full transcript

From the Ted Talk by Brian D. Avery: How rollercoasters affect your body

Unscramble the Blue Letters


In the summer of 1895, crowds flooded the Coney Island boardwalk to see the latest marvel of roller coaster technology: the Flip Flap Railway. This was America’s first-ever looping coaster – but its thrilling flip came at a price. The ride caused numerous cases of severe whiplash, neck injury and even ejections, all due to its signature loop. Today, coasters can pull off far more exciting tricks, without rotiserng to the “thrill” of a hospital visit. But what exactly are roller ctoasres doing to your body, and how have they managed to get scarier and safer at the same time?

At the center of every roller ctsaeor deigsn is gravity. Unlike cars or tnsiart tianrs, most coasters are propelled around their tracks almost entirely by gravitational energy. After the coaster csrets the initial lift hill, it beigns an expertly engineered clyce – building potential energy on ascents and expending kinetic energy on descents. This rhythm repeats throughout the ride, atcing out the coaster engineer’s choreographed dance of girioaavttnal eenrgy.

Open Cloze


In the summer of 1895, crowds flooded the Coney Island boardwalk to see the latest marvel of roller coaster technology: the Flip Flap Railway. This was America’s first-ever looping coaster – but its thrilling flip came at a price. The ride caused numerous cases of severe whiplash, neck injury and even ejections, all due to its signature loop. Today, coasters can pull off far more exciting tricks, without _________ to the “thrill” of a hospital visit. But what exactly are roller ________ doing to your body, and how have they managed to get scarier and safer at the same time?

At the center of every roller _______ ______ is gravity. Unlike cars or _______ ______, most coasters are propelled around their tracks almost entirely by gravitational energy. After the coaster ______ the initial lift hill, it ______ an expertly engineered _____ – building potential energy on ascents and expending kinetic energy on descents. This rhythm repeats throughout the ride, ______ out the coaster engineer’s choreographed dance of _____________ ______.

Solution


  1. acting
  2. crests
  3. resorting
  4. design
  5. transit
  6. trains
  7. cycle
  8. energy
  9. gravitational
  10. coaster
  11. coasters
  12. begins

Original Text


In the summer of 1895, crowds flooded the Coney Island boardwalk to see the latest marvel of roller coaster technology: the Flip Flap Railway. This was America’s first-ever looping coaster – but its thrilling flip came at a price. The ride caused numerous cases of severe whiplash, neck injury and even ejections, all due to its signature loop. Today, coasters can pull off far more exciting tricks, without resorting to the “thrill” of a hospital visit. But what exactly are roller coasters doing to your body, and how have they managed to get scarier and safer at the same time?

At the center of every roller coaster design is gravity. Unlike cars or transit trains, most coasters are propelled around their tracks almost entirely by gravitational energy. After the coaster crests the initial lift hill, it begins an expertly engineered cycle – building potential energy on ascents and expending kinetic energy on descents. This rhythm repeats throughout the ride, acting out the coaster engineer’s choreographed dance of gravitational energy.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations


ngrams of length 2

collocation frequency
ride designers 4
roller coaster 2
roller coasters 2
gravitational energy 2
modern ride 2
motion sickness 2
coaster engineers 2

ngrams of length 3

collocation frequency
modern ride designers 2

Important Words


  1. acting
  2. ascents
  3. begins
  4. boardwalk
  5. body
  6. building
  7. cars
  8. cases
  9. caused
  10. center
  11. choreographed
  12. coaster
  13. coasters
  14. coney
  15. crests
  16. crowds
  17. cycle
  18. dance
  19. descents
  20. design
  21. due
  22. ejections
  23. energy
  24. engineered
  25. exciting
  26. expending
  27. expertly
  28. flap
  29. flip
  30. flooded
  31. gravitational
  32. gravity
  33. hill
  34. hospital
  35. initial
  36. injury
  37. island
  38. kinetic
  39. latest
  40. lift
  41. loop
  42. looping
  43. managed
  44. marvel
  45. neck
  46. numerous
  47. potential
  48. price
  49. propelled
  50. pull
  51. railway
  52. repeats
  53. resorting
  54. rhythm
  55. ride
  56. roller
  57. safer
  58. scarier
  59. severe
  60. signature
  61. summer
  62. thrilling
  63. time
  64. today
  65. tracks
  66. trains
  67. transit
  68. tricks
  69. visit
  70. whiplash