TedTest

From the Ted Talk by Marco A. Sotomayor: The surprising reason you feel awful when you're sick

Unscramble the Blue Letters

It starts with a tlikce in your throat that becomes a cough. Your muscles begin to ache, you grow irritable, and you lose your appetite. It's official: you've got the flu. It's logical to asmsue that this miserable medley of symptoms is the result of the infection coursing through your body, but is that really the case? What's actually making you feel sick? What if your body itself was driving this vicious onslaught? You first get ill when a pathogen like the flu virus gets into your system, infecting and killing your cells. But this unwelcome ionurtsin has another effect: it alerts your body's immune system to your plight. As soon as it becomes aware of initocefn, your body leaps to your defense. Cells called macrophages crhage in as the first line of attack, searching for and destroying the viruses and infected cells. Afterwards, the magpoaehrcs release protein molecules called cetykinos whose job is to recruit and oarnigze more virus-busting clles from your immune setysm. If this creiaonodtd effort is strong enough, it'll wipe out the infection before you even notice it. But that's just your body setting the scene for some real action. In some cases, viruses spread further, even into the blood and vital organs. To avoid this sometimes dangerous fate, your immune system must lnauch a stronger attack, crtnoniodaig its activity with the brain. That's where those unpleasant spmytoms come in, starting with the surging temperature, aches and pains, and sseelnpeis. So why do we experience this? When the immune system is under serious attack, it secretes more cytokines, which trigger two responses. First, the vagus nerve, which runs through the body into the brain, quickly transmits the information to the barin stem, passing near an important area of pain processing. Second, cytokines travel through the body to the hypothalamus, the part of the brain responsible for controlling temperature, thirst, hunger, and sleep, among other things. When it reeivces this masgsee, the hypothalamus produces another molecule called prostaglandin E2, which gears it up for war. The hauymptalhos sends singals that instruct your muscles to contract and causes a rise in body temperature. It also makes you seelpy, and you lose your appetite and thirst. But what's the point of all of these unpleasant symptoms? Well, we're not yet sure, but some trhzoeie that they aid in recovery. The rise in temperature can slow bacteria and help your immune system destroy pathogens. Sleep lets your body chneanl more energy towards fighting infection. When you stop etanig, your liver can take up much of the iron in your bolod, and since iron is essential for bcraeaitl survival, that effectively starves them. Your rucdeed thirst makes you mildly dehydrated, dsniiihmnig transmission through sneezes, coughs, vomit, or diarrhea. Though it's worth noting that if you don't drink enough water, that dtedhiyoarn can become dangerous. Even the body's aches make you more sensitive, drawing attention to infected cuts that might be worsening, or even cnuiasg your cdiontion. In addition to physical symptoms, sickness can also make you irritable, sad, and confused. That's because cytokines and prostaglandin can reach even higher structures in your brain, disrupting the activity of neurotransmitters, like glutamate, eniphordns, serotonin, and dopamine. This affects areas like the limbic system, which oversees emotions, and your crabeerl cortex, which is involved in reasoning. So it's actually the body's own immune response that causes much of the discomfort you feel every time you get ill. Unfortunately, it doesn't always work perfectly. Most notably, millions of people wdridlowe suffer from aummintuoe diseases, in which the immune system treats normal bdoliy cues as threats, so the body attacks itself. But for the majority of the huamn race, millions of years of evolution have fine-tuned the immune system so that it works for, rather than against us. The symptoms of our illnesses are annoying, but clivloeelcty, they signify an aenicnt process that will cnntuoie barricading our bdeois against the outside wlrod for centuries to come.

Open Cloze

It starts with a ______ in your throat that becomes a cough. Your muscles begin to ache, you grow irritable, and you lose your appetite. It's official: you've got the flu. It's logical to ______ that this miserable medley of symptoms is the result of the infection coursing through your body, but is that really the case? What's actually making you feel sick? What if your body itself was driving this vicious onslaught? You first get ill when a pathogen like the flu virus gets into your system, infecting and killing your cells. But this unwelcome _________ has another effect: it alerts your body's immune system to your plight. As soon as it becomes aware of _________, your body leaps to your defense. Cells called macrophages ______ in as the first line of attack, searching for and destroying the viruses and infected cells. Afterwards, the ___________ release protein molecules called _________ whose job is to recruit and ________ more virus-busting _____ from your immune ______. If this ___________ effort is strong enough, it'll wipe out the infection before you even notice it. But that's just your body setting the scene for some real action. In some cases, viruses spread further, even into the blood and vital organs. To avoid this sometimes dangerous fate, your immune system must ______ a stronger attack, ____________ its activity with the brain. That's where those unpleasant ________ come in, starting with the surging temperature, aches and pains, and __________. So why do we experience this? When the immune system is under serious attack, it secretes more cytokines, which trigger two responses. First, the vagus nerve, which runs through the body into the brain, quickly transmits the information to the _____ stem, passing near an important area of pain processing. Second, cytokines travel through the body to the hypothalamus, the part of the brain responsible for controlling temperature, thirst, hunger, and sleep, among other things. When it ________ this _______, the hypothalamus produces another molecule called prostaglandin E2, which gears it up for war. The ____________ sends _______ that instruct your muscles to contract and causes a rise in body temperature. It also makes you ______, and you lose your appetite and thirst. But what's the point of all of these unpleasant symptoms? Well, we're not yet sure, but some ________ that they aid in recovery. The rise in temperature can slow bacteria and help your immune system destroy pathogens. Sleep lets your body _______ more energy towards fighting infection. When you stop ______, your liver can take up much of the iron in your _____, and since iron is essential for _________ survival, that effectively starves them. Your _______ thirst makes you mildly dehydrated, ___________ transmission through sneezes, coughs, vomit, or diarrhea. Though it's worth noting that if you don't drink enough water, that ___________ can become dangerous. Even the body's aches make you more sensitive, drawing attention to infected cuts that might be worsening, or even _______ your _________. In addition to physical symptoms, sickness can also make you irritable, sad, and confused. That's because cytokines and prostaglandin can reach even higher structures in your brain, disrupting the activity of neurotransmitters, like glutamate, __________, serotonin, and dopamine. This affects areas like the limbic system, which oversees emotions, and your ________ cortex, which is involved in reasoning. So it's actually the body's own immune response that causes much of the discomfort you feel every time you get ill. Unfortunately, it doesn't always work perfectly. Most notably, millions of people _________ suffer from __________ diseases, in which the immune system treats normal ______ cues as threats, so the body attacks itself. But for the majority of the _____ race, millions of years of evolution have fine-tuned the immune system so that it works for, rather than against us. The symptoms of our illnesses are annoying, but ____________, they signify an _______ process that will ________ barricading our ______ against the outside _____ for centuries to come.

Solution

bodily
eating
infection
continue
macrophages
worldwide
signals
autoimmune
intrusion
dehydration
brain
sleepy
coordinating
organize
message
causing
bodies
theorize
sleepiness
human
cells
condition
world
coordinated
launch
diminishing
cytokines
assume
charge
blood
endorphins
collectively
system
ancient
hypothalamus
channel
receives
cerebral
tickle
symptoms
bacterial
reduced

Original Text

It starts with a tickle in your throat that becomes a cough. Your muscles begin to ache, you grow irritable, and you lose your appetite. It's official: you've got the flu. It's logical to assume that this miserable medley of symptoms is the result of the infection coursing through your body, but is that really the case? What's actually making you feel sick? What if your body itself was driving this vicious onslaught? You first get ill when a pathogen like the flu virus gets into your system, infecting and killing your cells. But this unwelcome intrusion has another effect: it alerts your body's immune system to your plight. As soon as it becomes aware of infection, your body leaps to your defense. Cells called macrophages charge in as the first line of attack, searching for and destroying the viruses and infected cells. Afterwards, the macrophages release protein molecules called cytokines whose job is to recruit and organize more virus-busting cells from your immune system. If this coordinated effort is strong enough, it'll wipe out the infection before you even notice it. But that's just your body setting the scene for some real action. In some cases, viruses spread further, even into the blood and vital organs. To avoid this sometimes dangerous fate, your immune system must launch a stronger attack, coordinating its activity with the brain. That's where those unpleasant symptoms come in, starting with the surging temperature, aches and pains, and sleepiness. So why do we experience this? When the immune system is under serious attack, it secretes more cytokines, which trigger two responses. First, the vagus nerve, which runs through the body into the brain, quickly transmits the information to the brain stem, passing near an important area of pain processing. Second, cytokines travel through the body to the hypothalamus, the part of the brain responsible for controlling temperature, thirst, hunger, and sleep, among other things. When it receives this message, the hypothalamus produces another molecule called prostaglandin E2, which gears it up for war. The hypothalamus sends signals that instruct your muscles to contract and causes a rise in body temperature. It also makes you sleepy, and you lose your appetite and thirst. But what's the point of all of these unpleasant symptoms? Well, we're not yet sure, but some theorize that they aid in recovery. The rise in temperature can slow bacteria and help your immune system destroy pathogens. Sleep lets your body channel more energy towards fighting infection. When you stop eating, your liver can take up much of the iron in your blood, and since iron is essential for bacterial survival, that effectively starves them. Your reduced thirst makes you mildly dehydrated, diminishing transmission through sneezes, coughs, vomit, or diarrhea. Though it's worth noting that if you don't drink enough water, that dehydration can become dangerous. Even the body's aches make you more sensitive, drawing attention to infected cuts that might be worsening, or even causing your condition. In addition to physical symptoms, sickness can also make you irritable, sad, and confused. That's because cytokines and prostaglandin can reach even higher structures in your brain, disrupting the activity of neurotransmitters, like glutamate, endorphins, serotonin, and dopamine. This affects areas like the limbic system, which oversees emotions, and your cerebral cortex, which is involved in reasoning. So it's actually the body's own immune response that causes much of the discomfort you feel every time you get ill. Unfortunately, it doesn't always work perfectly. Most notably, millions of people worldwide suffer from autoimmune diseases, in which the immune system treats normal bodily cues as threats, so the body attacks itself. But for the majority of the human race, millions of years of evolution have fine-tuned the immune system so that it works for, rather than against us. The symptoms of our illnesses are annoying, but collectively, they signify an ancient process that will continue barricading our bodies against the outside world for centuries to come.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations

ngrams of length 2

collocation	frequency
immune system	7

Important Words

ache
aches
action
activity
addition
affects
aid
alerts
ancient
annoying
appetite
area
areas
assume
attack
attacks
attention
autoimmune
avoid
aware
bacteria
bacterial
barricading
blood
bodies
bodily
body
brain
called
case
cases
causing
cells
centuries
cerebral
channel
charge
collectively
condition
confused
continue
contract
controlling
coordinated
coordinating
cortex
cough
coughs
coursing
cues
cuts
cytokines
dangerous
defense
dehydrated
dehydration
destroy
destroying
diarrhea
diminishing
discomfort
diseases
disrupting
dopamine
drawing
drink
driving
eating
effectively
effort
emotions
endorphins
energy
essential
evolution
experience
fate
feel
fighting
flu
gears
glutamate
grow
higher
human
hunger
hypothalamus
ill
illnesses
immune
important
infected
infecting
infection
information
instruct
intrusion
involved
iron
irritable
job
killing
launch
leaps
lets
limbic
line
liver
logical
lose
macrophages
majority
making
medley
message
mildly
millions
miserable
molecule
molecules
muscles
nerve
neurotransmitters
normal
notably
notice
noting
onslaught
organize
organs
oversees
pain
pains
part
passing
pathogen
pathogens
people
perfectly
physical
plight
point
process
processing
produces
prostaglandin
protein
quickly
race
reach
real
reasoning
receives
recovery
recruit
reduced
release
response
responses
responsible
result
rise
runs
sad
scene
searching
secretes
sends
sensitive
serotonin
setting
sick
sickness
signals
signify
sleep
sleepiness
sleepy
slow
sneezes
spread
starting
starts
starves
stem
stop
strong
stronger
structures
suffer
surging
survival
symptoms
system
temperature
theorize
thirst
threats
throat
tickle
time
transmission
transmits
travel
treats
trigger
unpleasant
unwelcome
vagus
vicious
virus
viruses
vital
vomit
war
water
wipe
work
works
world
worldwide
worsening
worth
years