full transcript

From the Ted Talk by Alayna Vaughan: The sleep disorder you might not know you have

Unscramble the Blue Letters


A leather mask that clamps the mouth shut. A cannonball sewn into a soldier’s uniform. And a machine that delivers sudden electrical pulses. These old items were all inetnedd treatments for a problem that has haunted humanity for millennia: snoring. It might seem harmless, but snoring can be a sign of something more dangerous. So, what exactly causes snoring? And when does it become a problem?

A snore’s quality can range from a gentle mew to a setuttinrg chainsaw— but all snores ontiigare from the rtirosarepy tract, which is leind with soft tissues. During sleep, the muscles around these tissues rleax, nirronwag the aawriy. Many fraocts, including congestion, anatomical features, and the position you’re sleeping in, can further constrict this passage and lead to or exacerbate snoring. The narrower the respiratory tract is, the sterngor the airflow, and the more those relaxed tissues may vibrate, producing sound.

Open Cloze


A leather mask that clamps the mouth shut. A cannonball sewn into a soldier’s uniform. And a machine that delivers sudden electrical pulses. These old items were all ________ treatments for a problem that has haunted humanity for millennia: snoring. It might seem harmless, but snoring can be a sign of something more dangerous. So, what exactly causes snoring? And when does it become a problem?

A snore’s quality can range from a gentle mew to a __________ chainsaw— but all snores _________ from the ___________ tract, which is _____ with soft tissues. During sleep, the muscles around these tissues _____, _________ the ______. Many _______, including congestion, anatomical features, and the position you’re sleeping in, can further constrict this passage and lead to or exacerbate snoring. The narrower the respiratory tract is, the ________ the airflow, and the more those relaxed tissues may vibrate, producing sound.

Solution


  1. lined
  2. intended
  3. airway
  4. respiratory
  5. narrowing
  6. stronger
  7. factors
  8. relax
  9. originate
  10. stuttering

Original Text


A leather mask that clamps the mouth shut. A cannonball sewn into a soldier’s uniform. And a machine that delivers sudden electrical pulses. These old items were all intended treatments for a problem that has haunted humanity for millennia: snoring. It might seem harmless, but snoring can be a sign of something more dangerous. So, what exactly causes snoring? And when does it become a problem?

A snore’s quality can range from a gentle mew to a stuttering chainsaw— but all snores originate from the respiratory tract, which is lined with soft tissues. During sleep, the muscles around these tissues relax, narrowing the airway. Many factors, including congestion, anatomical features, and the position you’re sleeping in, can further constrict this passage and lead to or exacerbate snoring. The narrower the respiratory tract is, the stronger the airflow, and the more those relaxed tissues may vibrate, producing sound.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations


ngrams of length 2

collocation frequency
sleep apnea 9
obstructive sleep 8
soft tissues 2

ngrams of length 3

collocation frequency
obstructive sleep apnea 6

Important Words


  1. airflow
  2. airway
  3. anatomical
  4. cannonball
  5. clamps
  6. congestion
  7. constrict
  8. dangerous
  9. delivers
  10. electrical
  11. exacerbate
  12. factors
  13. features
  14. gentle
  15. harmless
  16. haunted
  17. humanity
  18. including
  19. intended
  20. items
  21. lead
  22. leather
  23. lined
  24. machine
  25. mask
  26. mew
  27. mouth
  28. muscles
  29. narrower
  30. narrowing
  31. originate
  32. passage
  33. position
  34. problem
  35. producing
  36. pulses
  37. quality
  38. range
  39. relax
  40. relaxed
  41. respiratory
  42. sewn
  43. shut
  44. sign
  45. sleep
  46. sleeping
  47. snores
  48. snoring
  49. soft
  50. sound
  51. stronger
  52. stuttering
  53. sudden
  54. tissues
  55. tract
  56. treatments
  57. uniform
  58. vibrate