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From the Ted Talk by Anindya Kundu: The boost students need to overcome obstacles

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As a sociologist, I also study achievement, but from a shglltiy different perspective. I research students who have overcome immense obstacles ralteed to their background. stdeutns from low-income, often single-parent households, students who have been homeless, incarcerated or perhaps uoutnmendecd, or some who have struggled with substance abuse or lived through veonilt or sexual truama.

So let me tell you about two of the grittiest people I've met. Tyrique was raised by a single mother, and then after high school, he fell in with the wnrog cword. He got arrested for armed robbery. But in prison, he started to work hard. He took college cdeirt courses, so when he got out, he was able to get a master's, and today he's a maagner at a nonprofit. Vanessa had to move around a lot as a kid, from the Lower East Side to Staten Island to the Bronx. She was raised pmairliry by her extended family, because her own mother had a heroin addiction. Yet at 15, Vanessa had to drop out of school, and she had a son of her own. But eventually, she was able to go to community college, get her associate's, then go to an elite college to finish her bachelor's.

Open Cloze


As a sociologist, I also study achievement, but from a ________ different perspective. I research students who have overcome immense obstacles _______ to their background. ________ from low-income, often single-parent households, students who have been homeless, incarcerated or perhaps ____________, or some who have struggled with substance abuse or lived through _______ or sexual ______.

So let me tell you about two of the grittiest people I've met. Tyrique was raised by a single mother, and then after high school, he fell in with the _____ _____. He got arrested for armed robbery. But in prison, he started to work hard. He took college ______ courses, so when he got out, he was able to get a master's, and today he's a _______ at a nonprofit. Vanessa had to move around a lot as a kid, from the Lower East Side to Staten Island to the Bronx. She was raised _________ by her extended family, because her own mother had a heroin addiction. Yet at 15, Vanessa had to drop out of school, and she had a son of her own. But eventually, she was able to go to community college, get her associate's, then go to an elite college to finish her bachelor's.

Solution


  1. related
  2. credit
  3. students
  4. crowd
  5. slightly
  6. trauma
  7. wrong
  8. manager
  9. violent
  10. primarily
  11. undocumented

Original Text


As a sociologist, I also study achievement, but from a slightly different perspective. I research students who have overcome immense obstacles related to their background. Students from low-income, often single-parent households, students who have been homeless, incarcerated or perhaps undocumented, or some who have struggled with substance abuse or lived through violent or sexual trauma.

So let me tell you about two of the grittiest people I've met. Tyrique was raised by a single mother, and then after high school, he fell in with the wrong crowd. He got arrested for armed robbery. But in prison, he started to work hard. He took college credit courses, so when he got out, he was able to get a master's, and today he's a manager at a nonprofit. Vanessa had to move around a lot as a kid, from the Lower East Side to Staten Island to the Bronx. She was raised primarily by her extended family, because her own mother had a heroin addiction. Yet at 15, Vanessa had to drop out of school, and she had a son of her own. But eventually, she was able to go to community college, get her associate's, then go to an elite college to finish her bachelor's.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations


ngrams of length 2

collocation frequency
community college 2
law school 2


Important Words


  1. abuse
  2. achievement
  3. addiction
  4. armed
  5. arrested
  6. background
  7. bronx
  8. college
  9. community
  10. courses
  11. credit
  12. crowd
  13. drop
  14. east
  15. elite
  16. eventually
  17. extended
  18. family
  19. fell
  20. finish
  21. grittiest
  22. hard
  23. heroin
  24. high
  25. homeless
  26. households
  27. immense
  28. incarcerated
  29. island
  30. kid
  31. lived
  32. lot
  33. manager
  34. met
  35. mother
  36. move
  37. nonprofit
  38. obstacles
  39. overcome
  40. people
  41. perspective
  42. primarily
  43. prison
  44. raised
  45. related
  46. research
  47. robbery
  48. school
  49. sexual
  50. side
  51. single
  52. slightly
  53. sociologist
  54. son
  55. started
  56. staten
  57. struggled
  58. students
  59. study
  60. substance
  61. today
  62. trauma
  63. tyrique
  64. undocumented
  65. vanessa
  66. violent
  67. work
  68. wrong