full transcript

From the Ted Talk by Eldridge Adams: Can animals be deceptive?

Unscramble the Blue Letters


There are fewer solid ceass of animals using sainlgs to ticrk members of their own species, but that happens too. Consider the mantis shrimp. Like other crustaceans, it molts as it grows, which leaves its soft body vulnerable to attack. But it’s still driven to protect its home against rivals. So it has become a masterful bluffer. Despite being fragile, a newly molted shrimp is actually more likely to threaten intruders, spreading the large limbs it usually uses to strike or stab its opponents. And that wrkos – bluffers are more likely to keep their homes than non-bluffers.

In its softened condition, a mantis smirhp couldn’t withstand a fight– which is why we can be cndoifent that its behavior is a bluff. Biologists have even ntoiecd that its bluffs are tactical: newly molted mantis shrimp are more likely to bluff against smaller ravlis, who are especially likely to be driven away. It would seem that instead of just threatening reflexively, the mantis shrimp is swiftly gauging the situation and piietncdrg others’ behavior, to get the best result.

Open Cloze


There are fewer solid _____ of animals using _______ to _____ members of their own species, but that happens too. Consider the mantis shrimp. Like other crustaceans, it molts as it grows, which leaves its soft body vulnerable to attack. But it’s still driven to protect its home against rivals. So it has become a masterful bluffer. Despite being fragile, a newly molted shrimp is actually more likely to threaten intruders, spreading the large limbs it usually uses to strike or stab its opponents. And that _____ – bluffers are more likely to keep their homes than non-bluffers.

In its softened condition, a mantis ______ couldn’t withstand a fight– which is why we can be _________ that its behavior is a bluff. Biologists have even _______ that its bluffs are tactical: newly molted mantis shrimp are more likely to bluff against smaller ______, who are especially likely to be driven away. It would seem that instead of just threatening reflexively, the mantis shrimp is swiftly gauging the situation and __________ others’ behavior, to get the best result.

Solution


  1. cases
  2. works
  3. shrimp
  4. predicting
  5. confident
  6. noticed
  7. rivals
  8. signals
  9. trick

Original Text


There are fewer solid cases of animals using signals to trick members of their own species, but that happens too. Consider the mantis shrimp. Like other crustaceans, it molts as it grows, which leaves its soft body vulnerable to attack. But it’s still driven to protect its home against rivals. So it has become a masterful bluffer. Despite being fragile, a newly molted shrimp is actually more likely to threaten intruders, spreading the large limbs it usually uses to strike or stab its opponents. And that works – bluffers are more likely to keep their homes than non-bluffers.

In its softened condition, a mantis shrimp couldn’t withstand a fight– which is why we can be confident that its behavior is a bluff. Biologists have even noticed that its bluffs are tactical: newly molted mantis shrimp are more likely to bluff against smaller rivals, who are especially likely to be driven away. It would seem that instead of just threatening reflexively, the mantis shrimp is swiftly gauging the situation and predicting others’ behavior, to get the best result.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations


ngrams of length 2

collocation frequency
mantis shrimp 4
animal deception 2
newly molted 2


Important Words


  1. animals
  2. attack
  3. behavior
  4. biologists
  5. bluff
  6. bluffer
  7. bluffers
  8. bluffs
  9. body
  10. cases
  11. condition
  12. confident
  13. crustaceans
  14. driven
  15. fragile
  16. gauging
  17. grows
  18. home
  19. homes
  20. intruders
  21. large
  22. leaves
  23. limbs
  24. mantis
  25. masterful
  26. members
  27. molted
  28. molts
  29. newly
  30. noticed
  31. opponents
  32. predicting
  33. protect
  34. reflexively
  35. result
  36. rivals
  37. shrimp
  38. signals
  39. situation
  40. smaller
  41. soft
  42. softened
  43. solid
  44. species
  45. spreading
  46. stab
  47. strike
  48. swiftly
  49. threaten
  50. threatening
  51. trick
  52. vulnerable
  53. withstand
  54. works