full transcript

From the Ted Talk by Shunan Teng: The Chinese myth of the white snake and the meddling monk

Unscramble the Blue Letters


At home, Bai Su Zhen was uesnay. Her husband had dereptad so quickly that she hadn’t been able to tell him she was pregnant with his cihld. And now he had been gone so long she senesd something must be worng. She made her way to the temple, and upon encretuoning Fa Hai the monk threw his prayer mat, which erupted into fire and smkoe. Weakened from her pregnancy, Bai Su Zhen desperately summoned a felet of shrimp soldiers and crab generals to subdue the monk, and waves to put out the blaze. But the water also flooded the surrounding area, drninowg many innocent vlerilags. For the first time, Bai Su Zhen had haremd humans, and she fell out of the gods’ favor. With their blessing retracted, Fa Hai attempted to trap her in his magical alms bowl. But just when all hope seemed lost, a bright glow came from within her belly, saving her from the mad monk’s magic.

Open Cloze


At home, Bai Su Zhen was ______. Her husband had ________ so quickly that she hadn’t been able to tell him she was pregnant with his _____. And now he had been gone so long she ______ something must be _____. She made her way to the temple, and upon ____________ Fa Hai the monk threw his prayer mat, which erupted into fire and _____. Weakened from her pregnancy, Bai Su Zhen desperately summoned a _____ of shrimp soldiers and crab generals to subdue the monk, and waves to put out the blaze. But the water also flooded the surrounding area, ________ many innocent _________. For the first time, Bai Su Zhen had ______ humans, and she fell out of the gods’ favor. With their blessing retracted, Fa Hai attempted to trap her in his magical alms bowl. But just when all hope seemed lost, a bright glow came from within her belly, saving her from the mad monk’s magic.

Solution


  1. drowning
  2. departed
  3. sensed
  4. fleet
  5. smoke
  6. uneasy
  7. villagers
  8. wrong
  9. harmed
  10. encountering
  11. child

Original Text


At home, Bai Su Zhen was uneasy. Her husband had departed so quickly that she hadn’t been able to tell him she was pregnant with his child. And now he had been gone so long she sensed something must be wrong. She made her way to the temple, and upon encountering Fa Hai the monk threw his prayer mat, which erupted into fire and smoke. Weakened from her pregnancy, Bai Su Zhen desperately summoned a fleet of shrimp soldiers and crab generals to subdue the monk, and waves to put out the blaze. But the water also flooded the surrounding area, drowning many innocent villagers. For the first time, Bai Su Zhen had harmed humans, and she fell out of the gods’ favor. With their blessing retracted, Fa Hai attempted to trap her in his magical alms bowl. But just when all hope seemed lost, a bright glow came from within her belly, saving her from the mad monk’s magic.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations


ngrams of length 2

collocation frequency
xu xian 9
bai su 9
su zhen 6
fa hai 5
shi lin 5
alms bowl 2
lei feng 2
feng pagoda 2
iron tree 2

ngrams of length 3

collocation frequency
bai su zhen 6
lei feng pagoda 2

Important Words


  1. alms
  2. area
  3. attempted
  4. bai
  5. belly
  6. blaze
  7. blessing
  8. bowl
  9. bright
  10. child
  11. crab
  12. departed
  13. desperately
  14. drowning
  15. encountering
  16. erupted
  17. fa
  18. favor
  19. fell
  20. fire
  21. fleet
  22. flooded
  23. generals
  24. glow
  25. hai
  26. harmed
  27. home
  28. hope
  29. humans
  30. husband
  31. innocent
  32. long
  33. lost
  34. mad
  35. magic
  36. magical
  37. mat
  38. monk
  39. prayer
  40. pregnancy
  41. pregnant
  42. put
  43. quickly
  44. retracted
  45. saving
  46. sensed
  47. shrimp
  48. smoke
  49. soldiers
  50. su
  51. subdue
  52. summoned
  53. surrounding
  54. temple
  55. threw
  56. time
  57. trap
  58. uneasy
  59. villagers
  60. water
  61. waves
  62. weakened
  63. wrong
  64. zhen