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
- alcohol
- sugar
- people
- africa
- europe
- adding
- purposes
- bucket
- exploration
- medicinal
- 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
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- exploration
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- gin
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- harmful
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- important
- keeping
- kills
- land
- long
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- medicinal
- microbes
- money
- months
- north
- oil
- palm
- people
- played
- preservative
- purposes
- regions
- role
- rubber
- rum
- sailing
- sailors
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- spirits
- spoil
- staple
- stronger
- sugar
- trade
- traded
- voyages
- water
- wine