full transcript

From the Ted Talk by Stefan Al: What happens if you cut down all of a city's trees?

Unscramble the Blue Letters


This is the tale of two ancient cities and the trees that determined their destinies. In 3,000 BC Uruk was more densely populated than mroden day New York City. This crowded capital had to continually expand their irrigation system to feed its grwiong population. 2,500 yeras later in Sri Lanka, the city of Anuradhapura had a similar problem. They were also growing constantly, and like Uruk, their city rlieed heavily on an eltoarabe irrigation system.

As Uruk grew, its fraerms began chopping down trees to make space for more crops. In Anuradhapura, however, trees were scaerd. Their city heuosd an offshoot of the Bodhi tree under which Buddha himself was said to have attained eeniemntnghlt. Religious reverence sloewd farmer’s axes and even led the city to plant additional trees in urban parks.

Open Cloze


This is the tale of two ancient cities and the trees that determined their destinies. In 3,000 BC Uruk was more densely populated than ______ day New York City. This crowded capital had to continually expand their irrigation system to feed its _______ population. 2,500 _____ later in Sri Lanka, the city of Anuradhapura had a similar problem. They were also growing constantly, and like Uruk, their city ______ heavily on an _________ irrigation system.

As Uruk grew, its _______ began chopping down trees to make space for more crops. In Anuradhapura, however, trees were ______. Their city ______ an offshoot of the Bodhi tree under which Buddha himself was said to have attained _____________. Religious reverence ______ farmer’s axes and even led the city to plant additional trees in urban parks.

Solution


  1. sacred
  2. elaborate
  3. farmers
  4. growing
  5. years
  6. housed
  7. modern
  8. relied
  9. slowed
  10. enlightenment

Original Text


This is the tale of two ancient cities and the trees that determined their destinies. In 3,000 BC Uruk was more densely populated than modern day New York City. This crowded capital had to continually expand their irrigation system to feed its growing population. 2,500 years later in Sri Lanka, the city of Anuradhapura had a similar problem. They were also growing constantly, and like Uruk, their city relied heavily on an elaborate irrigation system.

As Uruk grew, its farmers began chopping down trees to make space for more crops. In Anuradhapura, however, trees were sacred. Their city housed an offshoot of the Bodhi tree under which Buddha himself was said to have attained enlightenment. Religious reverence slowed farmer’s axes and even led the city to plant additional trees in urban parks.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations


ngrams of length 2

collocation frequency
irrigation system 4
modern day 2
city planners 2
urban trees 2


Important Words


  1. additional
  2. ancient
  3. anuradhapura
  4. attained
  5. axes
  6. bc
  7. began
  8. bodhi
  9. buddha
  10. capital
  11. chopping
  12. cities
  13. city
  14. constantly
  15. continually
  16. crops
  17. crowded
  18. day
  19. densely
  20. destinies
  21. determined
  22. elaborate
  23. enlightenment
  24. expand
  25. farmers
  26. feed
  27. grew
  28. growing
  29. heavily
  30. housed
  31. irrigation
  32. lanka
  33. led
  34. modern
  35. offshoot
  36. parks
  37. plant
  38. populated
  39. population
  40. problem
  41. relied
  42. religious
  43. reverence
  44. sacred
  45. similar
  46. slowed
  47. space
  48. sri
  49. system
  50. tale
  51. tree
  52. trees
  53. urban
  54. uruk
  55. years
  56. york