full transcript

From the Ted Talk by Joseph Kim: The family I lost in North Korea. And the family I gained.


Unscramble the Blue Letters


I was born and raised in North Korea. Although my family constantly struggled against pevtory, I was always loved and cared for first, because I was the only son and the youngest of two in the family.

But then the great famine began in 1994. I was four years old. My sister and I would go searching for firewood satrting at 5 in the mnriong and come back after mdiihngt. I would wander the streets searching for food, and I remember seeing a small child tied to a mother's back eating chips, and wanting to seatl them from him.

Hunger is humiliation. huegnr is hopelessness. For a hungry child, politics and freedom are not even thohugt of. On my ninth birthday, my parents couldn't give me any food to eat. But even as a child, I could feel the heaviness in their htraes.

Open Cloze


I was born and raised in North Korea. Although my family constantly struggled against _______, I was always loved and cared for first, because I was the only son and the youngest of two in the family.

But then the great famine began in 1994. I was four years old. My sister and I would go searching for firewood ________ at 5 in the _______ and come back after ________. I would wander the streets searching for food, and I remember seeing a small child tied to a mother's back eating chips, and wanting to _____ them from him.

Hunger is humiliation. ______ is hopelessness. For a hungry child, politics and freedom are not even _______ of. On my ninth birthday, my parents couldn't give me any food to eat. But even as a child, I could feel the heaviness in their ______.

Solution


  1. hunger
  2. thought
  3. starting
  4. midnight
  5. hearts
  6. poverty
  7. morning
  8. steal

Original Text


I was born and raised in North Korea. Although my family constantly struggled against poverty, I was always loved and cared for first, because I was the only son and the youngest of two in the family.

But then the great famine began in 1994. I was four years old. My sister and I would go searching for firewood starting at 5 in the morning and come back after midnight. I would wander the streets searching for food, and I remember seeing a small child tied to a mother's back eating chips, and wanting to steal them from him.

Hunger is humiliation. Hunger is hopelessness. For a hungry child, politics and freedom are not even thought of. On my ninth birthday, my parents couldn't give me any food to eat. But even as a child, I could feel the heaviness in their hearts.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations


ngrams of length 2

collocation frequency
high school 3
foster father 3
north koreans 2
study hard 2



Important Words


  1. began
  2. birthday
  3. born
  4. cared
  5. child
  6. chips
  7. constantly
  8. eat
  9. eating
  10. family
  11. famine
  12. feel
  13. firewood
  14. food
  15. freedom
  16. give
  17. great
  18. hearts
  19. heaviness
  20. hopelessness
  21. humiliation
  22. hunger
  23. hungry
  24. korea
  25. loved
  26. midnight
  27. morning
  28. ninth
  29. north
  30. parents
  31. politics
  32. poverty
  33. raised
  34. remember
  35. searching
  36. sister
  37. small
  38. son
  39. starting
  40. steal
  41. streets
  42. struggled
  43. thought
  44. tied
  45. wander
  46. wanting
  47. years
  48. youngest