full transcript

From the Ted Talk by Nkosilathi Nyathi: A next-generation solution to the climate crisis

Unscramble the Blue Letters


When I was 15, Victoria Falls suffered its grtesaet drought in a century. The mighty waters became, almost oivehrngt, brelay a tkricle beyond just the usual seasonal changes. At the same time this was happening, more water shortages were befalling all of Africa, and 45 million of my feollw Africans were suffering food insecurity because of crop failures. These kinds of tragedies should never happen. Not once during childhood. Not ever. They cannot be what looms on our horizon.

We can fight, we can heal our planet with accountable, responsible sonltouis, but only if we inlduce young people who have the most at stake. Because thankfully, the wtaflrael still rains down. But we, young people are the Mosi-oa-Tunya. We are “the smoke that thunders.”

Open Cloze


When I was 15, Victoria Falls suffered its ________ drought in a century. The mighty waters became, almost _________, ______ a _______ beyond just the usual seasonal changes. At the same time this was happening, more water shortages were befalling all of Africa, and 45 million of my ______ Africans were suffering food insecurity because of crop failures. These kinds of tragedies should never happen. Not once during childhood. Not ever. They cannot be what looms on our horizon.

We can fight, we can heal our planet with accountable, responsible _________, but only if we _______ young people who have the most at stake. Because thankfully, the _________ still rains down. But we, young people are the Mosi-oa-Tunya. We are “the smoke that thunders.”

Solution


  1. greatest
  2. overnight
  3. include
  4. barely
  5. trickle
  6. fellow
  7. solutions
  8. waterfall

Original Text


When I was 15, Victoria Falls suffered its greatest drought in a century. The mighty waters became, almost overnight, barely a trickle beyond just the usual seasonal changes. At the same time this was happening, more water shortages were befalling all of Africa, and 45 million of my fellow Africans were suffering food insecurity because of crop failures. These kinds of tragedies should never happen. Not once during childhood. Not ever. They cannot be what looms on our horizon.

We can fight, we can heal our planet with accountable, responsible solutions, but only if we include young people who have the most at stake. Because thankfully, the waterfall still rains down. But we, young people are the Mosi-oa-Tunya. We are “the smoke that thunders.”

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations


ngrams of length 2

collocation frequency
climate change 7
young people 4
weather patterns 2
environmental club 2


Important Words


  1. accountable
  2. africa
  3. africans
  4. barely
  5. befalling
  6. century
  7. childhood
  8. crop
  9. drought
  10. failures
  11. falls
  12. fellow
  13. fight
  14. food
  15. greatest
  16. happen
  17. happening
  18. heal
  19. horizon
  20. include
  21. insecurity
  22. kinds
  23. looms
  24. mighty
  25. million
  26. overnight
  27. people
  28. planet
  29. rains
  30. responsible
  31. seasonal
  32. shortages
  33. smoke
  34. solutions
  35. stake
  36. suffered
  37. suffering
  38. thankfully
  39. thunders
  40. time
  41. tragedies
  42. trickle
  43. usual
  44. victoria
  45. water
  46. waterfall
  47. waters
  48. young