full transcript

From the Ted Talk by Gowri Shankar: A king cobra bite -- and a scientific discovery

Unscramble the Blue Letters


For seven years after the bite, I tvleeard across king crboa habitat in South and Southeast Asia. And this is what I found. King cobras, despite being the most curious, majestic seakns are disliked, feared and hated by most people on the planet. They're kllied on sight for food, poached for skin, for traditional medicinal pprouse and for pet trade. And of course, their habitats are under severe threat, like many other species.

But we also found an answer to this 185-year-old question of species complex. My research has shown that king cobra is actually four dtisicnt species, not one, as everyone thhogut. Now that is why the Thailand antivenom did not work on me.

Open Cloze


For seven years after the bite, I ________ across king _____ habitat in South and Southeast Asia. And this is what I found. King cobras, despite being the most curious, majestic ______ are disliked, feared and hated by most people on the planet. They're ______ on sight for food, poached for skin, for traditional medicinal _______ and for pet trade. And of course, their habitats are under severe threat, like many other species.

But we also found an answer to this 185-year-old question of species complex. My research has shown that king cobra is actually four ________ species, not one, as everyone _______. Now that is why the Thailand antivenom did not work on me.

Solution


  1. killed
  2. distinct
  3. traveled
  4. snakes
  5. thought
  6. purpose
  7. cobra

Original Text


For seven years after the bite, I traveled across king cobra habitat in South and Southeast Asia. And this is what I found. King cobras, despite being the most curious, majestic snakes are disliked, feared and hated by most people on the planet. They're killed on sight for food, poached for skin, for traditional medicinal purpose and for pet trade. And of course, their habitats are under severe threat, like many other species.

But we also found an answer to this 185-year-old question of species complex. My research has shown that king cobra is actually four distinct species, not one, as everyone thought. Now that is why the Thailand antivenom did not work on me.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations


ngrams of length 2

collocation frequency
king cobra 9
king cobras 5
thailand antivenom 2


Important Words


  1. answer
  2. antivenom
  3. asia
  4. bite
  5. cobra
  6. cobras
  7. complex
  8. curious
  9. disliked
  10. distinct
  11. feared
  12. food
  13. habitat
  14. habitats
  15. hated
  16. killed
  17. king
  18. majestic
  19. medicinal
  20. people
  21. pet
  22. planet
  23. poached
  24. purpose
  25. question
  26. research
  27. severe
  28. shown
  29. sight
  30. skin
  31. snakes
  32. south
  33. southeast
  34. species
  35. thailand
  36. thought
  37. threat
  38. trade
  39. traditional
  40. traveled
  41. work
  42. years