full transcript

From the Ted Talk by Cynthia Fay Davis: The myth of the moon goddess

Unscramble the Blue Letters


Ix Chel nesrud the wounded bird back to health, and soon, he was able to spread his wigns and fly again. He transformed back into the sun god and invited the moon gdedoss to escape with him.

The two rweod away in a canoe, but the grandfather called upon the powerful storm god to help him stop them. Sensing danger, the moon goddess jumped from the canoe into the water below and trsrefmnoad into a crab. But the storm god had already thrown a lightning bolt, which hit the crab and pierced her through her heart, killing her.

Hundreds and hundreds of dragonflies gathered, bzuzing songs and fnurtetlig their transparent wings. They formed a thick, magical cloud over the moon goddess’ body. For thirteen days the daongfelris cut, cleaned, and hollowed thirteen logs. On the tetinehrth night, the logs burst open, and the moon goddess emerged— alive and more binlialrt than ever.

Open Cloze


Ix Chel ______ the wounded bird back to health, and soon, he was able to spread his _____ and fly again. He transformed back into the sun god and invited the moon _______ to escape with him.

The two _____ away in a canoe, but the grandfather called upon the powerful storm god to help him stop them. Sensing danger, the moon goddess jumped from the canoe into the water below and ___________ into a crab. But the storm god had already thrown a lightning bolt, which hit the crab and pierced her through her heart, killing her.

Hundreds and hundreds of dragonflies gathered, _______ songs and __________ their transparent wings. They formed a thick, magical cloud over the moon goddess’ body. For thirteen days the ___________ cut, cleaned, and hollowed thirteen logs. On the __________ night, the logs burst open, and the moon goddess emerged— alive and more _________ than ever.

Solution


  1. buzzing
  2. rowed
  3. dragonflies
  4. transformed
  5. goddess
  6. nursed
  7. thirteenth
  8. wings
  9. fluttering
  10. brilliant

Original Text


Ix Chel nursed the wounded bird back to health, and soon, he was able to spread his wings and fly again. He transformed back into the sun god and invited the moon goddess to escape with him.

The two rowed away in a canoe, but the grandfather called upon the powerful storm god to help him stop them. Sensing danger, the moon goddess jumped from the canoe into the water below and transformed into a crab. But the storm god had already thrown a lightning bolt, which hit the crab and pierced her through her heart, killing her.

Hundreds and hundreds of dragonflies gathered, buzzing songs and fluttering their transparent wings. They formed a thick, magical cloud over the moon goddess’ body. For thirteen days the dragonflies cut, cleaned, and hollowed thirteen logs. On the thirteenth night, the logs burst open, and the moon goddess emerged— alive and more brilliant than ever.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations


ngrams of length 2

collocation frequency
sun god 8
moon goddess 8
ix chel 5
storm god 2
vulture king 2


Important Words


  1. alive
  2. bird
  3. body
  4. bolt
  5. brilliant
  6. burst
  7. buzzing
  8. called
  9. canoe
  10. chel
  11. cleaned
  12. cloud
  13. crab
  14. cut
  15. danger
  16. days
  17. dragonflies
  18. escape
  19. fluttering
  20. fly
  21. formed
  22. gathered
  23. god
  24. goddess
  25. grandfather
  26. health
  27. heart
  28. hit
  29. hollowed
  30. hundreds
  31. invited
  32. ix
  33. jumped
  34. killing
  35. lightning
  36. logs
  37. magical
  38. moon
  39. night
  40. nursed
  41. open
  42. pierced
  43. powerful
  44. rowed
  45. sensing
  46. songs
  47. spread
  48. stop
  49. storm
  50. sun
  51. thick
  52. thirteen
  53. thirteenth
  54. thrown
  55. transformed
  56. transparent
  57. water
  58. wings
  59. wounded