full transcript

From the Ted Talk by Maryam Banikarim: Life's an obstacle course — here's how to navigate it

Unscramble the Blue Letters


But fit in, not so much. "Did you ride a cmeal to school?" Another classmate nicknamed me “Khomeini.” It stung. But I pusehd those hurt feelings aside, and I started tackling that obstacle course by joining. I jenoid everything, regardless of my level of knowledge or talent. Basketball. Softball. Bowling. Let me tell you, I was a really, really bad bewolr. Sometimes these things wreokd out, sometimes they didn't. In junior high, I was mesmerized by the cheerleaders who were clearly at the top of the social hierarchy. When I got to high sohcol, I auditioned, but I didn't make it. Oh well, next year. So I audition again. And this year I make it. By the time I'm a senior, I'm included in a lot of different groups. But my people, they were the brainy kids in AP government and on the school nsepapewr.

Open Cloze


But fit in, not so much. "Did you ride a _____ to school?" Another classmate nicknamed me “Khomeini.” It stung. But I ______ those hurt feelings aside, and I started tackling that obstacle course by joining. I ______ everything, regardless of my level of knowledge or talent. Basketball. Softball. Bowling. Let me tell you, I was a really, really bad ______. Sometimes these things ______ out, sometimes they didn't. In junior high, I was mesmerized by the cheerleaders who were clearly at the top of the social hierarchy. When I got to high ______, I auditioned, but I didn't make it. Oh well, next year. So I audition again. And this year I make it. By the time I'm a senior, I'm included in a lot of different groups. But my people, they were the brainy kids in AP government and on the school _________.

Solution


  1. school
  2. worked
  3. bowler
  4. camel
  5. joined
  6. newspaper
  7. pushed

Original Text


But fit in, not so much. "Did you ride a camel to school?" Another classmate nicknamed me “Khomeini.” It stung. But I pushed those hurt feelings aside, and I started tackling that obstacle course by joining. I joined everything, regardless of my level of knowledge or talent. Basketball. Softball. Bowling. Let me tell you, I was a really, really bad bowler. Sometimes these things worked out, sometimes they didn't. In junior high, I was mesmerized by the cheerleaders who were clearly at the top of the social hierarchy. When I got to high school, I auditioned, but I didn't make it. Oh well, next year. So I audition again. And this year I make it. By the time I'm a senior, I'm included in a lot of different groups. But my people, they were the brainy kids in AP government and on the school newspaper.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations


ngrams of length 2

collocation frequency
coping mechanisms 2
york city 2


Important Words


  1. ap
  2. audition
  3. auditioned
  4. bad
  5. basketball
  6. bowler
  7. bowling
  8. brainy
  9. camel
  10. cheerleaders
  11. classmate
  12. feelings
  13. fit
  14. government
  15. groups
  16. hierarchy
  17. high
  18. hurt
  19. included
  20. joined
  21. joining
  22. junior
  23. kids
  24. knowledge
  25. level
  26. lot
  27. mesmerized
  28. newspaper
  29. nicknamed
  30. obstacle
  31. people
  32. pushed
  33. ride
  34. school
  35. senior
  36. social
  37. softball
  38. started
  39. stung
  40. tackling
  41. talent
  42. time
  43. top
  44. worked
  45. year