IELTS Vocabulary

IELTS Vocabulary Exercise – Passage

Instructions: Study the twelve highlighted IELTS vocabulary words in the following passage. Find the meaning of the word in the context of the text. Match the word with the meaning below. Finally, check your answers in the next section. You may use the dictionary link if you wish.

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Children’s Health

In England, Wales and Scotland, newly-established breakfast clubs provide the first meal of the day to approximately 10,000 children. Nevertheless, there are many areas where children do not get an adequate breakfast. There is no doubt that their education is jeopardized because of this. An overwhelming need exists at present for public health and education authorities to deal with this terrible aspect of child poverty.

In addition, tobacco usage damages children’s health and greatly increases their mortality rates. The cigarette tax was raised by law recently by 25 pence a packet. However, the tax will not be efficacious – it will make poor parents even poorer and children will suffer. Children’s health would be positively impacted upon if the government devoted even half of the resources with which it is tackling cigarette smuggling to preventing cigarette sales to children.

Drinking alcohol also affects children’s health. Children’s drinking is on the rise due to the dramatic increase in the availability of ‘alcopops’ – fizzy, sweetened alcoholic drinks. These drinks are exploitative because they make alcohol attractive to young people. Yet on this issue, as on others, the government has failed to take punitive action against businesses.

The cessation of child poverty has to include improving the health of the poorest children. Health and poverty are inextricably related, and sustained regulation and much more effective prevention strategies are required in order to improve the health of our children.

IELTS Vocabulary – Matching

(A) describes a quantity that is more than what is good or useful

(B) sufficient or suitable for a purpose

(C) punishing

(D) placed in danger

(E) more or less; near the amount of

(F) death

(G) not easily removed or undone

(H) taking advantage of someone vulnerable

(I) trying to solve a difficult problem

(J) to stop doing something

(K) effective

(L) bringing merchandise into a country secretly to avoid tax

Go to the Dictionary

IELTS Vocabulary – Answers

(A) overwhelming

(B) adequate

(C) punitive

(D) jeopardized

(E) approximately

(F) mortality

(G) inextricably

(H) exploitative

(I) tackling

(J) cessation

(K) efficacious

(L) smuggling

IELTS Vocabulary Advice

Knowledge of IELTS vocabulary is extremely important for a successful result

Many students fail the exam because they do not learn the English vocabulary used on the reading test.

Advanced vocabulary is also used in the conversations and lectures on the listening test.


Other students do not get a top band score because they have not learned high-level English vocabulary for their essay or in their interview.

IELTS Vocabulary Book

Learn English vocabulary and improve your IELTS vocabulary skills for your test with our study guide:

IELTS Vocabulary Skills Book

It contains words from the academic word list that most frequently appear on the Academic test.

Words are grouped into chapters alphabetically to help you learn English vocabulary more conveniently.

There are exercises after each chapter.

The answers are provided at the end of the book.

IELTS Vocabulary by Exam SAM