full transcript

From the Ted Talk by Carrie Poppy: A scientific approach to the paranormal


Unscramble the Blue Letters


(Laughter)

They came out. I said, "I suspect a gas leak." They brughot their carbon monoxide deoecttr, and the man said, "It's a really good thing that you called us tonight, because you could have been dead very soon."

Thirty-seven percent of aimcaenrs believe in haunted houses, and I wonder how many of them have been in one and how many of them have been in danger.

So that haunting sotry has led me to my job. I'm an investigator, and I'm an investigator in two senses: I'm an investigative journalist, and I'm also an investigator of the claims of the paranormal and claims of the spiritual. And that maens a few things. Sometimes that means that I'm pndirenteg to need an eioscxrm so I can get — yes, that's right! — so I can go to an exorcist and see if he's using gimmicks or psychological tricks to try to convince someone that they're possessed. Sometimes that means I'm going ucerneodvr in a fringe group which I report on for a podcast that I co-host. And I've done over 70 investigations like this with my co-host, Ross. I would love to tell you that nine times out of 10, science wins, saves the day, it's all explained. That's not true. The tturh is, 10 times out of 10, science wins, it saves the day.

Open Cloze


(Laughter)

They came out. I said, "I suspect a gas leak." They _______ their carbon monoxide ________, and the man said, "It's a really good thing that you called us tonight, because you could have been dead very soon."

Thirty-seven percent of _________ believe in haunted houses, and I wonder how many of them have been in one and how many of them have been in danger.

So that haunting _____ has led me to my job. I'm an investigator, and I'm an investigator in two senses: I'm an investigative journalist, and I'm also an investigator of the claims of the paranormal and claims of the spiritual. And that _____ a few things. Sometimes that means that I'm __________ to need an ________ so I can get — yes, that's right! — so I can go to an exorcist and see if he's using gimmicks or psychological tricks to try to convince someone that they're possessed. Sometimes that means I'm going __________ in a fringe group which I report on for a podcast that I co-host. And I've done over 70 investigations like this with my co-host, Ross. I would love to tell you that nine times out of 10, science wins, saves the day, it's all explained. That's not true. The _____ is, 10 times out of 10, science wins, it saves the day.

Solution


  1. brought
  2. pretending
  3. truth
  4. exorcism
  5. detector
  6. means
  7. americans
  8. undercover
  9. story

Original Text


(Laughter)

They came out. I said, "I suspect a gas leak." They brought their carbon monoxide detector, and the man said, "It's a really good thing that you called us tonight, because you could have been dead very soon."

Thirty-seven percent of Americans believe in haunted houses, and I wonder how many of them have been in one and how many of them have been in danger.

So that haunting story has led me to my job. I'm an investigator, and I'm an investigator in two senses: I'm an investigative journalist, and I'm also an investigator of the claims of the paranormal and claims of the spiritual. And that means a few things. Sometimes that means that I'm pretending to need an exorcism so I can get — yes, that's right! — so I can go to an exorcist and see if he's using gimmicks or psychological tricks to try to convince someone that they're possessed. Sometimes that means I'm going undercover in a fringe group which I report on for a podcast that I co-host. And I've done over 70 investigations like this with my co-host, Ross. I would love to tell you that nine times out of 10, science wins, saves the day, it's all explained. That's not true. The truth is, 10 times out of 10, science wins, it saves the day.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations


ngrams of length 2

collocation frequency
carbon monoxide 5
los angeles 2
ghost hunters 2
monoxide poisoning 2
outer truth 2
read minds 2

ngrams of length 3

collocation frequency
carbon monoxide poisoning 2


Important Words


  1. americans
  2. brought
  3. called
  4. carbon
  5. claims
  6. convince
  7. danger
  8. day
  9. dead
  10. detector
  11. exorcism
  12. exorcist
  13. explained
  14. fringe
  15. gas
  16. gimmicks
  17. good
  18. group
  19. haunted
  20. haunting
  21. houses
  22. investigations
  23. investigative
  24. investigator
  25. job
  26. journalist
  27. laughter
  28. leak
  29. led
  30. love
  31. man
  32. means
  33. monoxide
  34. paranormal
  35. percent
  36. podcast
  37. possessed
  38. pretending
  39. psychological
  40. report
  41. ross
  42. saves
  43. science
  44. spiritual
  45. story
  46. suspect
  47. times
  48. tonight
  49. tricks
  50. true
  51. truth
  52. undercover
  53. wins