full transcript

From the Ted Talk by George Zaidan: 4 epidemics that almost happened (but didn't)

Unscramble the Blue Letters


Ebola is one of the deadliest viruses we know of. If left untreated, it kills about half of those it infects. It can spread through pretty much every fluid your body makes, including blood and sweat. Even the dead can tnraismt the disease, often doing so at their own funerals.

On debcmeer 26th, 2013, a two-year-old boy in southern gnuiea got sick. Just two days later, he died. It took local doctors working with the international community four mthons to discover that Ebola was to blame, largely because it had never before been detected outside of caertnl Africa.

In those four months, ebloa gained a head start that would prove devastating. The outbreak latesd two years and mushroomed into the legsart Ebola epidemic in recorded history. More than 28,000 people contracted the disease and over 11,000 died.

Open Cloze


Ebola is one of the deadliest viruses we know of. If left untreated, it kills about half of those it infects. It can spread through pretty much every fluid your body makes, including blood and sweat. Even the dead can ________ the disease, often doing so at their own funerals.

On ________ 26th, 2013, a two-year-old boy in southern ______ got sick. Just two days later, he died. It took local doctors working with the international community four ______ to discover that Ebola was to blame, largely because it had never before been detected outside of _______ Africa.

In those four months, _____ gained a head start that would prove devastating. The outbreak ______ two years and mushroomed into the _______ Ebola epidemic in recorded history. More than 28,000 people contracted the disease and over 11,000 died.

Solution


  1. central
  2. largest
  3. guinea
  4. transmit
  5. months
  6. ebola
  7. lasted
  8. december

Original Text


Ebola is one of the deadliest viruses we know of. If left untreated, it kills about half of those it infects. It can spread through pretty much every fluid your body makes, including blood and sweat. Even the dead can transmit the disease, often doing so at their own funerals.

On December 26th, 2013, a two-year-old boy in southern Guinea got sick. Just two days later, he died. It took local doctors working with the international community four months to discover that Ebola was to blame, largely because it had never before been detected outside of Central Africa.

In those four months, Ebola gained a head start that would prove devastating. The outbreak lasted two years and mushroomed into the largest Ebola epidemic in recorded history. More than 28,000 people contracted the disease and over 11,000 died.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations


ngrams of length 2

collocation frequency
burkina faso 3
southern guinea 2
people contracted 2
response system 2
health officials 2
alert system 2
vaccination campaign 2
animal outbreaks 2


Important Words


  1. africa
  2. blame
  3. blood
  4. body
  5. boy
  6. central
  7. community
  8. contracted
  9. days
  10. dead
  11. deadliest
  12. december
  13. detected
  14. devastating
  15. died
  16. discover
  17. disease
  18. doctors
  19. ebola
  20. epidemic
  21. fluid
  22. funerals
  23. gained
  24. guinea
  25. head
  26. history
  27. including
  28. infects
  29. international
  30. kills
  31. largely
  32. largest
  33. lasted
  34. left
  35. local
  36. months
  37. mushroomed
  38. outbreak
  39. people
  40. pretty
  41. prove
  42. recorded
  43. sick
  44. southern
  45. spread
  46. start
  47. sweat
  48. transmit
  49. untreated
  50. viruses
  51. working
  52. years