full transcript

From the Ted Talk by Emtithal Mahmoud: A young poet tells the story of Darfur

Unscramble the Blue Letters


I was 10 yraes old when I learned what the word "genocide" meant. It was 2003, and my people were being brutally aktctaed because of their race — hundreds of thousands murdered, millions displaced, a nation torn apart at the hands of its own government.

My mother and father immediately bgaen saepinkg out against the crisis. I didn't really understand it, except for the fact that it was destroying my parents. One day, I walked in on my mother cnryig, and I aeskd her why we are burying so many people. I don't rmbemeer the words that she chose to describe genocide to her 10-year-old daughter, but I remember the feeling. We felt completely alone, as if no one could hear us, as if we were essentially invisible.

Open Cloze


I was 10 _____ old when I learned what the word "genocide" meant. It was 2003, and my people were being brutally ________ because of their race — hundreds of thousands murdered, millions displaced, a nation torn apart at the hands of its own government.

My mother and father immediately _____ ________ out against the crisis. I didn't really understand it, except for the fact that it was destroying my parents. One day, I walked in on my mother ______, and I _____ her why we are burying so many people. I don't ________ the words that she chose to describe genocide to her 10-year-old daughter, but I remember the feeling. We felt completely alone, as if no one could hear us, as if we were essentially invisible.

Solution


  1. remember
  2. began
  3. years
  4. attacked
  5. speaking
  6. asked
  7. crying

Original Text


I was 10 years old when I learned what the word "genocide" meant. It was 2003, and my people were being brutally attacked because of their race — hundreds of thousands murdered, millions displaced, a nation torn apart at the hands of its own government.

My mother and father immediately began speaking out against the crisis. I didn't really understand it, except for the fact that it was destroying my parents. One day, I walked in on my mother crying, and I asked her why we are burying so many people. I don't remember the words that she chose to describe genocide to her 10-year-old daughter, but I remember the feeling. We felt completely alone, as if no one could hear us, as if we were essentially invisible.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations


ngrams of length 2

collocation frequency
convince people 2


Important Words


  1. asked
  2. attacked
  3. began
  4. brutally
  5. burying
  6. chose
  7. completely
  8. crisis
  9. crying
  10. daughter
  11. day
  12. describe
  13. destroying
  14. displaced
  15. essentially
  16. fact
  17. father
  18. feeling
  19. felt
  20. genocide
  21. government
  22. hands
  23. hear
  24. hundreds
  25. immediately
  26. invisible
  27. learned
  28. meant
  29. millions
  30. mother
  31. murdered
  32. nation
  33. parents
  34. people
  35. race
  36. remember
  37. speaking
  38. thousands
  39. torn
  40. understand
  41. walked
  42. word
  43. words
  44. years