full transcript

From the Ted Talk by Alex Gendler: Blood, concrete, and dynamite Building the Hoover Dam

Unscramble the Blue Letters


Before construction on the dam could begin, the entire river had to be roreuted. bdluinig these diversion tunnels rqieerud balstnig into each side of the canyon to create 17 meter tall tubes. With a combined ltnegh of almost 5 kilometers, these tunnels could divert roughly 5,600 cubic meters of water per second. However, workers faced grueling conditions to finish these on time, and dozens succumbed to the scorching heat.

By the fall of 1932, the river had been successfully redirected. But the most dangerous work was still ahead. Over 1 million cubic meters of loose rock neeedd to be cealred from the canyon wllas. So foremen brought in high scalers who deedenscd the cliffs on ropes, removing rubble with jackhammers and daimtnye. From circus aocbrtas and former sailors, to local Apache, these death-defying individuals performed some of the most dangerous— and glamorous— work on site.

Open Cloze


Before construction on the dam could begin, the entire river had to be ________. ________ these diversion tunnels ________ ________ into each side of the canyon to create 17 meter tall tubes. With a combined ______ of almost 5 kilometers, these tunnels could divert roughly 5,600 cubic meters of water per second. However, workers faced grueling conditions to finish these on time, and dozens succumbed to the scorching heat.

By the fall of 1932, the river had been successfully redirected. But the most dangerous work was still ahead. Over 1 million cubic meters of loose rock ______ to be _______ from the canyon _____. So foremen brought in high scalers who _________ the cliffs on ropes, removing rubble with jackhammers and ________. From circus ________ and former sailors, to local Apache, these death-defying individuals performed some of the most dangerous— and glamorous— work on site.

Solution


  1. rerouted
  2. acrobats
  3. required
  4. descended
  5. building
  6. walls
  7. dynamite
  8. needed
  9. blasting
  10. cleared
  11. length

Original Text


Before construction on the dam could begin, the entire river had to be rerouted. Building these diversion tunnels required blasting into each side of the canyon to create 17 meter tall tubes. With a combined length of almost 5 kilometers, these tunnels could divert roughly 5,600 cubic meters of water per second. However, workers faced grueling conditions to finish these on time, and dozens succumbed to the scorching heat.

By the fall of 1932, the river had been successfully redirected. But the most dangerous work was still ahead. Over 1 million cubic meters of loose rock needed to be cleared from the canyon walls. So foremen brought in high scalers who descended the cliffs on ropes, removing rubble with jackhammers and dynamite. From circus acrobats and former sailors, to local Apache, these death-defying individuals performed some of the most dangerous— and glamorous— work on site.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations


ngrams of length 2

collocation frequency
hoover dam 2
colorado river 2
canyon walls 2
diversion tunnels 2
cubic meters 2


Important Words


  1. acrobats
  2. apache
  3. blasting
  4. brought
  5. building
  6. canyon
  7. circus
  8. cleared
  9. cliffs
  10. combined
  11. conditions
  12. construction
  13. create
  14. cubic
  15. dam
  16. dangerous
  17. descended
  18. diversion
  19. divert
  20. dozens
  21. dynamite
  22. entire
  23. faced
  24. fall
  25. finish
  26. foremen
  27. grueling
  28. heat
  29. high
  30. individuals
  31. jackhammers
  32. kilometers
  33. length
  34. local
  35. loose
  36. meter
  37. meters
  38. million
  39. needed
  40. performed
  41. redirected
  42. removing
  43. required
  44. rerouted
  45. river
  46. rock
  47. ropes
  48. roughly
  49. rubble
  50. sailors
  51. scalers
  52. scorching
  53. side
  54. site
  55. successfully
  56. succumbed
  57. tall
  58. time
  59. tubes
  60. tunnels
  61. walls
  62. water
  63. work
  64. workers