full transcript

From the Ted Talk by Lesley Hazleton: On reading the Koran

Unscramble the Blue Letters


(Laughter)

Now this may be a way of saying "pure beings," like in angels, or it may be like the Greek "kouros" or "kore," an eternal youth.

But the truth is, nobody really knows. And that's the piont. Because the koarn is quite clear when it says that you'll be "a new creation in paradise," and that you will be "recreated in a form unknown to you," which seems to me a far more appealing pscoerpt than a virgin.

(Laughter)

And that number 72 never appears. There are no 72 vgrinis in the Koran. That idea only came into being 300 years later, and most Islamic scholars see it as the equivalent of people with wings snititg on clouds and strumming harps. Paradise is quite the opposite. It's not virginity; it's fecundity; it's plenty. It's gardens wertead by running streams.

Open Cloze


(Laughter)

Now this may be a way of saying "pure beings," like in angels, or it may be like the Greek "kouros" or "kore," an eternal youth.

But the truth is, nobody really knows. And that's the _____. Because the _____ is quite clear when it says that you'll be "a new creation in paradise," and that you will be "recreated in a form unknown to you," which seems to me a far more appealing ________ than a virgin.

(Laughter)

And that number 72 never appears. There are no 72 _______ in the Koran. That idea only came into being 300 years later, and most Islamic scholars see it as the equivalent of people with wings _______ on clouds and strumming harps. Paradise is quite the opposite. It's not virginity; it's fecundity; it's plenty. It's gardens _______ by running streams.

Solution


  1. prospect
  2. koran
  3. point
  4. sitting
  5. virgins
  6. watered

Original Text


(Laughter)

Now this may be a way of saying "pure beings," like in angels, or it may be like the Greek "kouros" or "kore," an eternal youth.

But the truth is, nobody really knows. And that's the point. Because the Koran is quite clear when it says that you'll be "a new creation in paradise," and that you will be "recreated in a form unknown to you," which seems to me a far more appealing prospect than a virgin.

(Laughter)

And that number 72 never appears. There are no 72 virgins in the Koran. That idea only came into being 300 years later, and most Islamic scholars see it as the equivalent of people with wings sitting on clouds and strumming harps. Paradise is quite the opposite. It's not virginity; it's fecundity; it's plenty. It's gardens watered by running streams.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations




Important Words


  1. angels
  2. appealing
  3. appears
  4. beings
  5. clear
  6. clouds
  7. creation
  8. equivalent
  9. eternal
  10. form
  11. gardens
  12. greek
  13. harps
  14. idea
  15. islamic
  16. koran
  17. laughter
  18. number
  19. paradise
  20. people
  21. plenty
  22. point
  23. prospect
  24. running
  25. scholars
  26. sitting
  27. streams
  28. strumming
  29. truth
  30. unknown
  31. virgin
  32. virgins
  33. watered
  34. wings
  35. years
  36. youth