TedTest

From the Ted Talk by Megan Campisi and Pen-Pen Chen: What makes the Great Wall of China so extraordinary

Unscramble the Blue Letters

A 13,000 mile dogran of earth and sonte winds its way through the countryside of China with a hiotrsy almost as long and serpentine as the structure. The Great Wall began as multiple wlals of rammed earth built by individual feudal sttaes during the Chunqiu period to protect against nomadic raiders north of China and each other. When empreor Qin Shi haung ufieind the states in 221 BCE, the Tibetan Plateau and paiicfc Ocean became natural baerirrs, but the mountains in the north remained vulnerable to Mongol, tuisrkh, and Xiongnu invasions. To defend against them, the Emperor expanded the small walls bliut by his peeosredrcss, cteonnicng some and fortifying others. As the structures grew from ltinao in the west to Liaodong in the east, they collectively became known as The Long Wall. To accomplish this task, the Emperor enlisted soelrdis and commoners, not always voluntarily. Of the hundreds of thousands of builders recorded during the Qin dnytsay, many were forcibly conscripted peasants and others were criminals serving out sentences. Under the Han Dynasty, the wall grew longer still, reaching 3700 miles, and spanning from Dunhuang to the bahoi Sea. freocd labor continued under the Han Emperor Han-Wudi , and the walls reputation grew into a notorious place of suffering. Poems and legends of the time told of laborers brieud in nearby mass graves, or even within the wall itself. And while no human remains have been found inside, grave pits do indicate that many workers died from accidents, huengr and exhautoisn. The wall was formidable but not invincible. Both genihgs and his son Khublai Khan managed to surmount the wall during the Mongol invasion of the 13th Century. After the Ming dynasty gained ctonorl in 1368, they began to refortify and further consolidate the wall using bricks and stones from local kilns. Averaging 23 feet high and 21 feet wide, the walls 5500 miles were punctuated by watchtowers. When raiders were sighted, fire and smoke signals traveled between towers until reinforcements arrived. Small openings along the wall let arrches fire on invaders, while larger ones were used to drop stones and more. But even this new and improved wall was not enough. In 1644, northern Manchu clans overhretw the Ming to establish the Qing dynasty, incorporating Mongolia as well, Thus, for the second time, China was ruled by the very pleope the wall had tried to keep out. With the empire's borders now extending beyond the Great Wall, the fortifications lost their purpose. And without regular rnercoeniemft, the wall fell into disrepair, raemmd earth eroded, while brick and stone were plundered for building maaeirlts. But its job wasn't fihensid. During World War II, cihna used sections for defense against Japanese invasion, and some parts are still rouermd to be used for military training. But the Wall's main pprouse today is cultural. As one of the largest man-made structures on etarh, it was granted usenco World Heritage Status in 1987. Originally built to keep people out of China, the Great Wall now welcomes mnlliois of vsrioits each year. In fact, the influx of tourists has caused the wall to deteriorate, leading the Chinese government to launch preservation initiatives. It's also often acclaimed as the only man-made structure visible from space. Unfortunately, that's not at all true. In low Earth orbit, all sorts of structures, like bdigres, hawgyihs and airports are visible, and the Great Wall is only barely discernible. From the moon, it doesn't sntad a chance. But regardless, it's the Earth we should be studying it from because new sections are still discovered every few yares, binrhnacg off from the main body and expanding this rebkalrame monument to human achievement.

Open Cloze

A 13,000 mile ______ of earth and _____ winds its way through the countryside of China with a _______ almost as long and serpentine as the structure. The Great Wall began as multiple _____ of rammed earth built by individual feudal ______ during the Chunqiu period to protect against nomadic raiders north of China and each other. When _______ Qin Shi _____ _______ the states in 221 BCE, the Tibetan Plateau and _______ Ocean became natural ________, but the mountains in the north remained vulnerable to Mongol, _______, and Xiongnu invasions. To defend against them, the Emperor expanded the small walls _____ by his ____________, __________ some and fortifying others. As the structures grew from ______ in the west to Liaodong in the east, they collectively became known as The Long Wall. To accomplish this task, the Emperor enlisted ________ and commoners, not always voluntarily. Of the hundreds of thousands of builders recorded during the Qin _______, many were forcibly conscripted peasants and others were criminals serving out sentences. Under the Han Dynasty, the wall grew longer still, reaching 3700 miles, and spanning from Dunhuang to the _____ Sea. ______ labor continued under the Han Emperor Han-Wudi , and the walls reputation grew into a notorious place of suffering. Poems and legends of the time told of laborers ______ in nearby mass graves, or even within the wall itself. And while no human remains have been found inside, grave pits do indicate that many workers died from accidents, ______ and __________. The wall was formidable but not invincible. Both _______ and his son Khublai Khan managed to surmount the wall during the Mongol invasion of the 13th Century. After the Ming dynasty gained _______ in 1368, they began to refortify and further consolidate the wall using bricks and stones from local kilns. Averaging 23 feet high and 21 feet wide, the walls 5500 miles were punctuated by watchtowers. When raiders were sighted, fire and smoke signals traveled between towers until reinforcements arrived. Small openings along the wall let _______ fire on invaders, while larger ones were used to drop stones and more. But even this new and improved wall was not enough. In 1644, northern Manchu clans _________ the Ming to establish the Qing dynasty, incorporating Mongolia as well, Thus, for the second time, China was ruled by the very ______ the wall had tried to keep out. With the empire's borders now extending beyond the Great Wall, the fortifications lost their purpose. And without regular _____________, the wall fell into disrepair, ______ earth eroded, while brick and stone were plundered for building _________. But its job wasn't ________. During World War II, _____ used sections for defense against Japanese invasion, and some parts are still _______ to be used for military training. But the Wall's main _______ today is cultural. As one of the largest man-made structures on _____, it was granted ______ World Heritage Status in 1987. Originally built to keep people out of China, the Great Wall now welcomes ________ of ________ each year. In fact, the influx of tourists has caused the wall to deteriorate, leading the Chinese government to launch preservation initiatives. It's also often acclaimed as the only man-made structure visible from space. Unfortunately, that's not at all true. In low Earth orbit, all sorts of structures, like _______, ________ and airports are visible, and the Great Wall is only barely discernible. From the moon, it doesn't _____ a chance. But regardless, it's the Earth we should be studying it from because new sections are still discovered every few _____, _________ off from the main body and expanding this __________ monument to human achievement.

Solution

exhaustion
people
china
visitors
years
predecessors
bohai
rammed
genghis
barriers
overthrew
pacific
states
unesco
forced
reinforcement
buried
archers
rumored
branching
huang
hunger
dragon
bridges
control
stand
stone
turkish
soldiers
dynasty
earth
lintao
remarkable
walls
unified
connecting
materials
purpose
finished
emperor
millions
history
built
highways

Original Text

A 13,000 mile dragon of earth and stone winds its way through the countryside of China with a history almost as long and serpentine as the structure. The Great Wall began as multiple walls of rammed earth built by individual feudal states during the Chunqiu period to protect against nomadic raiders north of China and each other. When Emperor Qin Shi Huang unified the states in 221 BCE, the Tibetan Plateau and Pacific Ocean became natural barriers, but the mountains in the north remained vulnerable to Mongol, Turkish, and Xiongnu invasions. To defend against them, the Emperor expanded the small walls built by his predecessors, connecting some and fortifying others. As the structures grew from Lintao in the west to Liaodong in the east, they collectively became known as The Long Wall. To accomplish this task, the Emperor enlisted soldiers and commoners, not always voluntarily. Of the hundreds of thousands of builders recorded during the Qin Dynasty, many were forcibly conscripted peasants and others were criminals serving out sentences. Under the Han Dynasty, the wall grew longer still, reaching 3700 miles, and spanning from Dunhuang to the Bohai Sea. Forced labor continued under the Han Emperor Han-Wudi , and the walls reputation grew into a notorious place of suffering. Poems and legends of the time told of laborers buried in nearby mass graves, or even within the wall itself. And while no human remains have been found inside, grave pits do indicate that many workers died from accidents, hunger and exhaustion. The wall was formidable but not invincible. Both Genghis and his son Khublai Khan managed to surmount the wall during the Mongol invasion of the 13th Century. After the Ming dynasty gained control in 1368, they began to refortify and further consolidate the wall using bricks and stones from local kilns. Averaging 23 feet high and 21 feet wide, the walls 5500 miles were punctuated by watchtowers. When raiders were sighted, fire and smoke signals traveled between towers until reinforcements arrived. Small openings along the wall let archers fire on invaders, while larger ones were used to drop stones and more. But even this new and improved wall was not enough. In 1644, northern Manchu clans overthrew the Ming to establish the Qing dynasty, incorporating Mongolia as well, Thus, for the second time, China was ruled by the very people the wall had tried to keep out. With the empire's borders now extending beyond the Great Wall, the fortifications lost their purpose. And without regular reinforcement, the wall fell into disrepair, rammed earth eroded, while brick and stone were plundered for building materials. But its job wasn't finished. During World War II, China used sections for defense against Japanese invasion, and some parts are still rumored to be used for military training. But the Wall's main purpose today is cultural. As one of the largest man-made structures on Earth, it was granted UNESCO World Heritage Status in 1987. Originally built to keep people out of China, the Great Wall now welcomes millions of visitors each year. In fact, the influx of tourists has caused the wall to deteriorate, leading the Chinese government to launch preservation initiatives. It's also often acclaimed as the only man-made structure visible from space. Unfortunately, that's not at all true. In low Earth orbit, all sorts of structures, like bridges, highways and airports are visible, and the Great Wall is only barely discernible. From the moon, it doesn't stand a chance. But regardless, it's the Earth we should be studying it from because new sections are still discovered every few years, branching off from the main body and expanding this remarkable monument to human achievement.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations

ngrams of length 2

collocation	frequency
great wall	3
rammed earth	2

Important Words

accidents
acclaimed
accomplish
achievement
airports
archers
arrived
averaging
barely
barriers
bce
began
body
bohai
borders
branching
brick
bricks
bridges
builders
building
built
buried
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century
chance
china
chinese
chunqiu
clans
collectively
commoners
connecting
conscripted
consolidate
continued
control
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criminals
cultural
defend
defense
deteriorate
died
discernible
discovered
disrepair
dragon
drop
dunhuang
dynasty
earth
east
emperor
enlisted
eroded
establish
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expanded
expanding
extending
fact
feet
fell
feudal
finished
fire
forced
forcibly
formidable
fortifications
fortifying
gained
genghis
government
granted
grave
graves
great
grew
han
heritage
high
highways
history
huang
human
hundreds
hunger
ii
improved
incorporating
individual
influx
initiatives
invaders
invasion
invasions
invincible
japanese
job
khan
khublai
kilns
labor
laborers
larger
largest
launch
leading
legends
liaodong
lintao
local
long
longer
lost
main
managed
manchu
mass
materials
mile
miles
military
millions
ming
mongol
mongolia
monument
moon
mountains
multiple
natural
nearby
nomadic
north
northern
notorious
ocean
openings
orbit
originally
overthrew
pacific
parts
peasants
people
period
pits
place
plateau
plundered
poems
predecessors
preservation
protect
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purpose
qin
qing
raiders
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reaching
recorded
refortify
regular
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reputation
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serpentine
serving
shi
sighted
signals
small
smoke
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son
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space
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stone
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told
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unesco
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xiongnu
year
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