full transcript

From the Ted Talk by Billy Collins: Two poems about what dogs think (probably)

Unscramble the Blue Letters


I don't know if you've nciteod, but there's been a spate of books that have come out lately contemplating or speculating on the cognition and emotional life of dogs. Do they think, do they feel and, if so, how? So this afternoon, in my limited time, I wanted to take the guesswork out of a lot of that by introducing you to two dogs, both of whom have taken the command "speak" quite literally.

The first dog is the first to go, and he is contemplating an aspect of his rhlisationep to his owner, and the title is "A Dog on His Master."

"As young as I look, I am growing older featsr than he. Seven to one is the ratio, they tend to say. Whatever the nbmeur, I will pass him one day and take the lead, the way I do on our walks in the woods, and if this ever manages to crsos his mind, it would be the swteeset shadow I have ever cast on snow or gsras."

Open Cloze


I don't know if you've _______, but there's been a spate of books that have come out lately contemplating or speculating on the cognition and emotional life of dogs. Do they think, do they feel and, if so, how? So this afternoon, in my limited time, I wanted to take the guesswork out of a lot of that by introducing you to two dogs, both of whom have taken the command "speak" quite literally.

The first dog is the first to go, and he is contemplating an aspect of his ____________ to his owner, and the title is "A Dog on His Master."

"As young as I look, I am growing older ______ than he. Seven to one is the ratio, they tend to say. Whatever the ______, I will pass him one day and take the lead, the way I do on our walks in the woods, and if this ever manages to _____ his mind, it would be the ________ shadow I have ever cast on snow or _____."

Solution


  1. grass
  2. faster
  3. sweetest
  4. relationship
  5. cross
  6. noticed
  7. number

Original Text


I don't know if you've noticed, but there's been a spate of books that have come out lately contemplating or speculating on the cognition and emotional life of dogs. Do they think, do they feel and, if so, how? So this afternoon, in my limited time, I wanted to take the guesswork out of a lot of that by introducing you to two dogs, both of whom have taken the command "speak" quite literally.

The first dog is the first to go, and he is contemplating an aspect of his relationship to his owner, and the title is "A Dog on His Master."

"As young as I look, I am growing older faster than he. Seven to one is the ratio, they tend to say. Whatever the number, I will pass him one day and take the lead, the way I do on our walks in the woods, and if this ever manages to cross his mind, it would be the sweetest shadow I have ever cast on snow or grass."

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations




Important Words


  1. afternoon
  2. aspect
  3. books
  4. cast
  5. cognition
  6. command
  7. contemplating
  8. cross
  9. day
  10. dog
  11. dogs
  12. emotional
  13. faster
  14. feel
  15. grass
  16. growing
  17. guesswork
  18. introducing
  19. lead
  20. life
  21. limited
  22. literally
  23. lot
  24. manages
  25. master
  26. mind
  27. noticed
  28. number
  29. older
  30. owner
  31. pass
  32. ratio
  33. relationship
  34. shadow
  35. snow
  36. spate
  37. speculating
  38. sweetest
  39. tend
  40. time
  41. title
  42. walks
  43. wanted
  44. woods
  45. young