full transcript

From the Ted Talk by Jeff Leek and Lucy McGowan: This one weird trick will help you spot clickbait

Unscramble the Blue Letters


Keep watching for the elapaxtionn of the first example; then pause at the headline to answer the question. These are simplified scenarios. A real study would detail many more factors and how it accounted for them, but for the purposes of this erceisxe, assume all the information you need is icuneldd.

Let’s start by considering the cardiovascular effects of a certain vitamin, Healthium. The study finds that participants taking hhluteiam had a higher level of healthy cholesterol than those taking a placebo. Their lleevs became similar to those of people with naturally high levels of this kind of cholesterol. pvoueirs research has shown that people with naturally high levels of hlhtaey cholesterol have lower raets of heart disease.

Open Cloze


Keep watching for the ___________ of the first example; then pause at the headline to answer the question. These are simplified scenarios. A real study would detail many more factors and how it accounted for them, but for the purposes of this ________, assume all the information you need is ________.

Let’s start by considering the cardiovascular effects of a certain vitamin, Healthium. The study finds that participants taking _________ had a higher level of healthy cholesterol than those taking a placebo. Their ______ became similar to those of people with naturally high levels of this kind of cholesterol. ________ research has shown that people with naturally high levels of _______ cholesterol have lower _____ of heart disease.

Solution


  1. previous
  2. exercise
  3. rates
  4. healthium
  5. included
  6. explanation
  7. levels
  8. healthy

Original Text


Keep watching for the explanation of the first example; then pause at the headline to answer the question. These are simplified scenarios. A real study would detail many more factors and how it accounted for them, but for the purposes of this exercise, assume all the information you need is included.

Let’s start by considering the cardiovascular effects of a certain vitamin, Healthium. The study finds that participants taking Healthium had a higher level of healthy cholesterol than those taking a placebo. Their levels became similar to those of people with naturally high levels of this kind of cholesterol. Previous research has shown that people with naturally high levels of healthy cholesterol have lower rates of heart disease.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations


ngrams of length 2

collocation frequency
heart disease 3
naturally high 3
high levels 3
eating chocolate 2
chocolate reduces 2
reduces stress 2
drug prolongs 2
prolongs lives 2
healthy cholesterol 2

ngrams of length 3

collocation frequency
naturally high levels 3
chocolate reduces stress 2
drug prolongs lives 2

Important Words


  1. accounted
  2. answer
  3. assume
  4. cardiovascular
  5. cholesterol
  6. detail
  7. disease
  8. effects
  9. exercise
  10. explanation
  11. factors
  12. finds
  13. headline
  14. healthium
  15. healthy
  16. heart
  17. high
  18. higher
  19. included
  20. information
  21. kind
  22. level
  23. levels
  24. naturally
  25. participants
  26. pause
  27. people
  28. placebo
  29. previous
  30. purposes
  31. question
  32. rates
  33. real
  34. research
  35. scenarios
  36. shown
  37. similar
  38. simplified
  39. start
  40. study
  41. vitamin
  42. watching