full transcript

From the Ted Talk by Ella Al-Shamahi: The fascinating (and dangerous) places scientists aren't exploring

Unscramble the Blue Letters


And so I was joining these other teams, and I was forming new cioanrbtllaoos in other unstable places. But I was desperate to get back into Yemen, because for me, Yemen's really personal. And so I kept trying to think of a project I could do in Yemen that would help highlight what was going on there. And every idea I had just kept failing, or it was just too high-risk, because let's be hsonet, most of Yemen is just too dangerous for a Western team.

But then I was told that srctooa, a Yemeni island, was safe once you got there. In fact, it turned out there was a few local and international aadcemcis that were still working there. And that got me really excited, because look at Socotra's proximity to Africa. And yet we have no idea when humans arrived on that ilnsad. But Socotra, for those of you who know it, well, let's just say you probably know it for a completely different reason. You probably know it as the Galapagos of the Indian Ocean, because it is one of the most biodiverse places on this earth. But we were also getting information that this incredibly delicate environment and its people were under threat because they were at the frontline of both Middle ertesan politics and climate change. And it sollwy dneawd on me that Socotra was my yeemn project.

Open Cloze


And so I was joining these other teams, and I was forming new ______________ in other unstable places. But I was desperate to get back into Yemen, because for me, Yemen's really personal. And so I kept trying to think of a project I could do in Yemen that would help highlight what was going on there. And every idea I had just kept failing, or it was just too high-risk, because let's be ______, most of Yemen is just too dangerous for a Western team.

But then I was told that _______, a Yemeni island, was safe once you got there. In fact, it turned out there was a few local and international _________ that were still working there. And that got me really excited, because look at Socotra's proximity to Africa. And yet we have no idea when humans arrived on that ______. But Socotra, for those of you who know it, well, let's just say you probably know it for a completely different reason. You probably know it as the Galapagos of the Indian Ocean, because it is one of the most biodiverse places on this earth. But we were also getting information that this incredibly delicate environment and its people were under threat because they were at the frontline of both Middle _______ politics and climate change. And it ______ ______ on me that Socotra was my _____ project.

Solution


  1. island
  2. slowly
  3. honest
  4. eastern
  5. yemen
  6. dawned
  7. socotra
  8. collaborations
  9. academics

Original Text


And so I was joining these other teams, and I was forming new collaborations in other unstable places. But I was desperate to get back into Yemen, because for me, Yemen's really personal. And so I kept trying to think of a project I could do in Yemen that would help highlight what was going on there. And every idea I had just kept failing, or it was just too high-risk, because let's be honest, most of Yemen is just too dangerous for a Western team.

But then I was told that Socotra, a Yemeni island, was safe once you got there. In fact, it turned out there was a few local and international academics that were still working there. And that got me really excited, because look at Socotra's proximity to Africa. And yet we have no idea when humans arrived on that island. But Socotra, for those of you who know it, well, let's just say you probably know it for a completely different reason. You probably know it as the Galapagos of the Indian Ocean, because it is one of the most biodiverse places on this earth. But we were also getting information that this incredibly delicate environment and its people were under threat because they were at the frontline of both Middle Eastern politics and climate change. And it slowly dawned on me that Socotra was my Yemen project.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations


ngrams of length 2

collocation frequency
unstable places 5
geography problem 3
frontline exploratory 2
exploratory science 2
politically unstable 2
prime real 2
real estate 2
cement cargo 2
cargo ship 2
pirate waters 2
martin edström 2
active war 2
shanidar cave 2

ngrams of length 3

collocation frequency
frontline exploratory science 2
prime real estate 2
cement cargo ship 2

Important Words


  1. academics
  2. africa
  3. arrived
  4. biodiverse
  5. change
  6. climate
  7. collaborations
  8. completely
  9. dangerous
  10. dawned
  11. delicate
  12. desperate
  13. earth
  14. eastern
  15. environment
  16. excited
  17. fact
  18. failing
  19. forming
  20. frontline
  21. galapagos
  22. highlight
  23. honest
  24. humans
  25. idea
  26. incredibly
  27. indian
  28. information
  29. international
  30. island
  31. joining
  32. local
  33. middle
  34. ocean
  35. people
  36. personal
  37. places
  38. politics
  39. project
  40. proximity
  41. reason
  42. safe
  43. slowly
  44. socotra
  45. team
  46. teams
  47. threat
  48. told
  49. turned
  50. unstable
  51. western
  52. working
  53. yemen
  54. yemeni