full transcript

From the Ted Talk by Shrabani Basu: From pacifist to spy WWII's surprising secret agent

Unscramble the Blue Letters


Noor rufseed to give away any information, focusing instead on her epscae. Secreting a screwdriver away from the gduars, they were able to leoson a skylight and slip out into the night. But just as the prisoners beagn to run for their lives, an air raid siren arlteed her captors. Noor was caught once again and sent to a German prison. Then, on to Dachau concentration camp.

Despite being troreutd, deprived and isolated, Noor gave nothing away. In the moments before her execution she is thought to have shouted “Liberté!” Since her heroic sacrifice, Noor has been hoeurond as a hero who waged secret battles behind enemy lines– paving the way for freedom without ever taking a life.

Open Cloze


Noor _______ to give away any information, focusing instead on her ______. Secreting a screwdriver away from the ______, they were able to ______ a skylight and slip out into the night. But just as the prisoners _____ to run for their lives, an air raid siren _______ her captors. Noor was caught once again and sent to a German prison. Then, on to Dachau concentration camp.

Despite being ________, deprived and isolated, Noor gave nothing away. In the moments before her execution she is thought to have shouted “Liberté!” Since her heroic sacrifice, Noor has been ________ as a hero who waged secret battles behind enemy lines– paving the way for freedom without ever taking a life.

Solution


  1. loosen
  2. began
  3. honoured
  4. tortured
  5. refused
  6. escape
  7. guards
  8. alerted

Original Text


Noor refused to give away any information, focusing instead on her escape. Secreting a screwdriver away from the guards, they were able to loosen a skylight and slip out into the night. But just as the prisoners began to run for their lives, an air raid siren alerted her captors. Noor was caught once again and sent to a German prison. Then, on to Dachau concentration camp.

Despite being tortured, deprived and isolated, Noor gave nothing away. In the moments before her execution she is thought to have shouted “Liberté!” Since her heroic sacrifice, Noor has been honoured as a hero who waged secret battles behind enemy lines– paving the way for freedom without ever taking a life.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations


ngrams of length 2

collocation frequency
radio operator 2


Important Words


  1. air
  2. alerted
  3. battles
  4. began
  5. camp
  6. captors
  7. caught
  8. concentration
  9. dachau
  10. deprived
  11. enemy
  12. escape
  13. execution
  14. focusing
  15. freedom
  16. gave
  17. german
  18. give
  19. guards
  20. hero
  21. heroic
  22. honoured
  23. information
  24. isolated
  25. life
  26. lives
  27. loosen
  28. moments
  29. night
  30. noor
  31. paving
  32. prison
  33. prisoners
  34. raid
  35. refused
  36. run
  37. sacrifice
  38. screwdriver
  39. secret
  40. secreting
  41. shouted
  42. siren
  43. skylight
  44. slip
  45. thought
  46. tortured
  47. waged