full transcript

From the Ted Talk by Rod Phillips: A brief history of alcohol


Unscramble the Blue Letters


At first, these stronger spirits were used for mecindail psopreus. Then, spirits became an important trade commodity because, unlike beer and wine, they didn’t spoil. Rum made from sgaur harvested in European colonies in the Caribbean became a staple for sailors and was traded to North America. Europeans brought brandy and gin to aricfa and traded it for enslaved ppoele, land, and goods like palm oil and rubber. Spirits became a form of money in these regions.

During the Age of eipoaroxltn, spirits played a crucial role in long distance sea voyages. Sailing from euopre to east Asia and the Americas could take months, and keeping water fresh for the crews was a challenge. ainddg a buekct of brandy to a water barrel kept waetr fresh longer because acohlol is a preservative that kills harmful microbes.

Open Cloze


At first, these stronger spirits were used for _________ ________. Then, spirits became an important trade commodity because, unlike beer and wine, they didn’t spoil. Rum made from _____ harvested in European colonies in the Caribbean became a staple for sailors and was traded to North America. Europeans brought brandy and gin to ______ and traded it for enslaved ______, land, and goods like palm oil and rubber. Spirits became a form of money in these regions.

During the Age of ___________, spirits played a crucial role in long distance sea voyages. Sailing from ______ to east Asia and the Americas could take months, and keeping water fresh for the crews was a challenge. ______ a ______ of brandy to a water barrel kept _____ fresh longer because _______ is a preservative that kills harmful microbes.

Solution


  1. alcohol
  2. sugar
  3. people
  4. africa
  5. europe
  6. adding
  7. purposes
  8. bucket
  9. exploration
  10. medicinal
  11. water

Original Text


At first, these stronger spirits were used for medicinal purposes. Then, spirits became an important trade commodity because, unlike beer and wine, they didn’t spoil. Rum made from sugar harvested in European colonies in the Caribbean became a staple for sailors and was traded to North America. Europeans brought brandy and gin to Africa and traded it for enslaved people, land, and goods like palm oil and rubber. Spirits became a form of money in these regions.

During the Age of Exploration, spirits played a crucial role in long distance sea voyages. Sailing from Europe to east Asia and the Americas could take months, and keeping water fresh for the crews was a challenge. Adding a bucket of brandy to a water barrel kept water fresh longer because alcohol is a preservative that kills harmful microbes.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations


ngrams of length 2

collocation frequency
alcohol content 3
fermented beverages 2
water fresh 2



Important Words


  1. adding
  2. africa
  3. age
  4. alcohol
  5. america
  6. americas
  7. asia
  8. barrel
  9. beer
  10. brandy
  11. brought
  12. bucket
  13. caribbean
  14. challenge
  15. colonies
  16. commodity
  17. crews
  18. crucial
  19. distance
  20. east
  21. enslaved
  22. europe
  23. european
  24. europeans
  25. exploration
  26. form
  27. fresh
  28. gin
  29. goods
  30. harmful
  31. harvested
  32. important
  33. keeping
  34. kills
  35. land
  36. long
  37. longer
  38. medicinal
  39. microbes
  40. money
  41. months
  42. north
  43. oil
  44. palm
  45. people
  46. played
  47. preservative
  48. purposes
  49. regions
  50. role
  51. rubber
  52. rum
  53. sailing
  54. sailors
  55. sea
  56. spirits
  57. spoil
  58. staple
  59. stronger
  60. sugar
  61. trade
  62. traded
  63. voyages
  64. water
  65. wine