full transcript
From the Ted Talk by Alex Gendler: The myth of Hercules
Unscramble the Blue Letters
For the fifth task, there were no animals, just their leftovers. The stables where King Augeas kept his hdunedrs of divine cattle had not been maintained in ages. Hercules promised to clean them in one day if he could keep one-tenth of the livestock. Augeas expected the hero to fail. Instead, Hercules dug massive trenches, rerouting two nearby rivers to flow through the stables until they were spotless.
Next came three more beastly foes, each requiring a clever strategy to defeat. The craoorvunis Stymphalian birds nested in an impenetrable swamp, but Hercules used Athena’s special rtlate to frighten them into the air, at which piont he shot them down. No mortal could stand before the Cretan bull’s mad rpamage, but a chokehold from behind did the trick. And the mad King Diomedes, who had tinraed his horses to devour his gsetus, got a taste of his own mdniciee when Hercules wtreesld him into his own slbteas. The ensuing fsaet calmed the beasts enough for Hercules to bind their mouths.
Open Cloze
For the fifth task, there were no animals, just their leftovers. The stables where King Augeas kept his ________ of divine cattle had not been maintained in ages. Hercules promised to clean them in one day if he could keep one-tenth of the livestock. Augeas expected the hero to fail. Instead, Hercules dug massive trenches, rerouting two nearby rivers to flow through the stables until they were spotless.
Next came three more beastly foes, each requiring a clever strategy to defeat. The ___________ Stymphalian birds nested in an impenetrable swamp, but Hercules used Athena’s special ______ to frighten them into the air, at which _____ he shot them down. No mortal could stand before the Cretan bull’s mad _______, but a chokehold from behind did the trick. And the mad King Diomedes, who had _______ his horses to devour his ______, got a taste of his own ________ when Hercules ________ him into his own _______. The ensuing _____ calmed the beasts enough for Hercules to bind their mouths.
Solution
- wrestled
- trained
- feast
- carnivorous
- stables
- medicine
- point
- rampage
- rattle
- hundreds
- guests
Original Text
For the fifth task, there were no animals, just their leftovers. The stables where King Augeas kept his hundreds of divine cattle had not been maintained in ages. Hercules promised to clean them in one day if he could keep one-tenth of the livestock. Augeas expected the hero to fail. Instead, Hercules dug massive trenches, rerouting two nearby rivers to flow through the stables until they were spotless.
Next came three more beastly foes, each requiring a clever strategy to defeat. The carnivorous Stymphalian birds nested in an impenetrable swamp, but Hercules used Athena’s special rattle to frighten them into the air, at which point he shot them down. No mortal could stand before the Cretan bull’s mad rampage, but a chokehold from behind did the trick. And the mad King Diomedes, who had trained his horses to devour his guests, got a taste of his own medicine when Hercules wrestled him into his own stables. The ensuing feast calmed the beasts enough for Hercules to bind their mouths.
Frequently Occurring Word Combinations
ngrams of length 2
| collocation |
frequency |
| king eurystheus |
2 |
| hercules fought |
2 |
Important Words
- ages
- air
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- foes
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- hercules
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- horses
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- medicine
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- nearby
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- point
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- rattle
- requiring
- rerouting
- rivers
- shot
- special
- spotless
- stables
- stand
- strategy
- stymphalian
- swamp
- task
- taste
- trained
- trenches
- trick
- wrestled