full transcript

From the Ted Talk by William Ury: The walk from "no" to "yes"

Unscramble the Blue Letters


Well, the subject of difficult negotiation reminds me of one of my favorite stories from the Middle East, of a man who left to his three sons, 17 camels. To the first son, he left half the camels; to the second son, he left a third of the camels; and to the youngest son, he left a nnith of the camels. The three sons got into a negotiation — 17 doesn't divide by two. It doesn't divide by three. It doesn't ddiive by nine. Brotherly trempes started to get strained. flanily, in desperation, they went and they consulted a wise old woman. The wise old woamn thought about their porlebm for a long time, and finally she came back and said, "Well, I don't know if I can help you, but at least, if you want, you can have my camel." So then, they had 18 cemlas. The first son took his half — half of 18 is nine. The second son took his third — a third of 18 is six. The youngest son took his ninth — a ninth of 18 is two. You get 17. They had one camel left over. They gave it back to the wise old woman.

Open Cloze


Well, the subject of difficult negotiation reminds me of one of my favorite stories from the Middle East, of a man who left to his three sons, 17 camels. To the first son, he left half the camels; to the second son, he left a third of the camels; and to the youngest son, he left a _____ of the camels. The three sons got into a negotiation — 17 doesn't divide by two. It doesn't divide by three. It doesn't ______ by nine. Brotherly _______ started to get strained. _______, in desperation, they went and they consulted a wise old woman. The wise old _____ thought about their _______ for a long time, and finally she came back and said, "Well, I don't know if I can help you, but at least, if you want, you can have my camel." So then, they had 18 ______. The first son took his half — half of 18 is nine. The second son took his third — a third of 18 is six. The youngest son took his ninth — a ninth of 18 is two. You get 17. They had one camel left over. They gave it back to the wise old woman.

Solution


  1. woman
  2. camels
  3. tempers
  4. finally
  5. divide
  6. ninth
  7. problem

Original Text


Well, the subject of difficult negotiation reminds me of one of my favorite stories from the Middle East, of a man who left to his three sons, 17 camels. To the first son, he left half the camels; to the second son, he left a third of the camels; and to the youngest son, he left a ninth of the camels. The three sons got into a negotiation — 17 doesn't divide by two. It doesn't divide by three. It doesn't divide by nine. Brotherly tempers started to get strained. Finally, in desperation, they went and they consulted a wise old woman. The wise old woman thought about their problem for a long time, and finally she came back and said, "Well, I don't know if I can help you, but at least, if you want, you can have my camel." So then, they had 18 camels. The first son took his half — half of 18 is nine. The second son took his third — a third of 18 is six. The youngest son took his ninth — a ninth of 18 is two. You get 17. They had one camel left over. They gave it back to the wise old woman.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations


ngrams of length 2

collocation frequency
middle east 7
abraham path 5
constructive role 2
poison arrows 2
origin story 2
innocent stranger 2
common economy 2


Important Words


  1. brotherly
  2. camel
  3. camels
  4. consulted
  5. desperation
  6. difficult
  7. divide
  8. east
  9. favorite
  10. finally
  11. gave
  12. left
  13. long
  14. man
  15. middle
  16. negotiation
  17. ninth
  18. problem
  19. reminds
  20. son
  21. sons
  22. started
  23. stories
  24. strained
  25. subject
  26. tempers
  27. thought
  28. time
  29. wise
  30. woman
  31. youngest