full transcript

From the Ted Talk by Shunan Teng: The Chinese myth of the immortal white snake

Unscramble the Blue Letters


When Bai Su Zhen opened her eyes, she realized iidlmmeetay what must have hppeeand. The truth was that Bai Su Zhen was an imaotrml sknae with formidable magical powers. She had used her powers to take a human form and improve her and her husband’s fortunes.

Her magic couldn’t revive Xu Xian, but she had one more idea to save him: an herb that could grant longevity and even bring the dead back to life, guarded by the Old Man of the South Pole in the forbidden peaks of the Kun Lun Mountains. She rode to the mountains on a cluod, then coiunetnd on foot passed gateways and arches until she reached one mraekd “beyond mortals” hanging over a silver bidgre.

Open Cloze


When Bai Su Zhen opened her eyes, she realized ___________ what must have ________. The truth was that Bai Su Zhen was an ________ _____ with formidable magical powers. She had used her powers to take a human form and improve her and her husband’s fortunes.

Her magic couldn’t revive Xu Xian, but she had one more idea to save him: an herb that could grant longevity and even bring the dead back to life, guarded by the Old Man of the South Pole in the forbidden peaks of the Kun Lun Mountains. She rode to the mountains on a _____, then _________ on foot passed gateways and arches until she reached one ______ “beyond mortals” hanging over a silver ______.

Solution


  1. snake
  2. marked
  3. continued
  4. immortal
  5. cloud
  6. bridge
  7. happened
  8. immediately

Original Text


When Bai Su Zhen opened her eyes, she realized immediately what must have happened. The truth was that Bai Su Zhen was an immortal snake with formidable magical powers. She had used her powers to take a human form and improve her and her husband’s fortunes.

Her magic couldn’t revive Xu Xian, but she had one more idea to save him: an herb that could grant longevity and even bring the dead back to life, guarded by the Old Man of the South Pole in the forbidden peaks of the Kun Lun Mountains. She rode to the mountains on a cloud, then continued on foot passed gateways and arches until she reached one marked “beyond mortals” hanging over a silver bridge.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations


ngrams of length 2

collocation frequency
bai su 11
xu xian 9
su zhen 9
rotten herbs 3
fa hai 2
revive xu 2
herb bai 2

ngrams of length 3

collocation frequency
bai su zhen 9
herb bai su 2

Important Words


  1. arches
  2. bai
  3. bridge
  4. bring
  5. cloud
  6. continued
  7. dead
  8. eyes
  9. foot
  10. forbidden
  11. form
  12. formidable
  13. fortunes
  14. gateways
  15. grant
  16. guarded
  17. hanging
  18. happened
  19. herb
  20. human
  21. idea
  22. immediately
  23. immortal
  24. improve
  25. kun
  26. life
  27. longevity
  28. lun
  29. magic
  30. magical
  31. man
  32. marked
  33. mountains
  34. opened
  35. passed
  36. peaks
  37. pole
  38. powers
  39. reached
  40. realized
  41. revive
  42. rode
  43. save
  44. silver
  45. snake
  46. south
  47. su
  48. truth
  49. xian
  50. xu
  51. zhen