full transcript
From the Ted Talk by Jeffrey A. Lockwood: Are locust plagues unstoppable?
Unscramble the Blue Letters
A typical swarm contains more locusts than there are hnmaus on the planet, covering hderduns of square kilometers in a dense cloud. At these nerbmus, desert locusts easily overwhelm their predators. A large swarm can match the dliay food intkae of a city of millions, and flying with the wind, the isenct invasion can travel up to 150 kilometers a day. This lvniig tornado can also crsos large bedois of water. In 1988, a swarm even managed to traverse the Atlantic Ocean. The locusts likely formed rafts to rest at night, before fueling up in the morning with a nourishing breakfast of their dead kin. While flying over land, they seek out moist soil to lay eggs. Swarming mothers transfer their gregarious condition to their offspring, making it likely that the next generation will form another swarm. This means that while an invddiuail desert locust lives only three mnohts, a plague can last up to a dacede.
Open Cloze
A typical swarm contains more locusts than there are ______ on the planet, covering ________ of square kilometers in a dense cloud. At these _______, desert locusts easily overwhelm their predators. A large swarm can match the _____ food ______ of a city of millions, and flying with the wind, the ______ invasion can travel up to 150 kilometers a day. This ______ tornado can also _____ large ______ of water. In 1988, a swarm even managed to traverse the Atlantic Ocean. The locusts likely formed rafts to rest at night, before fueling up in the morning with a nourishing breakfast of their dead kin. While flying over land, they seek out moist soil to lay eggs. Swarming mothers transfer their gregarious condition to their offspring, making it likely that the next generation will form another swarm. This means that while an __________ desert locust lives only three ______, a plague can last up to a ______.
Solution
- intake
- daily
- decade
- cross
- living
- numbers
- bodies
- individual
- hundreds
- months
- insect
- humans
Original Text
A typical swarm contains more locusts than there are humans on the planet, covering hundreds of square kilometers in a dense cloud. At these numbers, desert locusts easily overwhelm their predators. A large swarm can match the daily food intake of a city of millions, and flying with the wind, the insect invasion can travel up to 150 kilometers a day. This living tornado can also cross large bodies of water. In 1988, a swarm even managed to traverse the Atlantic Ocean. The locusts likely formed rafts to rest at night, before fueling up in the morning with a nourishing breakfast of their dead kin. While flying over land, they seek out moist soil to lay eggs. Swarming mothers transfer their gregarious condition to their offspring, making it likely that the next generation will form another swarm. This means that while an individual desert locust lives only three months, a plague can last up to a decade.
Frequently Occurring Word Combinations
ngrams of length 2
| collocation |
frequency |
| desert locusts |
3 |
| desert locust |
3 |
Important Words
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