IELTS - Lesson 40 Exercise

Beliefs and Religion


1. agnostic: a thinker who disclaims any knowledge of God. The agnostic does not deny God but denies the possibility of knowing him.

2. apocalyptic: pertaining to a revelation; foretelling imminent disaster and total destruction. Apocalypse refers to the last books of the New Testament.

3. apocryphal: of questionable authority and authenticity; false or counterfeit. The Apocrypha includes the 14 books of the Septuagint found in the Vulgate but considered uncanonical by the Protestant because they are not part of the Hebrew Scriptures.

4. apostate: one who forsakes his faith or principles

5. apotheosis: deification; an exalted or glorified ideal.

6. benediction: a blessing, an invocation of divine blessing, usually at the end of a religious service. A newly married man is called a benedict, suggesting that marriage brings to a bachelor many blessings.

7. blasphemy: any irreverent or impious act or utterance

8. deist: believer in the existence of God as the creator of the universe who after setting it in motion abandoned it, assumed no control over life, exerted no influence on natural phenomenon, and gave no supernatural revelation. Deism is a natural religion based on human reason and morality.

9. infidel: a person who does not believe in any religion; among Christians or Muslims, one who does not accept their particular beliefs. This word infidelity denotes unfaithfulness to moral or martial obligations.

10. mantra: a mystical formula of invocation or incantation in Hinduism and Buddhism. The word comes from mens, the Latin meaning “mind” and the ancient Sanskrit word for “scared counsel” or “formula”

11. ontology: the branch of philosophy dealing with the nature of being

12. pantheism: the doctrine that the universe, conceived of as a whole, is God.

13. sacrilegious: disrespectful or irreverent toward anything regarded as sacred. The term is derived from the Latin sacrilegium, “one who steals sacred things,” which of course is one form of sacrilege.

14. syncretism: the attempt or tendency to combine or reconcile differing beliefs, as in philosophy or religion. It comes from the Greek syn (together) and kret (Cretain) and refers to the uniting of Cretan cities against a common enemy.

15. theodicy: a vindication of divine justice in the face of the existence of evil. Theodicee was the title of a work by Leibnitz in 1710. The word combines the Greek roots for “god” and “judgment”

Exercises


I. Which Word Comes to Mind?

In each of the following, read the statement, then circle the word that comes to mind.

1. In the Middle Ages this would have brought the harshest punishment

(ontology, blasphemy, apocryphal)

2. God and nature are synonymous

(benediction, pantheism, apocalyptic)

3. This person could be a Christian, Muslim, or Jew, depending on what you are

(infidel, mantra, apotheosis)

4. An attempt to explain why God permitted the rise of Hitlerism

(theodicy, apostate, sacrilegious)

5. If you can’t beat them, join them

(agnostic, syncretism, deist)

6. The absolute best of its kind

(apotheosis, sacrilegious, apocryphal)

7. Doomsday is coming

(blasphemy, apocalyptic, ontology)

8. Belief that differing faiths can be reconciled

(agnostic, pantheist, syncretist)

9. A blessing

(mantra, benediction, blasphemy)

10. An unauthorized version

(sacrilegious, apocryphal, blasphemy)

II. True or False?

In the space provided, indicate whether each statement is true or false

  • _________ 1. The apocryphal writings have been universally accepted as part of the Bible
  • _________ 2. An apostate is one who has changed his religious beliefs.
  • _________ 3. Pantheists emphasize the importance of religious services
  • _________ 4. The sacrilegious person holds a place of honor in the community of believers
  • _________ 5. The apocalyptic view is definitely pessimistic
  • _________ 6. The agnostic is inclined to say, “Thank God for my blessings.”
  • _________ 7. The apostate finds solace in his mantra
  • _________ 8. Ontology attempts to answer the question: What is reality?
  • _________ 9. Sacrilegious and blasphemous behavior is typical of an apostate
  • _________ 10. Mantras are part of the worship in Buddhism and Hinduism

III. Synonyms or Antonyms

Find and circle the two words on each line that are either synonyms or antonyms.

  • apostate ----- apocryphal ----- heretic ----- biblical
  • blasphemous ----- apotheosis ----- degradation ----- occult
  • infidel ----- mantra ----- religion ----- invocation
  • canonical ----- apocryphal ----- apocalyptic ----- orthodox
  • laity ----- benediction ----- denominational ----- anathema
Home

1

Lesson-1

Jingoist, Lothario, Maverick, Nemesis, Philanderer, Philippic, Procrustean, Protean, Pyrrhic victory, Quixotic, Saturnine, Solecism, Spoonerism, Sybarite, Tawdry

2

Lesson-2

Acidulous, Baleful, Bellicose, Bilious, Bumptious, Captious, Churlish, Complaisant, Contrite, Convivial, Craven, Debonair, Dyspeptic, Lachrymose, Neurasthenic

3

Lesson-3

cabal, camaraderie, caste, cortege, detente, echelon, ecumenical, elite, esprit de corps, freemasonry, genealogy, hierarchy, hobnob, liaison, rapprochement

4

Lesson-4

adagio, andante, arpeggio, bravura, contralto, crescendo, falsetto, fortissimo, imbroglio, intaglio, largo, libretto, salvo, staccato, vendetta

5

Lesson-5

alienist, amanuensis, beadle, cosmetologist, dermatologist, entomologist, farrier, graphologist, internist, lapidary, ophthalmologist, ornithologist, osteopath, pharyngologist, physiologist

6

Lesson-6

Adonis, Bacchanal, Cassandra, Cornucopia, Erotic, Herculean, Hermetic, Hydra, Hymeneal, Iridescent, Narcissism, Odyssey, Olympian, Palladium, Phoenix

7

Lesson-7

aberrant, anthropomorphism, archetype, authoritarian, cathedrals, demography, epidemiology, euthanasia, extrovert, psychic, psychopath, psychotherapy, schizophrenia, subliminal, traums

8

Lesson-8

aficionado, barrio, bonanza, bravado, desperado, flotilla, grandee, hacienda, lariat, machismo, manana, palmetto, renegade, siesta, torero

9

Lesson-9

anachronism, anon, antebellum, antediluvian, atavism, augury, betimes, biennial, diurnal, eon, ephemeral, epoch, generation, score, tercentenary

10

Lesson-10

bane, deign, eke, knell, mete, moot, mulct, plumb, quail, roil, ruck, shunt, svelte, thrall, tryst

11

Lesson-11

abscess, aphasia, arteriosclerosis, biopsy, cadaver, carcinogen, comatose, etiology, malingerer, mastectomy, prosthesis, simian, therapeutic, tumescence, vasectomy

12

Lesson-12

bovine, equine, feline, hircine, leonine, lupine, ophidian, ovine, piscine, porcine, saurian, taurine, ursine, vixen, vulpine

13

Lesson-13

atonement, bicameral, Decalogue, decimate, dichotomy, double-think, millennium, nihilism, penultimate, primeval, protocol, quatrain, quintessence, tessellated, untrammeled

14

Lesson-14

adjudicate, appellate, collusion, deposition, equity, exhume, incommunicado, intestate, ipso facto, lien, litigation, perjury, pettifogger, tort, tribunal

15

Lesson-15

circumspect, demure, dispassionate, dolorous, edacious, effete, feisty, flaccid, flippant, florid, glabrous, imperious, ingenious, intractable, intransigent

16

Lesson-16

alchemy, arcane, conundrum, demonology, exorcise, inscrutable, pallor, phenomenology, polygraph, purloin, ritual, shamus, soothsayer, thaumaturgy, warlock

17

Lesson-17

archaeology, elfin, infinitesimal, Lilliputian, megalopolis, minimize, minutiae, palatial, peccadillo, picayune, simulacrum, soupcon, teeming, titanic, vista

18

Lesson-18

accolade, conclave, dirge, draconian, epicurean, gossamer, immolate, juggernaut, junket, ostracism, proletariat, rigmarole, rubric, Socratic, sycophant

19

Lesson-19

acrophobia, bibliophile, claustrophobia, Francophile, hydrophobia, misanthropy, misogyny, paranoid, philately, Philistine, phylogeny, philology, Russo phobia, triskaidekaphobia, xenophobia

20

Lesson-20

archaeology, cardiology, ecology, endocrinology, gerontology, gynecology, morphology, necrology, neurology, paleontology, pathology, rhinology, seismology, speleology, toxicology

21

Lesson-21

jejune, libidinous, licentious, mercurial, meretricious, minatory, mutable, niggardly, nonchalant, noxious, obdurate, obtuse, officious, omniscient, pusillanimous

22

Lesson-22

amicus curiae, arson, barrister, embezzle, extradition, habeas corpus, immaterial, incarcerate, indeterminate, larceny, litigious, miscreant, perpetrator, plagiarism, probation

23

Lesson-23

avant-garde, bete noire, bot mot, coup de grace, cul-de-sac, dues ex machina, fait accompli, fin de siecle, gauche, junta, laissez-faire, mot juste, non compos mentis, non sequitur, sine qua non

24

Lesson-24

coiffure, demarche, denouement, éclat, élan, entrepreneur, impasse, ingénue, malaise, mélange, repartee, sangfroid, tete-a-tete, tour de force, vignette

25

Lesson-25

acrid, addle, ado, alms, amulet, aperture, askew, bauble, bevy, bilk, blithe, careen, chary, nabob, onus

26

Lesson-26

antaean, argonaut, calliope, cyclopean, gorgon, harpy, Homeric, myrmidon, oracular, paean, plutonian, Promethean, stygian, terpsichorean, thespian

27

Lesson-27

pedantic, pertinacious, pontifical, pretentious, prolix, puerile, quiescent, recalcitrant, restive, ribald, sardonic, sedulous, sleazy, supercilious, voluptuous

28

Lesson-28

a cappella, ad hoc, bon vivant, de facto, gemutlich, leitmotif, nolo contendere, per excellence, parvenu, piece de resistance, postprandlal, quid pro quo, qui vive, savoir faire, sub rosa, vis-à-vis

29

Lesson-29

ambivalent, bucolic, crotchety, dilatory, disconsolate, dudgeon, froward, genteel, jocund, loquacious, splenetic, tendentious, truculent, vacuous, venal

30

Lesson-30

amorphous, gargantuan, iota, lissome, macrocosm, magnitude, magnum opus, microcosm, micrometer, scabrous, scintilla, serpentine, sinuous, smidgen, tenuous

31

Lesson-31

bathos, malapropism, metaphor, metonymy, onomatopoeia, oxymoron, panegyric, paradigm, paralipsis, pleonasm, polyglot, semantics, simile, synecdoche, threnody

32

Lesson-32

argot, aspersion, badinage, bombast, braggadocio, censure, countermand, gainsay, gobbledegook, guttural, harangue, jargon, mellifluous, resonant, sententious

33

Lesson-33

canon, hegemony, oligarchy, peonage, pharisaical, plebiscite, plenipotentiary, proxy, recession, regicide, renascent, reprisal, subversion, surrogate, votary

34

Lesson-34

antipodal, cartography, concierge, hegira, hustings, landmark, peripatetic, portmanteau, safari, tandem, transmigrate, traverse, trek, wanderlust, wayfarer

35

Lesson-35

a la carte, assuage, comestible, condiment, cuisine, culinary, gastronomic, gourmand, manna, palatable, piquant, refection, repast, subsistence, viands

36

Lesson-36

antic, beguile, bonhomie, dalliance, divertissement, euphoria, guffaw, insouciance, japery, regale, risible, roguish, roister, squib, waggish

37

Lesson-37

anarchy, bourgeois, bureaucracy, demagogue, ethos, gerrymander, imperialism, Machiavellian,. martial, muckraker, partisan, reactionary, schism, suffrage, totalitarian

38

Lesson-38

abnegation, abscond, affidavit, altercation, battery, bequest, cause celebre, caveat emptor, codicil, contiguous, contraband, contumacious, disenfranchise, injunction, jurisprudence

39

Lesson-39

aphorism, dogma, empirical, epistemology, eschatology, fallacy, hedonism, pragmatism, predestination, ratiocination, syllogism, teleology, tenet, theosophy, utilitarian

40

Lesson-40

agnostic, apocalyptic, apocryphal, apostate, apotheosis, benediction, blasphemy, deist, infidel, mantra, ontology, pantheism, sacrilegious, syncretism, theodicy
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