full transcript

From the Ted Talk by Prosanta Chakrabarty: What can DNA tests really tell us about our ancestry?

Unscramble the Blue Letters


Two sersits take the same DNA test. The results show that one sister is 10% French, the other 0%. Both sisters share the same two parents, and therefore the same set of ancestors. So how can one be 10% more French than the other?

ttess like these rely on our DNA to answer questions about our ancestry, but our DNA actually can’t tell us everything about who we are or where we’re from. DNA tests are great at anerwisng some questions, like who your parents are, but can provide blfafing results to others, like whether you have ancestors from a particular region. To understand why, it helps to know where our DNA comes from in the first pclae.

Open Cloze


Two _______ take the same DNA test. The results show that one sister is 10% French, the other 0%. Both sisters share the same two parents, and therefore the same set of ancestors. So how can one be 10% more French than the other?

_____ like these rely on our DNA to answer questions about our ancestry, but our DNA actually can’t tell us everything about who we are or where we’re from. DNA tests are great at _________ some questions, like who your parents are, but can provide ________ results to others, like whether you have ancestors from a particular region. To understand why, it helps to know where our DNA comes from in the first _____.

Solution


  1. place
  2. sisters
  3. answering
  4. baffling
  5. tests

Original Text


Two sisters take the same DNA test. The results show that one sister is 10% French, the other 0%. Both sisters share the same two parents, and therefore the same set of ancestors. So how can one be 10% more French than the other?

Tests like these rely on our DNA to answer questions about our ancestry, but our DNA actually can’t tell us everything about who we are or where we’re from. DNA tests are great at answering some questions, like who your parents are, but can provide baffling results to others, like whether you have ancestors from a particular region. To understand why, it helps to know where our DNA comes from in the first place.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations


ngrams of length 2

collocation frequency
dna tests 2
genetic markers 2


Important Words


  1. ancestors
  2. ancestry
  3. answer
  4. answering
  5. baffling
  6. dna
  7. french
  8. great
  9. helps
  10. parents
  11. place
  12. provide
  13. questions
  14. region
  15. rely
  16. results
  17. set
  18. share
  19. show
  20. sister
  21. sisters
  22. test
  23. tests
  24. understand