full transcript

From the Ted Talk by Carne Ross: An independent diplomat

Unscramble the Blue Letters


My story is a little bit about war. It's about dsiluiinmnloset. It's about death. And it's about rediscovering ieidalsm in all of that wgcerkae. And perhaps also, there's a lesson about how to deal with our screwed-up, fragmenting and dangerous world of the 21st century. I don't believe in straightforward narratives. I don't believe in a life or history wettirn as decision "A" led to consequence "B" led to cnqoneecsue "C" — these neat narratives that we're presented with, and that perhaps we encourage in each other. I believe in rasoenndms, and one of the reasons I believe that is because me becoming a diplomat was random. I'm colorblind. I was born unable to see most colors. This is why I wear gray and black most of the time, and I have to take my wife with me to chose clothes.

Open Cloze


My story is a little bit about war. It's about _______________. It's about death. And it's about rediscovering ________ in all of that ________. And perhaps also, there's a lesson about how to deal with our screwed-up, fragmenting and dangerous world of the 21st century. I don't believe in straightforward narratives. I don't believe in a life or history _______ as decision "A" led to consequence "B" led to ___________ "C" — these neat narratives that we're presented with, and that perhaps we encourage in each other. I believe in __________, and one of the reasons I believe that is because me becoming a diplomat was random. I'm colorblind. I was born unable to see most colors. This is why I wear gray and black most of the time, and I have to take my wife with me to chose clothes.

Solution


  1. wreckage
  2. written
  3. disillusionment
  4. consequence
  5. idealism
  6. randomness

Original Text


My story is a little bit about war. It's about disillusionment. It's about death. And it's about rediscovering idealism in all of that wreckage. And perhaps also, there's a lesson about how to deal with our screwed-up, fragmenting and dangerous world of the 21st century. I don't believe in straightforward narratives. I don't believe in a life or history written as decision "A" led to consequence "B" led to consequence "C" — these neat narratives that we're presented with, and that perhaps we encourage in each other. I believe in randomness, and one of the reasons I believe that is because me becoming a diplomat was random. I'm colorblind. I was born unable to see most colors. This is why I wear gray and black most of the time, and I have to take my wife with me to chose clothes.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations


ngrams of length 2

collocation frequency
security council 11
independent diplomat 9
british foreign 4
fighter pilot 2
foreign service 2
middle east 2
east peace 2
foreign office 2
prime minister 2
rampaging mob 2
kosovo prime 2
northern cypriots 2
world today 2

ngrams of length 3

collocation frequency
british foreign service 2
middle east peace 2

Important Words


  1. bit
  2. black
  3. born
  4. century
  5. chose
  6. clothes
  7. colorblind
  8. colors
  9. consequence
  10. dangerous
  11. deal
  12. death
  13. decision
  14. diplomat
  15. disillusionment
  16. encourage
  17. fragmenting
  18. gray
  19. history
  20. idealism
  21. led
  22. lesson
  23. life
  24. narratives
  25. neat
  26. presented
  27. random
  28. randomness
  29. reasons
  30. rediscovering
  31. story
  32. straightforward
  33. time
  34. unable
  35. war
  36. wear
  37. wife
  38. world
  39. wreckage
  40. written