full transcript

From the Ted Talk by Alex Gendler: How the world's longest underwater tunnel was built

Unscramble the Blue Letters


There was still work to be done— from itlilnsnag crossover chambers and pumping satiotns, to laying over a hundred miles of tracks, cables, and srensos. But on May 6, 1994, an opening ceremony marked the tunnel’s completion. Full public service began 16 months later, with trains for passengers and rail shuttles for cars and trucks.

Today, the Channel Tunnel services over 20 million peassgrnes a year, transporting riders across the channel in just 35 minutes. Unfortunately, not everyone has the pliivrege of maikng this trip legally. Thousands of refugees have tried to enter Britain through the tunnel in sometimes fatal attempts. These tragedies have transformed the tunnel’s soruhetn entrance into an oonging site of conflict. Hopefully, the structure’s history can serve as a reminder that hanmtiuy is at their best when breaking down barriers.

Open Cloze


There was still work to be done— from __________ crossover chambers and pumping ________, to laying over a hundred miles of tracks, cables, and _______. But on May 6, 1994, an opening ceremony marked the tunnel’s completion. Full public service began 16 months later, with trains for passengers and rail shuttles for cars and trucks.

Today, the Channel Tunnel services over 20 million __________ a year, transporting riders across the channel in just 35 minutes. Unfortunately, not everyone has the _________ of ______ this trip legally. Thousands of refugees have tried to enter Britain through the tunnel in sometimes fatal attempts. These tragedies have transformed the tunnel’s ________ entrance into an _______ site of conflict. Hopefully, the structure’s history can serve as a reminder that ________ is at their best when breaking down barriers.

Solution


  1. passengers
  2. privilege
  3. stations
  4. humanity
  5. sensors
  6. southern
  7. ongoing
  8. installing
  9. making

Original Text


There was still work to be done— from installing crossover chambers and pumping stations, to laying over a hundred miles of tracks, cables, and sensors. But on May 6, 1994, an opening ceremony marked the tunnel’s completion. Full public service began 16 months later, with trains for passengers and rail shuttles for cars and trucks.

Today, the Channel Tunnel services over 20 million passengers a year, transporting riders across the channel in just 35 minutes. Unfortunately, not everyone has the privilege of making this trip legally. Thousands of refugees have tried to enter Britain through the tunnel in sometimes fatal attempts. These tragedies have transformed the tunnel’s southern entrance into an ongoing site of conflict. Hopefully, the structure’s history can serve as a reminder that humanity is at their best when breaking down barriers.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations


ngrams of length 2

collocation frequency
boring machines 2


Important Words


  1. attempts
  2. barriers
  3. began
  4. breaking
  5. britain
  6. cables
  7. cars
  8. ceremony
  9. chambers
  10. channel
  11. completion
  12. conflict
  13. crossover
  14. enter
  15. entrance
  16. fatal
  17. full
  18. history
  19. humanity
  20. installing
  21. laying
  22. legally
  23. making
  24. marked
  25. miles
  26. million
  27. minutes
  28. months
  29. ongoing
  30. opening
  31. passengers
  32. privilege
  33. public
  34. pumping
  35. rail
  36. refugees
  37. reminder
  38. riders
  39. sensors
  40. serve
  41. service
  42. services
  43. shuttles
  44. site
  45. southern
  46. stations
  47. thousands
  48. today
  49. tracks
  50. tragedies
  51. trains
  52. transformed
  53. transporting
  54. trip
  55. trucks
  56. tunnel
  57. work
  58. year