TedTest

From the Ted Talk by Camille Seaman: The Arctic vs. the Antarctic

Unscramble the Blue Letters

On our planet, we have two ploar regions: the aictrc, whose name comes from the Greek atkrioks, of the North, and the Antarctic from atinktrakos, opposite of the North. But there's an eiaesr way to remember them if you just remember what surrounds them. The Arctic, situated in the Northern hemisphere of our planet, is an ocean entirely surrounded by land. On the other side of the world, the anactrtic is a cnnoneitt entirely surrounded by ocean. So, the Arctic has polar bears but no penguins, and the Antarctic has penguins but no polar bears. Let's talk about the Arctic first. The Arctic region consists of a vast, ice-covered ocean surrounded by treeless permafrost. The area can be defined as the rgieon between the Arctic Circle and the North Pole. If you were to stand at the nrtoh Pole, everywhere you looked, in all directions, would be south. But standing at the North Pole is difficult to do for very long because it's in the middle of an ocean, covered by ctsoantlny shifting, frozen sea ice. If you were to fall into the water at the North Pole, you'd fall into water that's 13,980 feet deep. Above the water, average winter temperatures can be as low as -40 degrees Celsius, and the celodst recorded temperature is approximately -68 degrees Celsius. Despite these incredibly harsh cditnionos, humans have populated areas in the Arctic for thousands of yraes. Life in the Arctic includes organisms living in the ice, zooplankton and phytoplankton, fish and marine mammals, birds, land amnlias, plants, and hmaun societies. Okay, what about Antarctica? Antarctica is Earth's southernmost continent, and it contains the geographic South Pole. It's the fifth largest continent on the planet at nearly twice the size of Australia. Almost 98% of Anarctica is covered by ice at least one mile in thickness. Conditions in Antarctica are some of the most extreme in the entire world. On average, it's the coldest, windiest, driest continent and has the highest average elevation of all the continents. You might think that it swons all the time at the Poles, but Antarctica is so dry, it's considered a dsreet with annual precipitation of only 200 millimeters along the coast and far less inland. The temperature in Antarctica has reached -89 degrees Celsius. Because it's so harsh and hard to get to, there are no permanent human residents on Antarctica, but anywhere from 1,000 to 5,000 people reside throughout the year at the research sittnoas scattered across the continent. Even the most exrtmee animals fight for survival, and only cold-adapted omnasgris siruvve there, including many types of algae, animals, bacteria, fngui, plants, and protista. But why is Antarctica colder than its northern cousin? Well, first, much of the continent is more than three kilometers above sea level, and treeaptmrue dcereesas with elevation. That's why mpuntoatonis have snow on them. Second, rmmeeber that the Arctic is really a frozen ocean. The water in the ocean beneath it is warmer than the frozen grnuod in the Antarctic, and that warmth is transferred through the ice pack. This prevents temperatures in the Arctic regions from reaching the ertexmes typical of the land surface of Antarctica. Third, the seasons are conspiring against the Antarctic. During the aphelion in July, when the etrah is the ftaerhst away from the Sun, it also happens to be winter in the Antarctic, which creates a double-whammy of cold for the southern pole. But despite being inhospitable, the North and South Pole are a big reason why our panlet is the way it is. Both of our polar regions are very important climate controllers. They help moderate the temperature in our temperate zones and give us stable weather. As sea ice in the Arctic dniecles due to climate change and global warming, wtheaer around the gbloe becomes increasing more unstable.

Open Cloze

On our planet, we have two _____ regions: the ______, whose name comes from the Greek ________, of the North, and the Antarctic from ___________, opposite of the North. But there's an ______ way to remember them if you just remember what surrounds them. The Arctic, situated in the Northern hemisphere of our planet, is an ocean entirely surrounded by land. On the other side of the world, the _________ is a _________ entirely surrounded by ocean. So, the Arctic has polar bears but no penguins, and the Antarctic has penguins but no polar bears. Let's talk about the Arctic first. The Arctic region consists of a vast, ice-covered ocean surrounded by treeless permafrost. The area can be defined as the ______ between the Arctic Circle and the North Pole. If you were to stand at the _____ Pole, everywhere you looked, in all directions, would be south. But standing at the North Pole is difficult to do for very long because it's in the middle of an ocean, covered by __________ shifting, frozen sea ice. If you were to fall into the water at the North Pole, you'd fall into water that's 13,980 feet deep. Above the water, average winter temperatures can be as low as -40 degrees Celsius, and the _______ recorded temperature is approximately -68 degrees Celsius. Despite these incredibly harsh __________, humans have populated areas in the Arctic for thousands of _____. Life in the Arctic includes organisms living in the ice, zooplankton and phytoplankton, fish and marine mammals, birds, land _______, plants, and _____ societies. Okay, what about Antarctica? Antarctica is Earth's southernmost continent, and it contains the geographic South Pole. It's the fifth largest continent on the planet at nearly twice the size of Australia. Almost 98% of Anarctica is covered by ice at least one mile in thickness. Conditions in Antarctica are some of the most extreme in the entire world. On average, it's the coldest, windiest, driest continent and has the highest average elevation of all the continents. You might think that it _____ all the time at the Poles, but Antarctica is so dry, it's considered a ______ with annual precipitation of only 200 millimeters along the coast and far less inland. The temperature in Antarctica has reached -89 degrees Celsius. Because it's so harsh and hard to get to, there are no permanent human residents on Antarctica, but anywhere from 1,000 to 5,000 people reside throughout the year at the research ________ scattered across the continent. Even the most _______ animals fight for survival, and only cold-adapted _________ _______ there, including many types of algae, animals, bacteria, _____, plants, and protista. But why is Antarctica colder than its northern cousin? Well, first, much of the continent is more than three kilometers above sea level, and ___________ _________ with elevation. That's why ____________ have snow on them. Second, ________ that the Arctic is really a frozen ocean. The water in the ocean beneath it is warmer than the frozen ______ in the Antarctic, and that warmth is transferred through the ice pack. This prevents temperatures in the Arctic regions from reaching the ________ typical of the land surface of Antarctica. Third, the seasons are conspiring against the Antarctic. During the aphelion in July, when the _____ is the ________ away from the Sun, it also happens to be winter in the Antarctic, which creates a double-whammy of cold for the southern pole. But despite being inhospitable, the North and South Pole are a big reason why our ______ is the way it is. Both of our polar regions are very important climate controllers. They help moderate the temperature in our temperate zones and give us stable weather. As sea ice in the Arctic ________ due to climate change and global warming, _______ around the _____ becomes increasing more unstable.

Solution

years
polar
desert
snows
arctic
extremes
decreases
region
stations
planet
globe
extreme
arktikos
remember
human
temperature
constantly
animals
weather
antarctic
declines
north
conditions
ground
earth
easier
survive
continent
fungi
farthest
coldest
antarktikos
mountaintops
organisms

Original Text

On our planet, we have two polar regions: the Arctic, whose name comes from the Greek Arktikos, of the North, and the Antarctic from Antarktikos, opposite of the North. But there's an easier way to remember them if you just remember what surrounds them. The Arctic, situated in the Northern hemisphere of our planet, is an ocean entirely surrounded by land. On the other side of the world, the Antarctic is a continent entirely surrounded by ocean. So, the Arctic has polar bears but no penguins, and the Antarctic has penguins but no polar bears. Let's talk about the Arctic first. The Arctic region consists of a vast, ice-covered ocean surrounded by treeless permafrost. The area can be defined as the region between the Arctic Circle and the North Pole. If you were to stand at the North Pole, everywhere you looked, in all directions, would be south. But standing at the North Pole is difficult to do for very long because it's in the middle of an ocean, covered by constantly shifting, frozen sea ice. If you were to fall into the water at the North Pole, you'd fall into water that's 13,980 feet deep. Above the water, average winter temperatures can be as low as -40 degrees Celsius, and the coldest recorded temperature is approximately -68 degrees Celsius. Despite these incredibly harsh conditions, humans have populated areas in the Arctic for thousands of years. Life in the Arctic includes organisms living in the ice, zooplankton and phytoplankton, fish and marine mammals, birds, land animals, plants, and human societies. Okay, what about Antarctica? Antarctica is Earth's southernmost continent, and it contains the geographic South Pole. It's the fifth largest continent on the planet at nearly twice the size of Australia. Almost 98% of Anarctica is covered by ice at least one mile in thickness. Conditions in Antarctica are some of the most extreme in the entire world. On average, it's the coldest, windiest, driest continent and has the highest average elevation of all the continents. You might think that it snows all the time at the Poles, but Antarctica is so dry, it's considered a desert with annual precipitation of only 200 millimeters along the coast and far less inland. The temperature in Antarctica has reached -89 degrees Celsius. Because it's so harsh and hard to get to, there are no permanent human residents on Antarctica, but anywhere from 1,000 to 5,000 people reside throughout the year at the research stations scattered across the continent. Even the most extreme animals fight for survival, and only cold-adapted organisms survive there, including many types of algae, animals, bacteria, fungi, plants, and protista. But why is Antarctica colder than its northern cousin? Well, first, much of the continent is more than three kilometers above sea level, and temperature decreases with elevation. That's why mountaintops have snow on them. Second, remember that the Arctic is really a frozen ocean. The water in the ocean beneath it is warmer than the frozen ground in the Antarctic, and that warmth is transferred through the ice pack. This prevents temperatures in the Arctic regions from reaching the extremes typical of the land surface of Antarctica. Third, the seasons are conspiring against the Antarctic. During the aphelion in July, when the Earth is the farthest away from the Sun, it also happens to be winter in the Antarctic, which creates a double-whammy of cold for the southern pole. But despite being inhospitable, the North and South Pole are a big reason why our planet is the way it is. Both of our polar regions are very important climate controllers. They help moderate the temperature in our temperate zones and give us stable weather. As sea ice in the Arctic declines due to climate change and global warming, weather around the globe becomes increasing more unstable.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations

ngrams of length 2

collocation	frequency
polar bears	2
north pole	2
sea ice	2
degrees celsius	2
south pole	2

Important Words

algae
anarctica
animals
annual
antarctic
antarctica
antarktikos
aphelion
approximately
arctic
area
areas
arktikos
australia
average
bacteria
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big
birds
celsius
change
circle
climate
coast
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considered
consists
conspiring
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continent
continents
controllers
cousin
covered
creates
declines
decreases
deep
defined
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desert
difficult
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driest
dry
due
earth
easier
elevation
entire
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fall
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feet
fight
fish
frozen
fungi
geographic
give
global
globe
greek
ground
hard
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highest
human
humans
ice
important
includes
including
increasing
incredibly
inhospitable
inland
july
kilometers
land
largest
level
life
living
long
looked
mammals
marine
middle
mile
millimeters
moderate
mountaintops
north
northern
ocean
organisms
pack
penguins
people
permafrost
permanent
phytoplankton
planet
plants
polar
pole
poles
populated
precipitation
prevents
protista
reached
reaching
reason
recorded
region
regions
remember
research
reside
residents
scattered
sea
seasons
shifting
side
situated
size
snow
snows
societies
south
southern
southernmost
stable
stand
standing
stations
sun
surface
surrounded
surrounds
survival
survive
talk
temperate
temperature
temperatures
thickness
thousands
time
transferred
treeless
types
typical
unstable
vast
warmer
warming
warmth
water
weather
windiest
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world
year
years
zones
zooplankton