full transcript

From the Ted Talk by Christopher McDougall: Are we born to run?

Unscramble the Blue Letters


The gun goes off, and — I mean, she's not even an underdog; she's, like, under the underdogs. But the under-underdog hangs tough, and 22 miles into a 26-mile race, there is Derartu Tulu, up there with the lead pack. Now, this is when something really bizarre happens. Paula Radcliffe, the one person who is sure to sncath the big paycheck from Derartu Tulu's under-underdog hands, sduendly grabs her leg and starts to fall back. So we all know what to do in this suoiattin, right? You give her a quick crack in the tteeh with your elbow and blaze for the finish line. Derartu Tulu rnuis the script. Instead of taking off, she falls back and she grbas Paula Radcliffe, and says, "Come on. Come with us. You can do it." So pluaa Radcliffe, unfortunately, does it. She catches up with the lead pack and is pushing toward the finish line. But then she falls back again. The second time, Derartu Tulu grabs her and tries to pull her. And Paula Radcliffe, at that point, says, "I'm done. Go." So that's a fantastic story, and we all know how it ends. She loses the check, but she goes home with something bigger and more important. Except dretrau Tulu ruins the script again. Instead of loisng, she bzeals past the lead pack and wins. Wins the New York City Marathon, goes home with a big fat check.

Open Cloze


The gun goes off, and — I mean, she's not even an underdog; she's, like, under the underdogs. But the under-underdog hangs tough, and 22 miles into a 26-mile race, there is Derartu Tulu, up there with the lead pack. Now, this is when something really bizarre happens. Paula Radcliffe, the one person who is sure to ______ the big paycheck from Derartu Tulu's under-underdog hands, ________ grabs her leg and starts to fall back. So we all know what to do in this _________, right? You give her a quick crack in the _____ with your elbow and blaze for the finish line. Derartu Tulu _____ the script. Instead of taking off, she falls back and she _____ Paula Radcliffe, and says, "Come on. Come with us. You can do it." So _____ Radcliffe, unfortunately, does it. She catches up with the lead pack and is pushing toward the finish line. But then she falls back again. The second time, Derartu Tulu grabs her and tries to pull her. And Paula Radcliffe, at that point, says, "I'm done. Go." So that's a fantastic story, and we all know how it ends. She loses the check, but she goes home with something bigger and more important. Except _______ Tulu ruins the script again. Instead of ______, she ______ past the lead pack and wins. Wins the New York City Marathon, goes home with a big fat check.

Solution


  1. paula
  2. blazes
  3. grabs
  4. derartu
  5. situation
  6. losing
  7. ruins
  8. snatch
  9. teeth
  10. suddenly

Original Text


The gun goes off, and — I mean, she's not even an underdog; she's, like, under the underdogs. But the under-underdog hangs tough, and 22 miles into a 26-mile race, there is Derartu Tulu, up there with the lead pack. Now, this is when something really bizarre happens. Paula Radcliffe, the one person who is sure to snatch the big paycheck from Derartu Tulu's under-underdog hands, suddenly grabs her leg and starts to fall back. So we all know what to do in this situation, right? You give her a quick crack in the teeth with your elbow and blaze for the finish line. Derartu Tulu ruins the script. Instead of taking off, she falls back and she grabs Paula Radcliffe, and says, "Come on. Come with us. You can do it." So Paula Radcliffe, unfortunately, does it. She catches up with the lead pack and is pushing toward the finish line. But then she falls back again. The second time, Derartu Tulu grabs her and tries to pull her. And Paula Radcliffe, at that point, says, "I'm done. Go." So that's a fantastic story, and we all know how it ends. She loses the check, but she goes home with something bigger and more important. Except Derartu Tulu ruins the script again. Instead of losing, she blazes past the lead pack and wins. Wins the New York City Marathon, goes home with a big fat check.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations


ngrams of length 2

collocation frequency
derartu tulu 8
york city 3
lead pack 3
copper canyons 3
mystery number 3
hunting pack 3
running shoes 3
long time 2
ethiopian woman 2
woman named 2
named derartu 2
fastest woman 2
finish line 2
tulu ruins 2
big fat 2
usain bolt 2
medical science 2
emily baer 2
natural advantage 2

ngrams of length 3

collocation frequency
ethiopian woman named 2
woman named derartu 2
named derartu tulu 2
derartu tulu ruins 2

Important Words


  1. big
  2. bigger
  3. bizarre
  4. blaze
  5. blazes
  6. catches
  7. check
  8. city
  9. crack
  10. derartu
  11. elbow
  12. ends
  13. fall
  14. falls
  15. fantastic
  16. fat
  17. finish
  18. give
  19. grabs
  20. gun
  21. hands
  22. hangs
  23. home
  24. important
  25. lead
  26. leg
  27. line
  28. loses
  29. losing
  30. marathon
  31. miles
  32. pack
  33. paula
  34. paycheck
  35. person
  36. point
  37. pull
  38. pushing
  39. quick
  40. race
  41. radcliffe
  42. ruins
  43. script
  44. situation
  45. snatch
  46. starts
  47. story
  48. suddenly
  49. teeth
  50. time
  51. tough
  52. tulu
  53. underdogs
  54. wins
  55. york