full transcript

From the Ted Talk by William McDonough: Cradle to cradle design

Unscramble the Blue Letters


In 1962, with rehcal Carson's "Silent Spring," I think for ppolee like me in the world of the making of things, the canary in the mine wasn't singing. And so the question that we might not have birds became kind of fundamental to those of us wandering around looking for the meadowlarks that seemed to have all disappeared. And the question was, were the birds snniigg? Now, I'm not a scientist, that'll be really clear. But, you know, we've just come from this discussion of what a bird might be. What is a bird? Well, in my wrlod, this is a rubber duck. It comes in California with a wrainng — "This product contains chemicals known by the State of California to cause canecr and birth defects or other reproductive harm." This is a bird. What kind of culture would produce a product of this kind and then leabl it and sell it to children? I think we have a design problem.

Open Cloze


In 1962, with ______ Carson's "Silent Spring," I think for ______ like me in the world of the making of things, the canary in the mine wasn't singing. And so the question that we might not have birds became kind of fundamental to those of us wandering around looking for the meadowlarks that seemed to have all disappeared. And the question was, were the birds _______? Now, I'm not a scientist, that'll be really clear. But, you know, we've just come from this discussion of what a bird might be. What is a bird? Well, in my _____, this is a rubber duck. It comes in California with a _______ — "This product contains chemicals known by the State of California to cause ______ and birth defects or other reproductive harm." This is a bird. What kind of culture would produce a product of this kind and then _____ it and sell it to children? I think we have a design problem.

Solution


  1. people
  2. warning
  3. cancer
  4. world
  5. label
  6. rachel
  7. singing

Original Text


In 1962, with Rachel Carson's "Silent Spring," I think for people like me in the world of the making of things, the canary in the mine wasn't singing. And so the question that we might not have birds became kind of fundamental to those of us wandering around looking for the meadowlarks that seemed to have all disappeared. And the question was, were the birds singing? Now, I'm not a scientist, that'll be really clear. But, you know, we've just come from this discussion of what a bird might be. What is a bird? Well, in my world, this is a rubber duck. It comes in California with a warning — "This product contains chemicals known by the State of California to cause cancer and birth defects or other reproductive harm." This is a bird. What kind of culture would produce a product of this kind and then label it and sell it to children? I think we have a design problem.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations


ngrams of length 2

collocation frequency
solar energy 3
million people 3
chinese government 3
biological nutrition 3
operating system 2
fundamental issue 2
white house 2
technical nutrition 2
technical nutrients 2
color photograph 2
million dollars 2


Important Words


  1. bird
  2. birds
  3. birth
  4. california
  5. canary
  6. cancer
  7. chemicals
  8. children
  9. clear
  10. culture
  11. defects
  12. design
  13. disappeared
  14. discussion
  15. duck
  16. fundamental
  17. harm
  18. kind
  19. label
  20. making
  21. meadowlarks
  22. people
  23. problem
  24. produce
  25. product
  26. question
  27. rachel
  28. reproductive
  29. rubber
  30. scientist
  31. sell
  32. singing
  33. spring
  34. state
  35. wandering
  36. warning
  37. world