full transcript

From the Ted Talk by Chip Berlet: Are the Illuminati real?

Unscramble the Blue Letters


The year was 1776. In Bavaria, new ideals of rationalism, riliugoes freedom, and universal human rights competed with the Catholic church’s heavy influence over public affairs. Across the atnlatic, a new nation staked its claim for independence on the basis of these ideas. But back in Bavaria, law professor Adam Weishaupt’s attempts to teach secular philosophy continued to be frustrated.

Weishaupt decided to spread his ideas through a secret society that would shnie a light on the sgmitorconhs of the Church’s ideology. He called his serect society the iunallmtii.

Weishaupt mdoleeld aspects of his secret society off a group called the Freemasons. Originally an elite stoneworkers’ guild in the late Middle Ages, the Freemasons had gone from passing down the craft of msroany to more gelarlney poomtrnig ieldas of knowledge and reason. Over time, they had grwon into a semi-secret, exclusive order that included many wealthy and influential individuals, with elaborate, secret initiation rituals.

Open Cloze


The year was 1776. In Bavaria, new ideals of rationalism, _________ freedom, and universal human rights competed with the Catholic church’s heavy influence over public affairs. Across the ________, a new nation staked its claim for independence on the basis of these ideas. But back in Bavaria, law professor Adam Weishaupt’s attempts to teach secular philosophy continued to be frustrated.

Weishaupt decided to spread his ideas through a secret society that would _____ a light on the ____________ of the Church’s ideology. He called his ______ society the __________.

Weishaupt ________ aspects of his secret society off a group called the Freemasons. Originally an elite stoneworkers’ guild in the late Middle Ages, the Freemasons had gone from passing down the craft of _______ to more _________ _________ ______ of knowledge and reason. Over time, they had _____ into a semi-secret, exclusive order that included many wealthy and influential individuals, with elaborate, secret initiation rituals.

Solution


  1. ideals
  2. secret
  3. illuminati
  4. masonry
  5. modelled
  6. grown
  7. atlantic
  8. shine
  9. religious
  10. promoting
  11. shortcomings
  12. generally

Original Text


The year was 1776. In Bavaria, new ideals of rationalism, religious freedom, and universal human rights competed with the Catholic church’s heavy influence over public affairs. Across the Atlantic, a new nation staked its claim for independence on the basis of these ideas. But back in Bavaria, law professor Adam Weishaupt’s attempts to teach secular philosophy continued to be frustrated.

Weishaupt decided to spread his ideas through a secret society that would shine a light on the shortcomings of the Church’s ideology. He called his secret society the Illuminati.

Weishaupt modelled aspects of his secret society off a group called the Freemasons. Originally an elite stoneworkers’ guild in the late Middle Ages, the Freemasons had gone from passing down the craft of masonry to more generally promoting ideals of knowledge and reason. Over time, they had grown into a semi-secret, exclusive order that included many wealthy and influential individuals, with elaborate, secret initiation rituals.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations


ngrams of length 2

collocation frequency
secret society 3
bavarian government 2


Important Words


  1. adam
  2. affairs
  3. ages
  4. aspects
  5. atlantic
  6. attempts
  7. basis
  8. bavaria
  9. called
  10. catholic
  11. claim
  12. competed
  13. continued
  14. craft
  15. decided
  16. elaborate
  17. elite
  18. exclusive
  19. freedom
  20. freemasons
  21. frustrated
  22. generally
  23. group
  24. grown
  25. guild
  26. heavy
  27. human
  28. ideals
  29. ideas
  30. ideology
  31. illuminati
  32. included
  33. independence
  34. individuals
  35. influence
  36. influential
  37. initiation
  38. knowledge
  39. late
  40. law
  41. light
  42. masonry
  43. middle
  44. modelled
  45. nation
  46. order
  47. originally
  48. passing
  49. philosophy
  50. professor
  51. promoting
  52. public
  53. rationalism
  54. reason
  55. religious
  56. rights
  57. rituals
  58. secret
  59. secular
  60. shine
  61. shortcomings
  62. society
  63. spread
  64. staked
  65. teach
  66. time
  67. universal
  68. wealthy
  69. weishaupt
  70. year