full transcript

From the Ted Talk by Kate Slabosky: Can the ocean run out of oxygen?

Unscramble the Blue Letters


hamun aictivty is similarly responsible for growing dead zones around the world. So what can be done? In the shrot term, countries can set tighter regulations on industrial run-off, and ban the dumping of uteeratnd sewage into ocean waters. On farms, we can palnt buffer zones composed of trees and shrubs to absorb runoff. However, long term solutions will reqriue radical changes to the way we grow food. Farmers are currently incentivized to use techniques that reduce the hletah of the soil and rely heavily on nitrogen-rich fertilizers. But there would be less need for these chemicals if we restore the soil’s natural nutrients by pnniltag diverse crops that manage soil erosion and fertility. Hopefully we can make these fuaatdmnenl changes soon. Because if we don’t, the future of our marine ecosystems may be dead in the water.

Open Cloze


_____ ________ is similarly responsible for growing dead zones around the world. So what can be done? In the _____ term, countries can set tighter regulations on industrial run-off, and ban the dumping of _________ sewage into ocean waters. On farms, we can _____ buffer zones composed of trees and shrubs to absorb runoff. However, long term solutions will _______ radical changes to the way we grow food. Farmers are currently incentivized to use techniques that reduce the ______ of the soil and rely heavily on nitrogen-rich fertilizers. But there would be less need for these chemicals if we restore the soil’s natural nutrients by ________ diverse crops that manage soil erosion and fertility. Hopefully we can make these ___________ changes soon. Because if we don’t, the future of our marine ecosystems may be dead in the water.

Solution


  1. untreated
  2. activity
  3. human
  4. health
  5. short
  6. planting
  7. require
  8. fundamental
  9. plant

Original Text


Human activity is similarly responsible for growing dead zones around the world. So what can be done? In the short term, countries can set tighter regulations on industrial run-off, and ban the dumping of untreated sewage into ocean waters. On farms, we can plant buffer zones composed of trees and shrubs to absorb runoff. However, long term solutions will require radical changes to the way we grow food. Farmers are currently incentivized to use techniques that reduce the health of the soil and rely heavily on nitrogen-rich fertilizers. But there would be less need for these chemicals if we restore the soil’s natural nutrients by planting diverse crops that manage soil erosion and fertility. Hopefully we can make these fundamental changes soon. Because if we don’t, the future of our marine ecosystems may be dead in the water.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations


ngrams of length 2

collocation frequency
dead zone 4
dead zones 2
algae growth 2
coastal waters 2
human activity 2


Important Words


  1. absorb
  2. activity
  3. ban
  4. buffer
  5. chemicals
  6. composed
  7. countries
  8. crops
  9. dead
  10. diverse
  11. dumping
  12. ecosystems
  13. erosion
  14. farmers
  15. farms
  16. fertility
  17. fertilizers
  18. food
  19. fundamental
  20. future
  21. grow
  22. growing
  23. health
  24. heavily
  25. human
  26. incentivized
  27. industrial
  28. long
  29. manage
  30. marine
  31. natural
  32. nutrients
  33. ocean
  34. plant
  35. planting
  36. radical
  37. reduce
  38. regulations
  39. rely
  40. require
  41. responsible
  42. restore
  43. runoff
  44. set
  45. sewage
  46. short
  47. shrubs
  48. similarly
  49. soil
  50. solutions
  51. techniques
  52. term
  53. tighter
  54. trees
  55. untreated
  56. water
  57. waters
  58. world
  59. zones