full transcript

From the Ted Talk by Leland Melvin: An astronaut's story of curiosity, perspective and change

Unscramble the Blue Letters


[This talk contains mature content]

In 1969, I was snntiadg behind a siynlava black-and-white television set. Hearing about these things happening on the set in the front, I was the guy, you know, moving the rabbit ears for my dad, and my sister and my mom. "Move over here, turn over here, move this way, we can't see the screen." And what they were waihctng was: "One small step for a man, one gniat leap for mankind." Neil [arnmrostg] and Buzz Aldrin were walking on the Moon. And I was five years old in Lynchburg, Virginia, a skinny black kid in a kind of somewhat racist town. And I was trying to fiurge out what I was going to do with my life. And my parents, you know, they were educators, they'd said that you can do anything. But after that moon landing, all the kids in the nobrheioohgd were like, "You're going to be an ausantort?" I'm like, "No." I don't want a buzz cut, and I don't see someone who looks like me. Because representation does matter.

Open Cloze


[This talk contains mature content]

In 1969, I was ________ behind a ________ black-and-white television set. Hearing about these things happening on the set in the front, I was the guy, you know, moving the rabbit ears for my dad, and my sister and my mom. "Move over here, turn over here, move this way, we can't see the screen." And what they were ________ was: "One small step for a man, one _____ leap for mankind." Neil [_________] and Buzz Aldrin were walking on the Moon. And I was five years old in Lynchburg, Virginia, a skinny black kid in a kind of somewhat racist town. And I was trying to ______ out what I was going to do with my life. And my parents, you know, they were educators, they'd said that you can do anything. But after that moon landing, all the kids in the ____________ were like, "You're going to be an _________?" I'm like, "No." I don't want a buzz cut, and I don't see someone who looks like me. Because representation does matter.

Solution


  1. figure
  2. astronaut
  3. standing
  4. sylvania
  5. giant
  6. armstrong
  7. watching
  8. neighborhood

Original Text


[This talk contains mature content]

In 1969, I was standing behind a Sylvania black-and-white television set. Hearing about these things happening on the set in the front, I was the guy, you know, moving the rabbit ears for my dad, and my sister and my mom. "Move over here, turn over here, move this way, we can't see the screen." And what they were watching was: "One small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind." Neil [Armstrong] and Buzz Aldrin were walking on the Moon. And I was five years old in Lynchburg, Virginia, a skinny black kid in a kind of somewhat racist town. And I was trying to figure out what I was going to do with my life. And my parents, you know, they were educators, they'd said that you can do anything. But after that moon landing, all the kids in the neighborhood were like, "You're going to be an astronaut?" I'm like, "No." I don't want a buzz cut, and I don't see someone who looks like me. Because representation does matter.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations


ngrams of length 2

collocation frequency
bread truck 2
space station 2
breaking bread 2


Important Words


  1. aldrin
  2. armstrong
  3. astronaut
  4. black
  5. buzz
  6. content
  7. cut
  8. dad
  9. ears
  10. educators
  11. figure
  12. front
  13. giant
  14. guy
  15. happening
  16. hearing
  17. kid
  18. kids
  19. kind
  20. landing
  21. leap
  22. life
  23. lynchburg
  24. man
  25. mankind
  26. matter
  27. mature
  28. mom
  29. moon
  30. move
  31. moving
  32. neighborhood
  33. neil
  34. parents
  35. rabbit
  36. racist
  37. representation
  38. screen
  39. set
  40. sister
  41. skinny
  42. small
  43. standing
  44. step
  45. sylvania
  46. talk
  47. television
  48. town
  49. turn
  50. virginia
  51. walking
  52. watching
  53. years