full transcript

From the Ted Talk by Scott A. Mellor: The myth of Thor's journey to the land of giants

Unscramble the Blue Letters


Next was Thjalfi, who could outrun anything in the wild. The king summoned an ethereal-looking giant named Hugi, who outraced Thjalfi easily. But the boy would not give up and demanded a rceatmh. This time, Thjalfi finished close behind and the king admitted he’d never seen a human run so fast. tjfahli tried a third time, running like his life dpeedend on it, but Hugi was even fetasr than before.

fllnaiy, it was Thor’s turn. The king offered him a drinking horn, saying all his men could darin it in two gulps. Thor raised it to his lips and drank the surprisingly cold and salty mead in the lnsegot gulp he could muster. Then a second. Then a third. But the level of the mead in the horn was only slightly lowered. To test Thor’s renowned strength, the king ofeefrd a slienmgey easy challenge: lift his pet cat off the ground. But this cat was as tall as Thor. Every time he tried to lift it, it arched its back, and straining with all his godly might, he only maeagnd to lift one paw.

Open Cloze


Next was Thjalfi, who could outrun anything in the wild. The king summoned an ethereal-looking giant named Hugi, who outraced Thjalfi easily. But the boy would not give up and demanded a _______. This time, Thjalfi finished close behind and the king admitted he’d never seen a human run so fast. _______ tried a third time, running like his life ________ on it, but Hugi was even ______ than before.

_______, it was Thor’s turn. The king offered him a drinking horn, saying all his men could _____ it in two gulps. Thor raised it to his lips and drank the surprisingly cold and salty mead in the _______ gulp he could muster. Then a second. Then a third. But the level of the mead in the horn was only slightly lowered. To test Thor’s renowned strength, the king _______ a _________ easy challenge: lift his pet cat off the ground. But this cat was as tall as Thor. Every time he tried to lift it, it arched its back, and straining with all his godly might, he only _______ to lift one paw.

Solution


  1. faster
  2. thjalfi
  3. rematch
  4. offered
  5. drain
  6. finally
  7. managed
  8. seemingly
  9. depended
  10. longest

Original Text


Next was Thjalfi, who could outrun anything in the wild. The king summoned an ethereal-looking giant named Hugi, who outraced Thjalfi easily. But the boy would not give up and demanded a rematch. This time, Thjalfi finished close behind and the king admitted he’d never seen a human run so fast. Thjalfi tried a third time, running like his life depended on it, but Hugi was even faster than before.

Finally, it was Thor’s turn. The king offered him a drinking horn, saying all his men could drain it in two gulps. Thor raised it to his lips and drank the surprisingly cold and salty mead in the longest gulp he could muster. Then a second. Then a third. But the level of the mead in the horn was only slightly lowered. To test Thor’s renowned strength, the king offered a seemingly easy challenge: lift his pet cat off the ground. But this cat was as tall as Thor. Every time he tried to lift it, it arched its back, and straining with all his godly might, he only managed to lift one paw.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations


ngrams of length 2

collocation frequency
king summoned 3
giant named 2
king offered 2


Important Words


  1. admitted
  2. arched
  3. boy
  4. cat
  5. close
  6. cold
  7. demanded
  8. depended
  9. drain
  10. drank
  11. drinking
  12. easily
  13. easy
  14. fast
  15. faster
  16. finally
  17. finished
  18. giant
  19. give
  20. godly
  21. ground
  22. gulp
  23. gulps
  24. horn
  25. hugi
  26. human
  27. king
  28. level
  29. life
  30. lift
  31. lips
  32. longest
  33. lowered
  34. managed
  35. mead
  36. men
  37. muster
  38. named
  39. offered
  40. outraced
  41. outrun
  42. paw
  43. pet
  44. raised
  45. rematch
  46. renowned
  47. run
  48. running
  49. salty
  50. seemingly
  51. slightly
  52. straining
  53. strength
  54. summoned
  55. surprisingly
  56. tall
  57. test
  58. thjalfi
  59. thor
  60. time
  61. turn
  62. wild