full transcript

From the Ted Talk by Jeff Iliff: One more reason to get a good night's sleep

Unscramble the Blue Letters


Sleep. It's something we spend about a third of our lives doing, but do any of us really understand what it's all about?

Two thousand years ago, Galen, one of the most prominent medical researchers of the ancient world, psoperod that while we're awake, our brain's motive force, its juice, would flow out to all the other parts of the body, animating them but leaving the brain all dried up, and he thought that when we sleep, all this musiorte that filled the rest of the body would come rushing back, rdntehaiyrg the bairn and refreshing the mind. Now, that sounds completely riouuldcis to us now, but gaeln was spmliy trying to explain something about sleep that we all deal with every day. See, we all know based on our own experience that when you sleep, it clears your mind, and when you don't sleep, it leveas your mind murky. But while we know a great deal more about sleep now than when Galen was around, we still haven't urtdnoosed why it is that sleep, of all of our activities, has this incredible restorative fiucnton for the mind.

Open Cloze


Sleep. It's something we spend about a third of our lives doing, but do any of us really understand what it's all about?

Two thousand years ago, Galen, one of the most prominent medical researchers of the ancient world, ________ that while we're awake, our brain's motive force, its juice, would flow out to all the other parts of the body, animating them but leaving the brain all dried up, and he thought that when we sleep, all this ________ that filled the rest of the body would come rushing back, ___________ the _____ and refreshing the mind. Now, that sounds completely __________ to us now, but _____ was ______ trying to explain something about sleep that we all deal with every day. See, we all know based on our own experience that when you sleep, it clears your mind, and when you don't sleep, it ______ your mind murky. But while we know a great deal more about sleep now than when Galen was around, we still haven't __________ why it is that sleep, of all of our activities, has this incredible restorative ________ for the mind.

Solution


  1. moisture
  2. galen
  3. understood
  4. simply
  5. leaves
  6. proposed
  7. ridiculous
  8. rehydrating
  9. brain
  10. function

Original Text


Sleep. It's something we spend about a third of our lives doing, but do any of us really understand what it's all about?

Two thousand years ago, Galen, one of the most prominent medical researchers of the ancient world, proposed that while we're awake, our brain's motive force, its juice, would flow out to all the other parts of the body, animating them but leaving the brain all dried up, and he thought that when we sleep, all this moisture that filled the rest of the body would come rushing back, rehydrating the brain and refreshing the mind. Now, that sounds completely ridiculous to us now, but Galen was simply trying to explain something about sleep that we all deal with every day. See, we all know based on our own experience that when you sleep, it clears your mind, and when you don't sleep, it leaves your mind murky. But while we know a great deal more about sleep now than when Galen was around, we still haven't understood why it is that sleep, of all of our activities, has this incredible restorative function for the mind.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations


ngrams of length 2

collocation frequency
blood vessels 5
supply nutrients 2
living mouse 2
left shows 2
fluid rushing 2
sleeping brain 2


Important Words


  1. activities
  2. ancient
  3. animating
  4. awake
  5. based
  6. body
  7. brain
  8. clears
  9. completely
  10. day
  11. deal
  12. dried
  13. experience
  14. explain
  15. filled
  16. flow
  17. force
  18. function
  19. galen
  20. great
  21. incredible
  22. juice
  23. leaves
  24. leaving
  25. lives
  26. medical
  27. mind
  28. moisture
  29. motive
  30. murky
  31. parts
  32. prominent
  33. proposed
  34. refreshing
  35. rehydrating
  36. researchers
  37. rest
  38. restorative
  39. ridiculous
  40. rushing
  41. simply
  42. sleep
  43. sounds
  44. spend
  45. thought
  46. thousand
  47. understand
  48. understood
  49. world
  50. years