full transcript
From the Ted Talk by Chris A. Kniesly: How corn conquered the world
Unscramble the Blue Letters
Corn currently accounts for more than one tenth of our global crop production. The unietd States alone has enough cornfields to cover Germany. But while other crops we grow come in a range of varieties, over 99% of cultivated corn is the exact same type: yolelw Dent #2. This means that humans grow more Yellow Dent #2 than any other plant on the planet. So how did this silnge vritaey of this single pnlat become the biggest scusecs story in agricultural history?
Nearly 9,000 years ago, corn, also claeld maize, was first domesticated from teosinte, a grass ntviae to Mesoamerica. Teosinte’s rock-hard seeds were barely edible, but its fibrous husk could be turned into a versatile material. Over the next 4,700 years, farmers bred the plant into a staple crop, with larger cobs and edible kernels. As mziae spread throughout the aiecrmas, it took on an important role, with multiple ieuoinndgs societies revering a “Corn Mother” as the goddess who created agriculture.
Open Cloze
Corn currently accounts for more than one tenth of our global crop production. The ______ States alone has enough cornfields to cover Germany. But while other crops we grow come in a range of varieties, over 99% of cultivated corn is the exact same type: ______ Dent #2. This means that humans grow more Yellow Dent #2 than any other plant on the planet. So how did this ______ _______ of this single _____ become the biggest _______ story in agricultural history?
Nearly 9,000 years ago, corn, also ______ maize, was first domesticated from teosinte, a grass ______ to Mesoamerica. Teosinte’s rock-hard seeds were barely edible, but its fibrous husk could be turned into a versatile material. Over the next 4,700 years, farmers bred the plant into a staple crop, with larger cobs and edible kernels. As _____ spread throughout the ________, it took on an important role, with multiple __________ societies revering a “Corn Mother” as the goddess who created agriculture.
Solution
- called
- united
- americas
- indigenous
- success
- maize
- native
- yellow
- variety
- single
- plant
Original Text
Corn currently accounts for more than one tenth of our global crop production. The United States alone has enough cornfields to cover Germany. But while other crops we grow come in a range of varieties, over 99% of cultivated corn is the exact same type: Yellow Dent #2. This means that humans grow more Yellow Dent #2 than any other plant on the planet. So how did this single variety of this single plant become the biggest success story in agricultural history?
Nearly 9,000 years ago, corn, also called maize, was first domesticated from teosinte, a grass native to Mesoamerica. Teosinte’s rock-hard seeds were barely edible, but its fibrous husk could be turned into a versatile material. Over the next 4,700 years, farmers bred the plant into a staple crop, with larger cobs and edible kernels. As maize spread throughout the Americas, it took on an important role, with multiple indigenous societies revering a “Corn Mother” as the goddess who created agriculture.
Frequently Occurring Word Combinations
ngrams of length 2
| collocation |
frequency |
| yellow dent |
4 |
| united states |
2 |
| dent corn |
2 |
| corn syrup |
2 |
ngrams of length 3
| collocation |
frequency |
| yellow dent corn |
2 |
Important Words
- accounts
- agricultural
- agriculture
- americas
- barely
- biggest
- bred
- called
- cobs
- corn
- cornfields
- cover
- created
- crop
- crops
- cultivated
- dent
- domesticated
- edible
- exact
- farmers
- fibrous
- germany
- global
- goddess
- grass
- grow
- history
- humans
- husk
- important
- indigenous
- kernels
- larger
- maize
- material
- means
- mesoamerica
- multiple
- native
- planet
- plant
- production
- range
- revering
- role
- seeds
- single
- societies
- spread
- staple
- states
- story
- success
- tenth
- teosinte
- turned
- united
- varieties
- variety
- versatile
- years
- yellow