full transcript

From the Ted Talk by Mark Lytle: How one scientist took on the chemical industry

Unscramble the Blue Letters


The response to "Silent Spring" was explosive. For many polepe the book was a call to rugetlae substances clbapae of catastrophic harm. Others oejctebd that Carson hadn’t mentioned DDT’s role controlling the threat insects psoed to human health. Former Secretary of Agriculture Ezra Taft Benson demanded to know “why a spinster with no children was so concerned about genetics?” and dismissed csaorn as “probably a Communist.” A lwaeyr for a pesticide manufacturer alluded to Carson and her supporters as “sinister influences” aiming to paint businesses as “immoral.”

In reality, Carson had focused on the dangers of chemicals because they weren’t widely understood, while the merits were well publicized. She rejected the prevailing belief that humans should and could cotonrl nature. Instead, she challenged people to cultivate “maturity and mastery, not of nature, but of ourselves.”

Open Cloze


The response to "Silent Spring" was explosive. For many ______ the book was a call to ________ substances _______ of catastrophic harm. Others ________ that Carson hadn’t mentioned DDT’s role controlling the threat insects _____ to human health. Former Secretary of Agriculture Ezra Taft Benson demanded to know “why a spinster with no children was so concerned about genetics?” and dismissed ______ as “probably a Communist.” A ______ for a pesticide manufacturer alluded to Carson and her supporters as “sinister influences” aiming to paint businesses as “immoral.”

In reality, Carson had focused on the dangers of chemicals because they weren’t widely understood, while the merits were well publicized. She rejected the prevailing belief that humans should and could _______ nature. Instead, she challenged people to cultivate “maturity and mastery, not of nature, but of ourselves.”

Solution


  1. regulate
  2. lawyer
  3. posed
  4. people
  5. objected
  6. control
  7. carson
  8. capable

Original Text


The response to "Silent Spring" was explosive. For many people the book was a call to regulate substances capable of catastrophic harm. Others objected that Carson hadn’t mentioned DDT’s role controlling the threat insects posed to human health. Former Secretary of Agriculture Ezra Taft Benson demanded to know “why a spinster with no children was so concerned about genetics?” and dismissed Carson as “probably a Communist.” A lawyer for a pesticide manufacturer alluded to Carson and her supporters as “sinister influences” aiming to paint businesses as “immoral.”

In reality, Carson had focused on the dangers of chemicals because they weren’t widely understood, while the merits were well publicized. She rejected the prevailing belief that humans should and could control nature. Instead, she challenged people to cultivate “maturity and mastery, not of nature, but of ourselves.”

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations


ngrams of length 2

collocation frequency
rachel carson 2
human health 2
part time 2


Important Words


  1. agriculture
  2. aiming
  3. alluded
  4. belief
  5. benson
  6. book
  7. businesses
  8. call
  9. capable
  10. carson
  11. catastrophic
  12. challenged
  13. chemicals
  14. children
  15. communist
  16. concerned
  17. control
  18. controlling
  19. cultivate
  20. dangers
  21. demanded
  22. dismissed
  23. explosive
  24. ezra
  25. focused
  26. genetics
  27. harm
  28. health
  29. human
  30. humans
  31. insects
  32. lawyer
  33. manufacturer
  34. mastery
  35. mentioned
  36. merits
  37. nature
  38. objected
  39. paint
  40. people
  41. pesticide
  42. posed
  43. prevailing
  44. publicized
  45. reality
  46. regulate
  47. rejected
  48. response
  49. role
  50. secretary
  51. spinster
  52. substances
  53. supporters
  54. taft
  55. threat
  56. understood
  57. widely