full transcript

From the Ted Talk by Eva-Maria Geigl: The history of the world according to cats

Unscramble the Blue Letters


Many may not think of cats as serviceable sailors, or cpieovotare companions of any kind. But cats have been working alongside humans for thousands of years - helping us just as often as we help them. So how did these solitary creatures go from wild predator to naval officer to sofa sediikck?

The domestication of the modern hsuoe cat can be traecd back to more than 10,000 years ago in the Fertile Crescent, at the sratt of the Neolithic era. People were learning to bend nature to their will, producing much more food than fmerras could eat at one time. These nhtoeilic farmers soertd their excess grain in lagre pits and short, clay silos. But these stores of food attracted hordes of rodents, as well as their predator, Felis silvestris lybica - the wildcat found across North Africa and sehtwsuot Asia.

Open Cloze


Many may not think of cats as serviceable sailors, or ___________ companions of any kind. But cats have been working alongside humans for thousands of years - helping us just as often as we help them. So how did these solitary creatures go from wild predator to naval officer to sofa ________?

The domestication of the modern _____ cat can be ______ back to more than 10,000 years ago in the Fertile Crescent, at the _____ of the Neolithic era. People were learning to bend nature to their will, producing much more food than _______ could eat at one time. These _________ farmers ______ their excess grain in _____ pits and short, clay silos. But these stores of food attracted hordes of rodents, as well as their predator, Felis silvestris lybica - the wildcat found across North Africa and _________ Asia.

Solution


  1. southwest
  2. farmers
  3. traced
  4. neolithic
  5. large
  6. stored
  7. cooperative
  8. house
  9. sidekick
  10. start

Original Text


Many may not think of cats as serviceable sailors, or cooperative companions of any kind. But cats have been working alongside humans for thousands of years - helping us just as often as we help them. So how did these solitary creatures go from wild predator to naval officer to sofa sidekick?

The domestication of the modern house cat can be traced back to more than 10,000 years ago in the Fertile Crescent, at the start of the Neolithic era. People were learning to bend nature to their will, producing much more food than farmers could eat at one time. These Neolithic farmers stored their excess grain in large pits and short, clay silos. But these stores of food attracted hordes of rodents, as well as their predator, Felis silvestris lybica - the wildcat found across North Africa and Southwest Asia.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations


ngrams of length 2

collocation frequency
neolithic farmers 2
domestic cats 2
modern cats 2


Important Words


  1. africa
  2. asia
  3. attracted
  4. bend
  5. cat
  6. cats
  7. clay
  8. companions
  9. cooperative
  10. creatures
  11. crescent
  12. domestication
  13. eat
  14. era
  15. excess
  16. farmers
  17. felis
  18. fertile
  19. food
  20. grain
  21. helping
  22. hordes
  23. house
  24. humans
  25. kind
  26. large
  27. learning
  28. lybica
  29. modern
  30. nature
  31. naval
  32. neolithic
  33. north
  34. officer
  35. people
  36. pits
  37. predator
  38. producing
  39. rodents
  40. sailors
  41. serviceable
  42. short
  43. sidekick
  44. silos
  45. silvestris
  46. sofa
  47. solitary
  48. southwest
  49. start
  50. stored
  51. stores
  52. thousands
  53. time
  54. traced
  55. wild
  56. wildcat
  57. working
  58. years