This lesson is to help you develop the reading skill of paraphrasing which is an essential skill in IELTS reading. This is not a IELTS reading test. This is a lesson for spotting paraphrases – identifying synonyms (words with similar meaning).
Passage
More than 200 canary birds are being phased out of Britain’s mining pits, according to new plans by the government. Modern technology is being favoured over the long-serving yellow feathered friend of the miner in detecting harmful gases which may be present underground.
New electronic detectors will replace the bird because they are said to be cheaper in the long run and more effective in indicating the presence of pollutants in the air otherwise unnoticed by miners. The gas detectors will be hand-held and carry a digital reading which appears on a screen alerting miners to the extent of the gases.
Notice: This passage comes from news.bbc.co.uk. You can read the full article on this page: BBC On the day: Coal Mines
Spot the paraphrases:
Choose a word or words from the passage above which are synonyms for the words below. Answers do not come in order.
- preferred
- gradually stop using
- substitute
- employed since way back
- existence
- portable
- bird (canary)
- ultimately
Remember that a synonym is a word that has exactly OR nearly the same meaning. This means a synonym may not be 100% the same – it may be only very similar in meaning.
Answers
The answers can be viewed on this link. Click to open: Answers for paraphrasing exercise 2
