full transcript

From the Ted Talk by Gill Hicks: I survived a terrorist attack. Here's what I learned

Unscramble the Blue Letters


I know it wasn't personal. He didn't set out to kill or maim me, Gill Hicks. I mean — he didn't know me. No. Instead, he gave me an unwarranted and an unwanted label. I had become the enemy. To him, I was the "other," the "them," as opposed to "us." The label "enemy" allowed him to dhmianezue us. It allowed him to push that bouttn. And he wasn't selective. Twenty-six precious lveis were taken in my carriage alone, and I was almost one of them.

In the time it takes to draw a betarh, we were pulnegd into a darkness so imsmnee that it was almost tangible; what I imagine wading through tar might be like. We didn't know we were the enemy. We were just a bunch of commuters who, minutes earlier, had followed the Tube etiquette: no direct eye cnocatt, no talking and absolutely no conversation.

Open Cloze


I know it wasn't personal. He didn't set out to kill or maim me, Gill Hicks. I mean — he didn't know me. No. Instead, he gave me an unwarranted and an unwanted label. I had become the enemy. To him, I was the "other," the "them," as opposed to "us." The label "enemy" allowed him to __________ us. It allowed him to push that ______. And he wasn't selective. Twenty-six precious _____ were taken in my carriage alone, and I was almost one of them.

In the time it takes to draw a ______, we were _______ into a darkness so _______ that it was almost tangible; what I imagine wading through tar might be like. We didn't know we were the enemy. We were just a bunch of commuters who, minutes earlier, had followed the Tube etiquette: no direct eye _______, no talking and absolutely no conversation.

Solution


  1. lives
  2. button
  3. contact
  4. plunged
  5. breath
  6. dehumanize
  7. immense

Original Text


I know it wasn't personal. He didn't set out to kill or maim me, Gill Hicks. I mean — he didn't know me. No. Instead, he gave me an unwarranted and an unwanted label. I had become the enemy. To him, I was the "other," the "them," as opposed to "us." The label "enemy" allowed him to dehumanize us. It allowed him to push that button. And he wasn't selective. Twenty-six precious lives were taken in my carriage alone, and I was almost one of them.

In the time it takes to draw a breath, we were plunged into a darkness so immense that it was almost tangible; what I imagine wading through tar might be like. We didn't know we were the enemy. We were just a bunch of commuters who, minutes earlier, had followed the Tube etiquette: no direct eye contact, no talking and absolutely no conversation.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations


ngrams of length 2

collocation frequency
unknown estimated 2


Important Words


  1. absolutely
  2. allowed
  3. breath
  4. bunch
  5. button
  6. carriage
  7. commuters
  8. contact
  9. conversation
  10. darkness
  11. dehumanize
  12. direct
  13. draw
  14. earlier
  15. enemy
  16. eye
  17. gave
  18. gill
  19. hicks
  20. imagine
  21. immense
  22. kill
  23. label
  24. lives
  25. maim
  26. minutes
  27. opposed
  28. personal
  29. plunged
  30. precious
  31. push
  32. selective
  33. set
  34. takes
  35. talking
  36. tar
  37. time
  38. tube
  39. unwanted
  40. unwarranted
  41. wading