full transcript

From the Ted Talk by Mona Chalabi: Is it really that bad to marry my cousin?

Unscramble the Blue Letters


People like Charles Darwin, Edgar Allan Poe and Albert Einstein, all married their first cousins. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt married his fifth cousin, Eleanor Roosevelt. She didn't even have to change her last name. One sutdy looking at millions of gegeaonly profiles concluded that between 1650 and 1850, the average person was fourth cnsiuos with their spouse.

I know, I know, what the hell is a fourth cousin? Well, it basically means that the average person had the same great graet great gdarrneanpt as their romantic partner. So why was that? Well, marrying a cousin meant keeping money and pewor within the family and maintaining your social rntpeilsioahs. It was also about pirtximoy. If you weren't traveling far in your yuong life, you're more likely to end up with someone you already know, like a second cousin.

Open Cloze


People like Charles Darwin, Edgar Allan Poe and Albert Einstein, all married their first cousins. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt married his fifth cousin, Eleanor Roosevelt. She didn't even have to change her last name. One _____ looking at millions of _________ profiles concluded that between 1650 and 1850, the average person was fourth _______ with their spouse.

I know, I know, what the hell is a fourth cousin? Well, it basically means that the average person had the same great _____ great ___________ as their romantic partner. So why was that? Well, marrying a cousin meant keeping money and _____ within the family and maintaining your social _____________. It was also about _________. If you weren't traveling far in your _____ life, you're more likely to end up with someone you already know, like a second cousin.

Solution


  1. power
  2. relationships
  3. study
  4. young
  5. grandparent
  6. proximity
  7. genealogy
  8. cousins
  9. great

Original Text


People like Charles Darwin, Edgar Allan Poe and Albert Einstein, all married their first cousins. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt married his fifth cousin, Eleanor Roosevelt. She didn't even have to change her last name. One study looking at millions of genealogy profiles concluded that between 1650 and 1850, the average person was fourth cousins with their spouse.

I know, I know, what the hell is a fourth cousin? Well, it basically means that the average person had the same great great great grandparent as their romantic partner. So why was that? Well, marrying a cousin meant keeping money and power within the family and maintaining your social relationships. It was also about proximity. If you weren't traveling far in your young life, you're more likely to end up with someone you already know, like a second cousin.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations


ngrams of length 2

collocation frequency
cousin marriage 6
average person 2


Important Words


  1. albert
  2. allan
  3. average
  4. basically
  5. change
  6. charles
  7. concluded
  8. cousin
  9. cousins
  10. darwin
  11. delano
  12. edgar
  13. einstein
  14. eleanor
  15. family
  16. fourth
  17. franklin
  18. genealogy
  19. grandparent
  20. great
  21. hell
  22. keeping
  23. life
  24. maintaining
  25. married
  26. marrying
  27. means
  28. meant
  29. millions
  30. money
  31. partner
  32. people
  33. person
  34. poe
  35. power
  36. president
  37. profiles
  38. proximity
  39. relationships
  40. romantic
  41. roosevelt
  42. social
  43. spouse
  44. study
  45. traveling
  46. young