full transcript

From the Ted Talk by Rod Phillips: What happened when the United States tried to ban alcohol

Unscramble the Blue Letters


On January 17, 1920, six armed men roebbd a Chicago freight train. But it wasn’t money they were after. Less than one hour after spirits had become igaelll throughout the untied sttaes, the rebrobs made off with thousands of doallrs worth of whkeisy. It was a first taste of the unintended consequences of Prohibition.

The nationwide ban on the production and sale of alcohol in the United States came on the heels of a similar ban in Russia that started as a wartime measure during World War I. But the view in the Western world of alcohol as a primary cause of social ills was much older. It first gained traction during the Industrial Revolution as new populations of workers poured into ctieis and men gathered in saloons to dnirk.

Open Cloze


On January 17, 1920, six armed men ______ a Chicago freight train. But it wasn’t money they were after. Less than one hour after spirits had become _______ throughout the ______ ______, the _______ made off with thousands of _______ worth of _______. It was a first taste of the unintended consequences of Prohibition.

The nationwide ban on the production and sale of alcohol in the United States came on the heels of a similar ban in Russia that started as a wartime measure during World War I. But the view in the Western world of alcohol as a primary cause of social ills was much older. It first gained traction during the Industrial Revolution as new populations of workers poured into ______ and men gathered in saloons to _____.

Solution


  1. robbed
  2. united
  3. whiskey
  4. cities
  5. states
  6. drink
  7. illegal
  8. robbers
  9. dollars

Original Text


On January 17, 1920, six armed men robbed a Chicago freight train. But it wasn’t money they were after. Less than one hour after spirits had become illegal throughout the United States, the robbers made off with thousands of dollars worth of whiskey. It was a first taste of the unintended consequences of Prohibition.

The nationwide ban on the production and sale of alcohol in the United States came on the heels of a similar ban in Russia that started as a wartime measure during World War I. But the view in the Western world of alcohol as a primary cause of social ills was much older. It first gained traction during the Industrial Revolution as new populations of workers poured into cities and men gathered in saloons to drink.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations


ngrams of length 2

collocation frequency
united states 3
temperance movements 3
believed alcohol 2
organized crime 2


Important Words


  1. alcohol
  2. armed
  3. ban
  4. chicago
  5. cities
  6. consequences
  7. dollars
  8. drink
  9. freight
  10. gained
  11. gathered
  12. heels
  13. hour
  14. illegal
  15. ills
  16. industrial
  17. january
  18. measure
  19. men
  20. money
  21. nationwide
  22. older
  23. populations
  24. poured
  25. primary
  26. production
  27. prohibition
  28. revolution
  29. robbed
  30. robbers
  31. russia
  32. sale
  33. saloons
  34. similar
  35. social
  36. spirits
  37. started
  38. states
  39. taste
  40. thousands
  41. traction
  42. train
  43. unintended
  44. united
  45. view
  46. war
  47. wartime
  48. western
  49. whiskey
  50. workers
  51. world
  52. worth