer and worked solution →In "I went to the ____ and bought some milk", the blank must be filled by aRead the answer and worked solution →Words with many synonyms have a ____ word clozability score.Read the answer and worked solution →Glover called cloze tests ____ recall, weaker than free recall but stronger than recognition.Read the answer and worked solution →In language-model training, cloze deletion is known as ____ language modelling.Read the answer and worked solution →English grammar requires most singular countable noun phrases to start with a ____.Read the answer and worked solution →The definite article is not typically used with generic nouns or with ____.Read the answer and worked solution →A newspaper headline may drop articles, so omission is common in signs, labels and ____.Read the answer and worked solution →It was too great ____ loss for the small team to bear.Read the answer and worked solution →He is such ____ idiot!Read the answer and worked solution →Everyone read quite ____ long letter from the principal.Read the answer and worked solution →Both ____ girls arrived early for the practice session.Read the answer and worked solution →

Worked practice questions

True or false: what a synonym is

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Questions
  1. Statement is true
    Yes
    Statement
    A synonym is a word close in meaning to another.
  2. Statement is true
    No
    Statement
    Synonyms are always perfectly interchangeable.
  3. Statement is true
    Yes
    Statement
    'Courageous' is listed as a synonym of brave.
  4. Statement is true
    Yes
    Statement
    'Arduous' is listed as a synonym of difficult.
  5. Statement is true
    No
    Statement
    'Timid' is listed as a synonym of brave.
Fernald's whole book exists because synonyms are near, not identical. Source: English Synonyms and Antonyms, Fernald (1896), public domain.

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Spot the word that does not belong

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Questions
  1. Items
    1. fearless
    2. toilsome
    3. dauntless
    Odd item
    toilsome
  2. Items
    1. arduous
    2. laborious
    3. jocund
    Odd item
    jocund
  3. Items
    1. upright
    2. blithe
    3. merry
    Odd item
    upright
  4. Items
    1. candid
    2. gallant
    3. sincere
    Odd item
    gallant
One word in each group comes from a different entry. Source: English Synonyms and Antonyms, Fernald (1896), public domain.

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Flip and pair: headword with a synonym

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Matching pairs
  1. A
    BRAVE
    B
    gallant
  2. A
    DIFFICULT
    B
    onerous
  3. A
    HAPPY
    B
    blissful
  4. A
    HONEST
    B
    genuine
  5. A
    ABANDON
    B
    relinquish
Straight from the entries. Source: English Synonyms and Antonyms, Fernald (1896), public domain.

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More English Language topics

Unit 1B: Evidence and Argument Structure in NonfictionUnit 1A: Rhetorical Reading & Claims AnalysisUnit 8A: Contextual Vocabulary and Word FormationUnit 6: Syntax and Sentence StructureAntonymsVoiceUnit 7A: Sentence Boundaries and Structural ImprovementUnit 3: Textual Analysis and Literary Discourse