An exercise in spelling based on synonyms A – key

Some of these words you will not have heard before, so you will have had to take a guess at their spellings.

1 Relocated / transferred (- did you get the double ‘r’?)
2 Slight disparities / minor differences – did you get the ‘dis’ and ‘diff’ correct? What about the ‘or’ ending of minor?
3 Tendency often gets misspelt with an ‘a’ somewhere! / propensity – did you guess this accurately?
4 Declined / subsided
5 Refuted – you will probably have had to make a guess at this – / denied
6 Small blood vessels / capillaries – did you predict this right?
7 Proficient – let’s hope you didn’t forget the ‘i’ after the ‘c’! / competent
8 Very small / tiny
9 Substance / material
10 Detailed / elaborate

In context

1 All current employees on site will be relocated to the new branch of our company in the early spring.
All current employees on site will be transferred to the new branch of our company in the early spring.
2 There are slight disparities in the witness’s statements.
There are minor differences in the witness’s statements.
3 Underweight babies were found to have an increased tendency to succumb to infections.
Underweight babies were found to have an increased propensity to succumb to infections.
4 When the interest in the company declined the value of its shares began to fall.
When the interest in the company subsided the value of its shares began to fall.
5 Results claimed by the opposition were refuted by external observers.
Results claimed by the opposition were denied by external observers.
6 Tests carried out on small blood vessels just beneath the surface of the skin showed evidence of poor blood supply.
Tests carried out on capillaries just beneath the surface of the skin showed evidence of poor blood supply.
7 Joan is a pleasant and popular colleague and very proficient at her job.
Joan is a pleasant and popular colleague and very competent at her job.
8 The head of marketing reported that despite massive expenditure on advertising, only a very small proportion of consumers had actually changed brands.
The head of marketing reported that despite massive expenditure on advertising, only a tiny proportion of consumers had actually changed brands.
9 In the design of aircraft aluminium was adopted as a highly suitable substance because of its lightness and strength.
In the design of aircraft aluminium was adopted as a highly suitable material because of its lightness and strength.
10 Your essay plan needs to be more detailed, setting out not just your main points, but also key arguments.
Your essay plan needs to be more elaborate, setting out not just your main points, but also key arguments.

Back to listen again
To get to the Reading Bank
To get to the Home Page