TedTest

From the Ted Talk by Cameron Paterson: The infamous and ingenious Ho Chi Minh Trail

Unscramble the Blue Letters

Deep in the jungles of Vietnam, soldiers from both sides bltetad heat eaisuhotxn and each other for nearly 20 long years. But the key to cnmisomut victory wasn't weonpas or stamina, it was a dirt road. The Ho Chi Minh Trail, winding through Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia, started as a simple ntewrok of dirt roads and blossomed into the ceeicpenrte of the winning North Vietnamese strategy during the vnateim War, supplying weapons, troops, and psychological support to the South. The trail was a network of tracks, dirt rdoas, and river crossings that threaded west out of North Vietnam and south along the Truong Son Mountain Range between Vietnam and Laos. The journey to the South originally took six months. But, with engineering and itneuigny, the Vietnamese expanded and improved the tiarl. Towards the end of war, as the main roads detoured through Laos, it only took one week. Here is how it happened. In 1959, as relations deteriorated between the North and the South, a system of trails was constructed in oderr to infiltrate srleoids, weapons, and sulippes into South Vietnam. The first tropos moved in single-file along rouets used by local ethnic groups, and broken tree bneachrs at dusty crossroads were often all that indicated the direction. Initially, most of the Communist cadres who came down the trail were Southerners by birth who had trained in North Vietnam. They dressed like civilian peasants in blcak, silk pamajas with a checkered scarf. They wore Ho Chi Minh sandals on their feet, cut from truck tires, and carried their ration of ckooed rice in elephants' intestines, a linen tube hung around the body. The conditions were harsh and many deaths were caused by exposure, mrlaaia, and amoebic dysentery. Getting lost, starving to death, and the possibility of attacks by wild triegs or bears were constant threats. Meals were invariably just rice and salt, and it was easy to run out. Fear, beroodm, and homesickness were the danniomt emotions. And soldiers occupied their spare time by writing letters, drawing sketches, and drinking and smoking with lacol villagers. The first troops down the trail did not engage in much fighting. And after an exhausting six month trip, airnrvig in the South was a real highlight, often ceeltrabed by bursting into song. By 1965, the trip down the trail could be made by truck. Thousands of tkcurs supplied by China and rssiua took up the task amidst ferocious B-52 bombing and trcuk drivers became known as ptiols of the ground. As traffic down the trail increased, so did the U.S. bombing. They drove at night or in the early morning to avoid air strikes, and watchmen were rdeay to warn drivers of emney aircraft. viealgls along the trail organized tames to guarantee traffic flow and to help drivers repair damage caused by air attacks. Their ccath ciers were, "Everything for our shtroeun brothers!" and, "We will not worry about our houses if the vehicles have not yet gotten through." Some families donated their doors and wooden beds to repair roads. Vietnamese forces even used dpoeciten to get the U.S. aircraft to bomb mnutnediaisos in order to make gravel for use in building and maintaining roads. The all-pervading red dust seeped into every nook and cranny. The Ho Chi Minh Trail had a profound impact on the Vietnam War and it was the key to Hanoi's success. North vmiatesnee victory was not determined by the battlefields, but by the trail, which was the political, strategic, and economic lynchpin. Americans recognized its achievement, calling the trail, "One of the great aeitenhmvecs in mitlairy engineering of the 20th century." The trail is a testimony to the strength of will of the Vietnamese people, and the men and women who used the trail have become folk heros.

Open Cloze

Deep in the jungles of Vietnam, soldiers from both sides _______ heat __________ and each other for nearly 20 long years. But the key to _________ victory wasn't _______ or stamina, it was a dirt road. The Ho Chi Minh Trail, winding through Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia, started as a simple _______ of dirt roads and blossomed into the ___________ of the winning North Vietnamese strategy during the _______ War, supplying weapons, troops, and psychological support to the South. The trail was a network of tracks, dirt _____, and river crossings that threaded west out of North Vietnam and south along the Truong Son Mountain Range between Vietnam and Laos. The journey to the South originally took six months. But, with engineering and _________, the Vietnamese expanded and improved the _____. Towards the end of war, as the main roads detoured through Laos, it only took one week. Here is how it happened. In 1959, as relations deteriorated between the North and the South, a system of trails was constructed in _____ to infiltrate ________, weapons, and ________ into South Vietnam. The first ______ moved in single-file along ______ used by local ethnic groups, and broken tree ________ at dusty crossroads were often all that indicated the direction. Initially, most of the Communist cadres who came down the trail were Southerners by birth who had trained in North Vietnam. They dressed like civilian peasants in _____, silk _______ with a checkered scarf. They wore Ho Chi Minh sandals on their feet, cut from truck tires, and carried their ration of ______ rice in elephants' intestines, a linen tube hung around the body. The conditions were harsh and many deaths were caused by exposure, _______, and amoebic dysentery. Getting lost, starving to death, and the possibility of attacks by wild ______ or bears were constant threats. Meals were invariably just rice and salt, and it was easy to run out. Fear, _______, and homesickness were the ________ emotions. And soldiers occupied their spare time by writing letters, drawing sketches, and drinking and smoking with _____ villagers. The first troops down the trail did not engage in much fighting. And after an exhausting six month trip, ________ in the South was a real highlight, often __________ by bursting into song. By 1965, the trip down the trail could be made by truck. Thousands of ______ supplied by China and ______ took up the task amidst ferocious B-52 bombing and _____ drivers became known as ______ of the ground. As traffic down the trail increased, so did the U.S. bombing. They drove at night or in the early morning to avoid air strikes, and watchmen were _____ to warn drivers of _____ aircraft. ________ along the trail organized _____ to guarantee traffic flow and to help drivers repair damage caused by air attacks. Their _____ _____ were, "Everything for our ________ brothers!" and, "We will not worry about our houses if the vehicles have not yet gotten through." Some families donated their doors and wooden beds to repair roads. Vietnamese forces even used _________ to get the U.S. aircraft to bomb _____________ in order to make gravel for use in building and maintaining roads. The all-pervading red dust seeped into every nook and cranny. The Ho Chi Minh Trail had a profound impact on the Vietnam War and it was the key to Hanoi's success. North __________ victory was not determined by the battlefields, but by the trail, which was the political, strategic, and economic lynchpin. Americans recognized its achievement, calling the trail, "One of the great ____________ in ________ engineering of the 20th century." The trail is a testimony to the strength of will of the Vietnamese people, and the men and women who used the trail have become folk heros.

Solution

exhaustion
ingenuity
catch
russia
centerpiece
vietnamese
mountainsides
achievements
local
battled
military
enemy
pajamas
weapons
teams
order
network
truck
deception
supplies
tigers
cooked
routes
dominant
celebrated
ready
troops
trail
communist
southern
boredom
arriving
branches
roads
cries
vietnam
malaria
black
soldiers
villages
trucks
pilots

Original Text

Deep in the jungles of Vietnam, soldiers from both sides battled heat exhaustion and each other for nearly 20 long years. But the key to Communist victory wasn't weapons or stamina, it was a dirt road. The Ho Chi Minh Trail, winding through Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia, started as a simple network of dirt roads and blossomed into the centerpiece of the winning North Vietnamese strategy during the Vietnam War, supplying weapons, troops, and psychological support to the South. The trail was a network of tracks, dirt roads, and river crossings that threaded west out of North Vietnam and south along the Truong Son Mountain Range between Vietnam and Laos. The journey to the South originally took six months. But, with engineering and ingenuity, the Vietnamese expanded and improved the trail. Towards the end of war, as the main roads detoured through Laos, it only took one week. Here is how it happened. In 1959, as relations deteriorated between the North and the South, a system of trails was constructed in order to infiltrate soldiers, weapons, and supplies into South Vietnam. The first troops moved in single-file along routes used by local ethnic groups, and broken tree branches at dusty crossroads were often all that indicated the direction. Initially, most of the Communist cadres who came down the trail were Southerners by birth who had trained in North Vietnam. They dressed like civilian peasants in black, silk pajamas with a checkered scarf. They wore Ho Chi Minh sandals on their feet, cut from truck tires, and carried their ration of cooked rice in elephants' intestines, a linen tube hung around the body. The conditions were harsh and many deaths were caused by exposure, malaria, and amoebic dysentery. Getting lost, starving to death, and the possibility of attacks by wild tigers or bears were constant threats. Meals were invariably just rice and salt, and it was easy to run out. Fear, boredom, and homesickness were the dominant emotions. And soldiers occupied their spare time by writing letters, drawing sketches, and drinking and smoking with local villagers. The first troops down the trail did not engage in much fighting. And after an exhausting six month trip, arriving in the South was a real highlight, often celebrated by bursting into song. By 1965, the trip down the trail could be made by truck. Thousands of trucks supplied by China and Russia took up the task amidst ferocious B-52 bombing and truck drivers became known as pilots of the ground. As traffic down the trail increased, so did the U.S. bombing. They drove at night or in the early morning to avoid air strikes, and watchmen were ready to warn drivers of enemy aircraft. Villages along the trail organized teams to guarantee traffic flow and to help drivers repair damage caused by air attacks. Their catch cries were, "Everything for our Southern brothers!" and, "We will not worry about our houses if the vehicles have not yet gotten through." Some families donated their doors and wooden beds to repair roads. Vietnamese forces even used deception to get the U.S. aircraft to bomb mountainsides in order to make gravel for use in building and maintaining roads. The all-pervading red dust seeped into every nook and cranny. The Ho Chi Minh Trail had a profound impact on the Vietnam War and it was the key to Hanoi's success. North Vietnamese victory was not determined by the battlefields, but by the trail, which was the political, strategic, and economic lynchpin. Americans recognized its achievement, calling the trail, "One of the great achievements in military engineering of the 20th century." The trail is a testimony to the strength of will of the Vietnamese people, and the men and women who used the trail have become folk heros.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations

ngrams of length 2

collocation	frequency
ho chi	3
chi minh	3
north vietnamese	2
north vietnam	2

ngrams of length 3

collocation	frequency
ho chi minh	3

Important Words

achievement
achievements
air
aircraft
americans
amoebic
arriving
attacks
avoid
battled
battlefields
bears
beds
birth
black
blossomed
body
bomb
bombing
boredom
branches
broken
building
bursting
cadres
calling
cambodia
carried
catch
caused
celebrated
centerpiece
century
checkered
chi
china
civilian
communist
conditions
constant
constructed
cooked
cranny
cries
crossings
crossroads
cut
damage
death
deaths
deception
deep
deteriorated
determined
detoured
direction
dirt
dominant
donated
doors
drawing
dressed
drinking
drivers
drove
dust
dusty
dysentery
early
easy
economic
emotions
enemy
engage
engineering
ethnic
exhausting
exhaustion
expanded
exposure
families
fear
feet
ferocious
fighting
flow
folk
forces
gravel
great
ground
groups
guarantee
happened
harsh
heat
heros
highlight
ho
homesickness
houses
hung
impact
improved
increased
infiltrate
ingenuity
initially
intestines
invariably
journey
jungles
key
laos
letters
linen
local
long
lost
lynchpin
main
maintaining
malaria
meals
men
military
minh
month
months
morning
mountain
mountainsides
moved
network
night
nook
north
occupied
order
organized
originally
pajamas
peasants
people
pilots
political
possibility
profound
psychological
range
ration
ready
real
recognized
red
relations
repair
rice
river
road
roads
routes
run
russia
salt
sandals
scarf
seeped
sides
silk
simple
sketches
smoking
soldiers
son
song
south
southern
southerners
spare
stamina
started
starving
strategic
strategy
strength
strikes
success
supplied
supplies
supplying
support
system
task
teams
testimony
thousands
threaded
threats
tigers
time
tires
tracks
traffic
trail
trails
trained
tree
trip
troops
truck
trucks
truong
tube
vehicles
victory
vietnam
vietnamese
villagers
villages
war
warn
watchmen
weapons
week
west
wild
winding
winning
women
wooden
wore
worry
writing
years