full transcript

From the Ted Talk by Iseult Gillespie: The myth of Narcissus and Echo

Unscramble the Blue Letters


As her conversations became dull and her company undesirable, Echo grew dispirited. One day, while Echo was drifting through the woods, she seopttd a yuong man htinnug deer. It was Narcissus, the slnnitnguy beautiful son of a river god and water nymph. After his birth, a seer had given his mother a crpytic prophecy: Narcissus would live a long life— but only if he never really knew himself. No one was sure exactly what to make of this. And, in the meantime, Narcissus grew into a pruod youth. His good looks attracted many arrdimes. But he preferred to amble through life on his own and left a trail of broken hearts in his wake.

Open Cloze


As her conversations became dull and her company undesirable, Echo grew dispirited. One day, while Echo was drifting through the woods, she _______ a _____ man _______ deer. It was Narcissus, the __________ beautiful son of a river god and water nymph. After his birth, a seer had given his mother a _______ prophecy: Narcissus would live a long life— but only if he never really knew himself. No one was sure exactly what to make of this. And, in the meantime, Narcissus grew into a _____ youth. His good looks attracted many ________. But he preferred to amble through life on his own and left a trail of broken hearts in his wake.

Solution


  1. hunting
  2. young
  3. admirers
  4. spotted
  5. stunningly
  6. proud
  7. cryptic

Original Text


As her conversations became dull and her company undesirable, Echo grew dispirited. One day, while Echo was drifting through the woods, she spotted a young man hunting deer. It was Narcissus, the stunningly beautiful son of a river god and water nymph. After his birth, a seer had given his mother a cryptic prophecy: Narcissus would live a long life— but only if he never really knew himself. No one was sure exactly what to make of this. And, in the meantime, Narcissus grew into a proud youth. His good looks attracted many admirers. But he preferred to amble through life on his own and left a trail of broken hearts in his wake.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations


ngrams of length 2

collocation frequency
young man 3


Important Words


  1. admirers
  2. amble
  3. attracted
  4. beautiful
  5. birth
  6. broken
  7. company
  8. conversations
  9. cryptic
  10. day
  11. deer
  12. dispirited
  13. drifting
  14. dull
  15. echo
  16. god
  17. good
  18. grew
  19. hearts
  20. hunting
  21. knew
  22. left
  23. life
  24. live
  25. long
  26. man
  27. mother
  28. narcissus
  29. nymph
  30. preferred
  31. proud
  32. river
  33. seer
  34. son
  35. spotted
  36. stunningly
  37. trail
  38. undesirable
  39. wake
  40. water
  41. woods
  42. young
  43. youth