TedTest

From the Ted Talk by George Zaidan and Charles Morton: How do cancer cells behave differently from healthy ones?

Unscramble the Blue Letters

We all start life as one single cell. Then that cell divides and we are two cells, then four, then eight. Cells form tessius, tissues form organs, organs form us. These cell divisions, by which we go from a single cell to 100 trillion cells, are called growth. And gtrwoh seems like a simple thing because when we think of it, we typically think of someone getting tllaer or, later in life, wider, but to cells, growth isn't simple. Cell division is an intricate caehimcl dance that's part individual, part community-driven. And in a neighborhood of 100 trioilln cells, some times things go wrnog. Maybe an iianiddvul cell's set of instructions, or DNA, gets a typo, what we call a mtoauitn. Most of the time, the cell senses mistakes and shuts itself down, or the system dtceets a troublemaker and eliminates it. But, enough mutations can bypass the fail-safes, driving the cell to divide reesllskcy. That one rogue cell becomes two, then four, then eight. At every stage, the incorrect instructions are passed along to the cells' offspring. Weeks, months, or yreas after that one ruoge cell trasnrmoefd, you might see your dcootr about a lump in your breast. dlfuictify going to the bathroom could reveal a problem in your intestine, prostate, or bladder. Or, a rnutioe blood test might count too many white cells or elevated liver enezyms. Your doctor delivers the bad news: it's ccnaer. From here your strategy will depend on where the cancer is and how far it's progressed. If the tumor is slow-growing and in one place, surgery might be all you need, if anything. If the tumor is fast-growing or invading nraeby tissue, your doctor might recommend radiation or surgery followed by radiation. If the cancer has sreapd, or if it's ihetnrenly everywhere like a leukemia, your doctor will most likely recommend chemotherapy or a combination of radiation and cmeho. Radiation and most forms of chemo work by phsiyaclly shredding the cells' DNA or disrupting the copying machinery. But neither radiation nor chemotherapeutic drugs tgaret only cancer cells. Radiation hits whatever you point it at, and your blood stream carries chemo-therapeutics all over your body. So, what happens when different cells get hit? Let's look at a healthy liver cell, a healthy hair cell, and a cancerous cell. The healthy liver cell divides only when it is stressed; the healthy hair cell divides frequently; and the cancer cell divides even more frequently and recklessly. When you take a chemotherapeutic drug, it will hit all of these cells. And remember that the drugs work typically by disrupting cell doiisivn. So, every time a cell divides, it opens itself up to attack, and that mneas the more frequently a cell divides, the more likely the drug is to kill it. So, remmbeer that hair cell? It divides frequently and isn't a trehat. And, there are other frequently dividing cells in your body like skin cells, gut clels, and blood cells. So the list of unpleasant side effects of cancer treatment parallels these tsiuse types: hair loss, skin rashes, nuaesa, vomiting, fatigue, weight loss, and pain. That makes sense because these are the cells that get hit the hardest. So, in the end, it is all about growth. Cancer hjiacks cells' natural division machinery and forces them to put the peadl to the metal, growing rapidly and recklessly. But, using chemotherapeutic dgurs, we take advantage of that aggressiveness, and we turn cancer's main strength into a weakness.

Open Cloze

We all start life as one single cell. Then that cell divides and we are two cells, then four, then eight. Cells form _______, tissues form organs, organs form us. These cell divisions, by which we go from a single cell to 100 trillion cells, are called growth. And ______ seems like a simple thing because when we think of it, we typically think of someone getting ______ or, later in life, wider, but to cells, growth isn't simple. Cell division is an intricate ________ dance that's part individual, part community-driven. And in a neighborhood of 100 ________ cells, some times things go _____. Maybe an __________ cell's set of instructions, or DNA, gets a typo, what we call a ________. Most of the time, the cell senses mistakes and shuts itself down, or the system _______ a troublemaker and eliminates it. But, enough mutations can bypass the fail-safes, driving the cell to divide __________. That one rogue cell becomes two, then four, then eight. At every stage, the incorrect instructions are passed along to the cells' offspring. Weeks, months, or _____ after that one _____ cell ___________, you might see your ______ about a lump in your breast. __________ going to the bathroom could reveal a problem in your intestine, prostate, or bladder. Or, a _______ blood test might count too many white cells or elevated liver _______. Your doctor delivers the bad news: it's ______. From here your strategy will depend on where the cancer is and how far it's progressed. If the tumor is slow-growing and in one place, surgery might be all you need, if anything. If the tumor is fast-growing or invading ______ tissue, your doctor might recommend radiation or surgery followed by radiation. If the cancer has ______, or if it's __________ everywhere like a leukemia, your doctor will most likely recommend chemotherapy or a combination of radiation and _____. Radiation and most forms of chemo work by __________ shredding the cells' DNA or disrupting the copying machinery. But neither radiation nor chemotherapeutic drugs ______ only cancer cells. Radiation hits whatever you point it at, and your blood stream carries chemo-therapeutics all over your body. So, what happens when different cells get hit? Let's look at a healthy liver cell, a healthy hair cell, and a cancerous cell. The healthy liver cell divides only when it is stressed; the healthy hair cell divides frequently; and the cancer cell divides even more frequently and recklessly. When you take a chemotherapeutic drug, it will hit all of these cells. And remember that the drugs work typically by disrupting cell ________. So, every time a cell divides, it opens itself up to attack, and that _____ the more frequently a cell divides, the more likely the drug is to kill it. So, ________ that hair cell? It divides frequently and isn't a ______. And, there are other frequently dividing cells in your body like skin cells, gut _____, and blood cells. So the list of unpleasant side effects of cancer treatment parallels these ______ types: hair loss, skin rashes, ______, vomiting, fatigue, weight loss, and pain. That makes sense because these are the cells that get hit the hardest. So, in the end, it is all about growth. Cancer _______ cells' natural division machinery and forces them to put the _____ to the metal, growing rapidly and recklessly. But, using chemotherapeutic _____, we take advantage of that aggressiveness, and we turn cancer's main strength into a weakness.

Solution

threat
transformed
routine
years
inherently
tissue
mutation
tissues
cancer
recklessly
wrong
taller
enzymes
remember
trillion
pedal
cells
nearby
nausea
hijacks
chemo
chemical
detects
drugs
rogue
physically
target
division
doctor
growth
difficulty
means
individual
spread

Original Text

We all start life as one single cell. Then that cell divides and we are two cells, then four, then eight. Cells form tissues, tissues form organs, organs form us. These cell divisions, by which we go from a single cell to 100 trillion cells, are called growth. And growth seems like a simple thing because when we think of it, we typically think of someone getting taller or, later in life, wider, but to cells, growth isn't simple. Cell division is an intricate chemical dance that's part individual, part community-driven. And in a neighborhood of 100 trillion cells, some times things go wrong. Maybe an individual cell's set of instructions, or DNA, gets a typo, what we call a mutation. Most of the time, the cell senses mistakes and shuts itself down, or the system detects a troublemaker and eliminates it. But, enough mutations can bypass the fail-safes, driving the cell to divide recklessly. That one rogue cell becomes two, then four, then eight. At every stage, the incorrect instructions are passed along to the cells' offspring. Weeks, months, or years after that one rogue cell transformed, you might see your doctor about a lump in your breast. Difficulty going to the bathroom could reveal a problem in your intestine, prostate, or bladder. Or, a routine blood test might count too many white cells or elevated liver enzymes. Your doctor delivers the bad news: it's cancer. From here your strategy will depend on where the cancer is and how far it's progressed. If the tumor is slow-growing and in one place, surgery might be all you need, if anything. If the tumor is fast-growing or invading nearby tissue, your doctor might recommend radiation or surgery followed by radiation. If the cancer has spread, or if it's inherently everywhere like a leukemia, your doctor will most likely recommend chemotherapy or a combination of radiation and chemo. Radiation and most forms of chemo work by physically shredding the cells' DNA or disrupting the copying machinery. But neither radiation nor chemotherapeutic drugs target only cancer cells. Radiation hits whatever you point it at, and your blood stream carries chemo-therapeutics all over your body. So, what happens when different cells get hit? Let's look at a healthy liver cell, a healthy hair cell, and a cancerous cell. The healthy liver cell divides only when it is stressed; the healthy hair cell divides frequently; and the cancer cell divides even more frequently and recklessly. When you take a chemotherapeutic drug, it will hit all of these cells. And remember that the drugs work typically by disrupting cell division. So, every time a cell divides, it opens itself up to attack, and that means the more frequently a cell divides, the more likely the drug is to kill it. So, remember that hair cell? It divides frequently and isn't a threat. And, there are other frequently dividing cells in your body like skin cells, gut cells, and blood cells. So the list of unpleasant side effects of cancer treatment parallels these tissue types: hair loss, skin rashes, nausea, vomiting, fatigue, weight loss, and pain. That makes sense because these are the cells that get hit the hardest. So, in the end, it is all about growth. Cancer hijacks cells' natural division machinery and forces them to put the pedal to the metal, growing rapidly and recklessly. But, using chemotherapeutic drugs, we take advantage of that aggressiveness, and we turn cancer's main strength into a weakness.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations

ngrams of length 2

collocation	frequency
cell divides	4
single cell	2
cell division	2
rogue cell	2
healthy liver	2
healthy hair	2

Important Words

advantage
aggressiveness
attack
bad
bathroom
bladder
blood
body
breast
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call
called
cancer
cancerous
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cell
cells
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form
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incorrect
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instructions
intestine
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invading
kill
leukemia
life
list
liver
loss
lump
machinery
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means
metal
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months
mutation
mutations
natural
nausea
nearby
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opens
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pain
parallels
part
passed
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place
point
problem
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prostate
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radiation
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side
simple
single
skin
spread
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start
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target
test
threat
time
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tissue
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treatment
trillion
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tumor
turn
typically
typo
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vomiting
weakness
weeks
weight
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work
wrong
years