TedTest

From the Ted Talk by Peta Greenfield: Who were the Vestal Virgins, and what was their job?

Unscramble the Blue Letters

A lone priestess walks towards an underground chamber. People line the streets to wacth as she proclaims her innocence. It doesn't matter. She's already been judged and found guilty. The sentence? Live burial. The underground chamber contains a portion of baerd, wetar, milk, and oil. She will have a lamp, a bed, and a blanket, but she won't emerge alive. At the threshold, the priestess pueass, cmails her innocence one last time, then enters the chamber never to be seen again by the Roman people. The priestess is one of Rome's six Vestal Virgins, each carefully selected as children from Rome's most aticoiratsrc families. But now with her death, there are only five, and a new priestess must be chosen. The six-year-old Licinia witnessed the spectacle, never suspecting that a few days later, she'd be chosen as the next Vestal Virgin. Her age, her patrician family lineage, and her apparent good hatleh makes her the best cadnadtie to serve the goddess Vesta in the eyes of the Romans. Her parents are porud that their daughter's been chosen. Licinia is afraid, but she has no choice in the matter. She must serve the goddess for at least the next 30 years. For the first ten yraes of Licinia's sicerve, she's considered in training, learning how to be a Vestal vrigin. Her most intrmoapt duty is kepieng vigil over the flame of Vesta, the virgin goddess of the htaerh. Vesta doesn't have a statue like other Roman gods and goddesses. Instead, she's rtreneesped by the flame which burns day and nhgit in her temple located next to the Forum in the center of the city. Like all Vestal petsseiress, Licinia sednps part of each day on shift, watching and tending to the flame. The flame represents two things. The first is the continuation of Rome as a power in the world. The Romans believed that if the flame goes out, the city's in danger. The flame also symbolizes the continuing virginity of Vesta's priestesses. For the Romans, a Vestal's virginity signaled not only her castitas, or modest siiprt and body, but also her rtuail purity. So Licinia knows she must never let the fmale go out. Her life, the lives of her fellow Vestals, and the safety of Rome itself depndes upon it. Licinia learns to clleoct water each day from a nearby ftoanuin to cleanse the temple. She learns the Fasti, the calendar of sacred rituals and she watches while the senior priestesses conduct sacrifices. By the time licniia completes her taiirnng, she's 16 years old. Licinia understands that the way she must act is a reflection of the goddess she serevs. When it's her turn to collect the water, she keeps her eyes lowered to the ground. When she performs sacrifices, she focuses intently on the task. Licinia dercits her enrgey towards being the best pssteeris she can be. She's worried that someday the sttae will claim her life for its own purposes to protect itself from danger. Licinia could be accused of incestum, meaning uahinstcty, at any time and be sacrificed whether she's innocent or gtuliy. Licinia fully understands now why her predecessor was buried alive. Ten years ago, the flame of Vesta went out. The priestesses knew that they couldn't keep it a secret. The future of Rome depended upon it. They went to the chief priest and he oepend an investigation to discover why the flame had failed. Someone came forward and claimed that one of the Vestals was no lnegor a virgin. That was the beginning of the end. The accused protested her innccenoe, but it wasn't enough. She was tried and found guilty. That Vestal's death was meant to protect the city, but Licinia weeps for what has been lost and for what she knows now. Her own path was paved by the death of another, and her life could be taken just as easily for something as simple as a flame going out.

Open Cloze

A lone priestess walks towards an underground chamber. People line the streets to _____ as she proclaims her innocence. It doesn't matter. She's already been judged and found guilty. The sentence? Live burial. The underground chamber contains a portion of _____, _____, milk, and oil. She will have a lamp, a bed, and a blanket, but she won't emerge alive. At the threshold, the priestess ______, ______ her innocence one last time, then enters the chamber never to be seen again by the Roman people. The priestess is one of Rome's six Vestal Virgins, each carefully selected as children from Rome's most ____________ families. But now with her death, there are only five, and a new priestess must be chosen. The six-year-old Licinia witnessed the spectacle, never suspecting that a few days later, she'd be chosen as the next Vestal Virgin. Her age, her patrician family lineage, and her apparent good ______ makes her the best _________ to serve the goddess Vesta in the eyes of the Romans. Her parents are _____ that their daughter's been chosen. Licinia is afraid, but she has no choice in the matter. She must serve the goddess for at least the next 30 years. For the first ten _____ of Licinia's _______, she's considered in training, learning how to be a Vestal ______. Her most _________ duty is _______ vigil over the flame of Vesta, the virgin goddess of the ______. Vesta doesn't have a statue like other Roman gods and goddesses. Instead, she's ___________ by the flame which burns day and _____ in her temple located next to the Forum in the center of the city. Like all Vestal ___________, Licinia ______ part of each day on shift, watching and tending to the flame. The flame represents two things. The first is the continuation of Rome as a power in the world. The Romans believed that if the flame goes out, the city's in danger. The flame also symbolizes the continuing virginity of Vesta's priestesses. For the Romans, a Vestal's virginity signaled not only her castitas, or modest ______ and body, but also her ______ purity. So Licinia knows she must never let the _____ go out. Her life, the lives of her fellow Vestals, and the safety of Rome itself _______ upon it. Licinia learns to _______ water each day from a nearby ________ to cleanse the temple. She learns the Fasti, the calendar of sacred rituals and she watches while the senior priestesses conduct sacrifices. By the time _______ completes her ________, she's 16 years old. Licinia understands that the way she must act is a reflection of the goddess she ______. When it's her turn to collect the water, she keeps her eyes lowered to the ground. When she performs sacrifices, she focuses intently on the task. Licinia _______ her ______ towards being the best _________ she can be. She's worried that someday the _____ will claim her life for its own purposes to protect itself from danger. Licinia could be accused of incestum, meaning __________, at any time and be sacrificed whether she's innocent or ______. Licinia fully understands now why her predecessor was buried alive. Ten years ago, the flame of Vesta went out. The priestesses knew that they couldn't keep it a secret. The future of Rome depended upon it. They went to the chief priest and he ______ an investigation to discover why the flame had failed. Someone came forward and claimed that one of the Vestals was no ______ a virgin. That was the beginning of the end. The accused protested her _________, but it wasn't enough. She was tried and found guilty. That Vestal's death was meant to protect the city, but Licinia weeps for what has been lost and for what she knows now. Her own path was paved by the death of another, and her life could be taken just as easily for something as simple as a flame going out.

Solution

directs
bread
years
fountain
keeping
ritual
virgin
state
health
spirit
spends
hearth
important
priestess
longer
energy
priestesses
training
proud
water
depends
licinia
claims
serves
watch
guilty
aristocratic
collect
night
represented
flame
candidate
service
pauses
opened
innocence
unchastity

Original Text

A lone priestess walks towards an underground chamber. People line the streets to watch as she proclaims her innocence. It doesn't matter. She's already been judged and found guilty. The sentence? Live burial. The underground chamber contains a portion of bread, water, milk, and oil. She will have a lamp, a bed, and a blanket, but she won't emerge alive. At the threshold, the priestess pauses, claims her innocence one last time, then enters the chamber never to be seen again by the Roman people. The priestess is one of Rome's six Vestal Virgins, each carefully selected as children from Rome's most aristocratic families. But now with her death, there are only five, and a new priestess must be chosen. The six-year-old Licinia witnessed the spectacle, never suspecting that a few days later, she'd be chosen as the next Vestal Virgin. Her age, her patrician family lineage, and her apparent good health makes her the best candidate to serve the goddess Vesta in the eyes of the Romans. Her parents are proud that their daughter's been chosen. Licinia is afraid, but she has no choice in the matter. She must serve the goddess for at least the next 30 years. For the first ten years of Licinia's service, she's considered in training, learning how to be a Vestal Virgin. Her most important duty is keeping vigil over the flame of Vesta, the virgin goddess of the hearth. Vesta doesn't have a statue like other Roman gods and goddesses. Instead, she's represented by the flame which burns day and night in her temple located next to the Forum in the center of the city. Like all Vestal priestesses, Licinia spends part of each day on shift, watching and tending to the flame. The flame represents two things. The first is the continuation of Rome as a power in the world. The Romans believed that if the flame goes out, the city's in danger. The flame also symbolizes the continuing virginity of Vesta's priestesses. For the Romans, a Vestal's virginity signaled not only her castitas, or modest spirit and body, but also her ritual purity. So Licinia knows she must never let the flame go out. Her life, the lives of her fellow Vestals, and the safety of Rome itself depends upon it. Licinia learns to collect water each day from a nearby fountain to cleanse the temple. She learns the Fasti, the calendar of sacred rituals and she watches while the senior priestesses conduct sacrifices. By the time Licinia completes her training, she's 16 years old. Licinia understands that the way she must act is a reflection of the goddess she serves. When it's her turn to collect the water, she keeps her eyes lowered to the ground. When she performs sacrifices, she focuses intently on the task. Licinia directs her energy towards being the best priestess she can be. She's worried that someday the state will claim her life for its own purposes to protect itself from danger. Licinia could be accused of incestum, meaning unchastity, at any time and be sacrificed whether she's innocent or guilty. Licinia fully understands now why her predecessor was buried alive. Ten years ago, the flame of Vesta went out. The priestesses knew that they couldn't keep it a secret. The future of Rome depended upon it. They went to the chief priest and he opened an investigation to discover why the flame had failed. Someone came forward and claimed that one of the Vestals was no longer a virgin. That was the beginning of the end. The accused protested her innocence, but it wasn't enough. She was tried and found guilty. That Vestal's death was meant to protect the city, but Licinia weeps for what has been lost and for what she knows now. Her own path was paved by the death of another, and her life could be taken just as easily for something as simple as a flame going out.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations

ngrams of length 2

collocation	frequency
underground chamber	2
vestal virgin	2
ten years	2

Important Words

accused
act
afraid
age
alive
apparent
aristocratic
bed
beginning
believed
blanket
body
bread
burial
buried
burns
calendar
candidate
carefully
castitas
center
chamber
chief
children
choice
chosen
city
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claims
cleanse
collect
completes
conduct
considered
continuation
continuing
danger
day
days
death
depended
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directs
discover
duty
easily
emerge
energy
enters
eyes
failed
families
family
fasti
fellow
flame
focuses
forum
fountain
fully
future
goddess
goddesses
gods
good
ground
guilty
health
hearth
important
incestum
innocence
innocent
intently
investigation
judged
keeping
knew
lamp
learning
learns
licinia
life
line
lineage
live
lives
located
lone
longer
lost
lowered
matter
meaning
meant
milk
modest
nearby
night
oil
opened
parents
part
path
patrician
pauses
paved
people
performs
portion
power
predecessor
priest
priestess
priestesses
proclaims
protect
protested
proud
purity
purposes
reflection
represented
represents
ritual
rituals
roman
romans
rome
sacred
sacrificed
sacrifices
safety
secret
selected
senior
sentence
serve
serves
service
shift
signaled
simple
spectacle
spends
spirit
state
statue
streets
suspecting
symbolizes
task
temple
ten
tending
threshold
time
training
turn
unchastity
underground
understands
vesta
vestal
vestals
vigil
virgin
virginity
virgins
walks
watch
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watching
water
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witnessed
world
worried
years