full transcript

From the Ted Talk by Rebecca Webster: When ancient wisdom beats modern industry

Unscramble the Blue Letters


For generations, the haoaeeuunsnde had sustained themselves off these crops, known as the Three Sisters. Planted together in the same mound, each sister helped the others grow.

First, the corn, the eldest sister, provides a long stalk that acts as a sturdy trellis. Then the second sister, beans, sends out its smtes with touch-sensing tips that search for nearby supports. When they encounter the corn stalk, they wrap around it and climb upwards, their lavees capturing ever more light. Reciprocally, when the corn faces heavy winds, the bean palnt provides structural support. It also helps the corn grow by bsionotg the amount of available nitrogen— an esiaetsnl nutrient for plant gwroth. The bean plant does this by releasing chemical messengers from its roots, atcitrnatg rhizobia, a kind of nitrogen-fixing bacteria living in the soil. The bacteria infiltrate its cell walls, then begin siphoning food from the bean plant. And in return, the rhizobia bacteria convert atmospheric nitrogen into a form of ngteroin the pnalts can use for growth.

Open Cloze


For generations, the _____________ had sustained themselves off these crops, known as the Three Sisters. Planted together in the same mound, each sister helped the others grow.

First, the corn, the eldest sister, provides a long stalk that acts as a sturdy trellis. Then the second sister, beans, sends out its _____ with touch-sensing tips that search for nearby supports. When they encounter the corn stalk, they wrap around it and climb upwards, their ______ capturing ever more light. Reciprocally, when the corn faces heavy winds, the bean _____ provides structural support. It also helps the corn grow by ________ the amount of available nitrogen— an _________ nutrient for plant ______. The bean plant does this by releasing chemical messengers from its roots, __________ rhizobia, a kind of nitrogen-fixing bacteria living in the soil. The bacteria infiltrate its cell walls, then begin siphoning food from the bean plant. And in return, the rhizobia bacteria convert atmospheric nitrogen into a form of ________ the ______ can use for growth.

Solution


  1. stems
  2. attracting
  3. haudenosaunee
  4. plants
  5. leaves
  6. boosting
  7. growth
  8. essential
  9. nitrogen
  10. plant

Original Text


For generations, the Haudenosaunee had sustained themselves off these crops, known as the Three Sisters. Planted together in the same mound, each sister helped the others grow.

First, the corn, the eldest sister, provides a long stalk that acts as a sturdy trellis. Then the second sister, beans, sends out its stems with touch-sensing tips that search for nearby supports. When they encounter the corn stalk, they wrap around it and climb upwards, their leaves capturing ever more light. Reciprocally, when the corn faces heavy winds, the bean plant provides structural support. It also helps the corn grow by boosting the amount of available nitrogen— an essential nutrient for plant growth. The bean plant does this by releasing chemical messengers from its roots, attracting rhizobia, a kind of nitrogen-fixing bacteria living in the soil. The bacteria infiltrate its cell walls, then begin siphoning food from the bean plant. And in return, the rhizobia bacteria convert atmospheric nitrogen into a form of nitrogen the plants can use for growth.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations


ngrams of length 2

collocation frequency
handsome lake 5
bean plant 3
lake realized 2
industrial farming 2

ngrams of length 3

collocation frequency
handsome lake realized 2

Important Words


  1. acts
  2. amount
  3. atmospheric
  4. attracting
  5. bacteria
  6. bean
  7. beans
  8. boosting
  9. capturing
  10. cell
  11. chemical
  12. climb
  13. convert
  14. corn
  15. crops
  16. eldest
  17. encounter
  18. essential
  19. faces
  20. food
  21. form
  22. generations
  23. grow
  24. growth
  25. haudenosaunee
  26. heavy
  27. helped
  28. helps
  29. infiltrate
  30. kind
  31. leaves
  32. light
  33. living
  34. long
  35. messengers
  36. mound
  37. nearby
  38. nitrogen
  39. nutrient
  40. plant
  41. planted
  42. plants
  43. reciprocally
  44. releasing
  45. return
  46. rhizobia
  47. roots
  48. search
  49. sends
  50. siphoning
  51. sister
  52. sisters
  53. soil
  54. stalk
  55. stems
  56. structural
  57. sturdy
  58. support
  59. supports
  60. sustained
  61. tips
  62. trellis
  63. walls
  64. winds
  65. wrap