full transcript

From the Ted Talk by Iseult Gillespie: The Greek myth of Demeter's revenge

Unscramble the Blue Letters


In a dragon-drawn chiaort, the mountain nymph soared over barren lands and icy seas. At last, she reached the remote lair of Hunger, goddess of famine. She found her pkiincg through weeds with her rotten nlias and teeth, clutching her hollow stomach and twisting her kntoted lbims. Not daring to come too csole, the nymph called for Hunger and shared Demeter’s veenugfl plan.

Hunger usually kept to her lair— but she relished this gruesome mission. Under the cover of night, she crept into the palace and released her famished breath into the sleeping king. Erysichthon immediately began to dream of a lvasih feast, gulping air and grinding his teeth. He awoke to a ravenous huengr, which only seemed to increase as he ate.

Open Cloze


In a dragon-drawn _______, the mountain nymph soared over barren lands and icy seas. At last, she reached the remote lair of Hunger, goddess of famine. She found her _______ through weeds with her rotten _____ and teeth, clutching her hollow stomach and twisting her _______ _____. Not daring to come too _____, the nymph called for Hunger and shared Demeter’s ________ plan.

Hunger usually kept to her lair— but she relished this gruesome mission. Under the cover of night, she crept into the palace and released her famished breath into the sleeping king. Erysichthon immediately began to dream of a ______ feast, gulping air and grinding his teeth. He awoke to a ravenous ______, which only seemed to increase as he ate.

Solution


  1. hunger
  2. picking
  3. nails
  4. limbs
  5. close
  6. chariot
  7. vengeful
  8. knotted
  9. lavish

Original Text


In a dragon-drawn chariot, the mountain nymph soared over barren lands and icy seas. At last, she reached the remote lair of Hunger, goddess of famine. She found her picking through weeds with her rotten nails and teeth, clutching her hollow stomach and twisting her knotted limbs. Not daring to come too close, the nymph called for Hunger and shared Demeter’s vengeful plan.

Hunger usually kept to her lair— but she relished this gruesome mission. Under the cover of night, she crept into the palace and released her famished breath into the sleeping king. Erysichthon immediately began to dream of a lavish feast, gulping air and grinding his teeth. He awoke to a ravenous hunger, which only seemed to increase as he ate.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations


ngrams of length 2

collocation frequency
mountain nymph 2


Important Words


  1. air
  2. ate
  3. awoke
  4. barren
  5. began
  6. breath
  7. called
  8. chariot
  9. close
  10. clutching
  11. cover
  12. crept
  13. daring
  14. dream
  15. erysichthon
  16. famine
  17. famished
  18. feast
  19. goddess
  20. grinding
  21. gruesome
  22. gulping
  23. hollow
  24. hunger
  25. icy
  26. immediately
  27. increase
  28. king
  29. knotted
  30. lair
  31. lands
  32. lavish
  33. limbs
  34. mission
  35. mountain
  36. nails
  37. night
  38. nymph
  39. palace
  40. picking
  41. plan
  42. ravenous
  43. reached
  44. released
  45. relished
  46. remote
  47. rotten
  48. seas
  49. shared
  50. sleeping
  51. soared
  52. stomach
  53. teeth
  54. twisting
  55. vengeful
  56. weeds