IELTS Book 8 Test 3 Section 2

8 T3 S2

Prodigy (noun) Synonym: Genius

A young person who is unusually intelligent or skilful for their age

· A child/an infant prodigy

· A musical prodigy

· Mozart was an infant prodigy, composing music at the age of four.

· The 12-year-old prodigy will play America’s eigning chess champion next week.

Cult(noun) Synonym: Faith

[usually singular] cult (of something) a way of life, an attitude, an idea, etc. that has become very popular

· The cult of physical fitness

· An extraordinary personality cult had been created around the leader.

A small group of people who have extreme religious beliefs and who are not part of any established religion

· Their son ran away from home and joined a cult.

(formal) a system of religious beliefs and practices

· The Chinese cult of ancestor worship

Divinity(Noun) Synonym: Theology

[uncountable] the quality of being a god or like God

· The divinity of Christ

[countable] a god or goddess

· Roman/Greek/Egyptian divinities

[uncountable] the study of the nature of God and religious belief

· A doctor of Divinity

Paterfamilias (noun) Synonym: Male

The man who is the head of a family

· Khalid is the paterfamilias of his family.

Exceptional (adjective) Synonym: Outstanding

Unusually good

· At the age of five he showed exceptional talent as a musician.

· The quality of the recording is quite exceptional.

Very unusual

· This deadline will be extended only in exceptional circumstances.

Ambivalent (adjective) Synonym: Conflicting

Ambivalent (about/towards somebody/something) having or showing both good and bad feelings about somebody/something

· She seems to feel ambivalent about her new job.

· He has an ambivalent attitude towards her.

Envy(Noun) Synonym: Jealousy

[uncountable] the feeling of wanting to be in the same situation as somebody else; the feeling of wanting something that somebody else has

Envy (of somebody)

· He couldn't conceal his envy of me.

Envy (at/of something)

· She felt a pang of envy at the thought of his success.

· They looked with envy at her latest purchase.

· Her colleagues were green with envy (= they had very strong feelings of envy).

Defective (adjective) Synonym: Faulty

Having a fault or faults; not perfect or complete

· Defective goods

· Her hearing was found to be slightly defective.

Eccentric (Noun) Synonym: Bizzare

A person who is considered by other people to be strange or unusual

· Most people considered him a harmless eccentric.

· Aunt Matilda was something of an eccentric.

Enrich Verb Synonym: Embellish

To improve the quality of something, often by adding something to it

Enrich something

· The study of science has enriched all our lives.

Enrich something with something

· Most breakfast cereals are enriched with vitamins.

Enrich somebody/something to make somebody/something rich or richer

· A nation enriched by oil revenues

· He used his position to enrich himself.

Denigration (Noun) Synonym: Belittlement

Unfair criticism of somebody/something; the act of saying that somebody/something does not have any value or is not important

· The denigration of people who are not like themselves

Anecdote (Noun) Synonym: Episode

A short, interesting or amusing story about a real person or event

· Amusing anecdotes about his brief career as an actor

· The book is a rich store of anecdote.

A personal account of an event

· This research is based on anecdote, not fact.

Mortality (Noun) Synonym: Fatality

[uncountable] the state of being human and not living for ever

· After her mother's death, she became acutely aware of her own mortality.

[uncountable] the number of deaths in a particular situation or period of time

· The infant mortality rate (= the number of babies that die at or just after birth)

· Mortality from lung cancer is still increasing.

[countable] (specialist) a death

· Hospital mortalities (= deaths in hospital)

Corporal (noun) Synonym: Army Man

A member of one of the lower ranks in the army, the marines or the British air force

· Corporal Smith

Pediatrics noun Synonym: Doctor

Branch of medicine concerned with children and their diseases

· Pediatrics expert

Mist (Noun) Synonym: Vapour

[uncountable, countable] a cloud of very small drops of water in the air just above the ground, that make it difficult to see

· The hills were shrouded in mist.

· Early morning mist patches will soon clear.

· The origins of the story are lost in the mists of time (= forgotten because it happened such a long time ago).

· (figurative) She gazed at the scene through a mist of tears.

[singular] a fine spray of liquid, for example from an aerosol can

· Mist of Jasmine

Continuum (noun) Synonym: Continuity

A series of similar items in which each is almost the same as the ones next to it but the last is very different from the first

· This research is a continuum of the previous one.

Mundane (Adjective) Synonym: Dull

Not interesting or exciting

· A mundane task/job

· I lead a pretty mundane existence.

· On a more mundane level, can we talk about the timetable for next week?

Manifestation (Noun) Synonym: Exhibition

[countable, uncountable] manifestation (of something) an event, action or thing that is a sign that something exists or is happening; the act of appearing as a sign that something exists or is happening

· The riots are a clear manifestation of the people's discontent.

· Some manifestation of your concern would have been appreciated.

[countable] an appearance of a ghost or spirit

· `The church is the site of a number of supernatural manifestations.

Outrageous (Adjective) Synonym: Scandalous

Very shocking and unacceptable

· Outrageous behavior

· ‘That's outrageous!’ he protested.

Very unusual and slightly shocking

· She says the most outrageous things sometimes.

· Coutrageous clothes

Emulate (Verb) Synonym: Imitate

Emulate somebody/something (formal) to try to do something as well as somebody else because you admire them

· She hopes to emulate her sister's sporting achievements.

Emulate something (computing) (of a computer program, etc.) to work in the same way as another computer, etc. and perform the same tasks

· Open source word programsemulate Microsoft Word.

Unpalatable (adjective) Synonym: Distasteful

(of facts, ideas, etc.) unpleasant and not easy to accept

· Only then did I learn the unpalatable truth.

Not pleasant to taste

Unpalatable food

The insects store this chemical in their bodies in order to make themselves unpalatable to predators.

Envy (Noun) Synonym: Jealousy

[uncountable] the feeling of wanting to be in the same situation as somebody else; the feeling of wanting something that somebody else has

Envy (of somebody)

· He couldn't conceal his envy of me.

Envy (at/of something)

· She felt a pang of envy at the thought of his success.

· They looked with envy at her latest purchase.

· Her colleagues were green with envy (= they had very strong feelings of envy).

Preserve (Verb) Synonym: Conserve

Preserve something to keep a particular quality, feature, etc.; to make sure that something is kept

· He was anxious to preserve his reputation.

· Efforts to preserve the peace have failed.

· She managed to preserve her sense of humour under very trying circumstances.

[often passive] to keep something in its original state in good condition

Preserve something/somebody

· A perfectly preserved 14th century house

· (humorous) Is he really 60? He's remarkably well preserved.

Preserve something + adj.

· This vase has been preserved intact.

Preserve something to prevent something, especially food, from decaying by treating it in a particular way

· Olives preserved in brine

· Wax polish preserves wood and leather.

Preserve somebody/something (from something) to keep somebody/something alive, or safe from harm or danger

· Please preserve my leather jacket from direct sun light

Delude Verb Synonym: Deceive

To make somebody believe something that is not true

Delude somebody

· You poor deluded creature.

Delude yourself

· He's deluding himself if he thinks it's going to be easy.

Delude somebody/yourself into doing something

· Don't be deluded into thinking that we are out of danger yet.

Delude yourself that…

· She had been deluding herself that he loved her.