TedTest

From the Ted Talk by Jeff Steers: Who won the space race?

Unscramble the Blue Letters

On ooecbtr 4, 1957, the world wtahced in awe and fear as the Soviet uoinn launched Sputnik, the world's first man-made satellite, into space. This little metal ball, smaller than two feet in diameter, launched a space race between the U.S. and U.S.S.R. that would last for eeghtein years and change the wolrd as we know it. Sputnik was actually not the first piece of human technology to enter space. That superlative goes to the V-2 rocket used by granmey in missile attacks against aielld cities as a last-ditch effort in the final years of World War II. It wasn't very effective, but, at the end of the war, both the U.S. and U.S.S.R. had captured the technology and the scientists that had developed it and began using them for their own projects. And by August 1957, the Soviet's successfully tested the first intercontinental ballistic msilise, the R-7, the same rocket that would be used to launch stuinpk two months later. So, the sarcy thing about Sputnik was not the orbiting ball itself, but the fact that the same tcohnelgoy could be used to launch a nuclear waerhad at any city. Not wanting to fall too far behind, President Eisenhower ordered the Navy to speed up its own project and launch a stteillae as soon as possible. So, on December 6, 1957, excited pelope across the nation tuned in to watch the live brsoadact as the Vanguard TV3 satellite took off and crashed to the ground two seconds later. The Vanguard failure was a huge esamamrnsebt for the United States. Newspapers printed headlines like, "Flopnik" and "Kaputnik." And a seoivt degteale at the U.N. molkcnigy sesgugetd that the U.S. should receive feriogn aid for developing nations. fratteoluny, the Army had been working on their own parallel project, The Explorer, which was sscelclufsuy lhuceand in January 1958, but the U.S. had berlay managed to catch up before they were surpassed again as Yuri Gargarin became the first man in space in April 1961. Almost a year passed and several more Soviet astronauts completed their missions before Project murcery succeeded in making John Glenn the first American in orbit in February 1962. By this time, President Kennedy had realized that simply cntacihg up to each Soviet adavcne a few months later wasn't going to cut it. The U.S. had to do something first, and in May 1961, a month after Gargarin's filght, he announced the goal of putting a man on the moon by the end of the 1960s. They succeeded in this through the Apollo program with Neil Armstrong taking his foamus step on July 20, 1969. With both countries' next turning their attention to orbital space stations, there's no telling how much longer the space race could have gone on. But because of improving relations negotiated by Soviet Premier Leonid Breshnev and U.S. President Nixon, the U.S.S.R. and U.S. moved toward cooperation rather than competition. The successful joint mission, known as Apollo-Soyuz, in which an American Apollo spacecraft docked with a Soviet Soyuz craft and the two crews met, shook hands, and exchanged gifts, marked the end of the space race in 1975. So, in the end, what was the point of this whole scape race? Was it just a massive waste of time? Two major superpowers trying to outdo each other by pursuing soyiblmc projects that were both degoruans and expensive, using resources that could have been better spent elsewhere? Well, sure, sort of, but the biggest benefits of the space program had nothing to do with one country beating another. During the space race, fninudg for research and education, in geanrel, increased dclaalmiraty, leading to many advances that may not have otherwise been made. Many NASA technologies deepeovld for space are now widely used in civilian life, from memory foam in metsesatrs to freeze-dried food, to LEDs in cancer treatment. And, of course, the satellites that we rely on for our GPS and mobile phone signals would not have been there without the space program. All of which goes to show that the rewards of scientific research and advancement are often far more vast than even the people pursuing them can imagine.

Open Cloze

On _______ 4, 1957, the world _______ in awe and fear as the Soviet _____ launched Sputnik, the world's first man-made satellite, into space. This little metal ball, smaller than two feet in diameter, launched a space race between the U.S. and U.S.S.R. that would last for ________ years and change the _____ as we know it. Sputnik was actually not the first piece of human technology to enter space. That superlative goes to the V-2 rocket used by _______ in missile attacks against ______ cities as a last-ditch effort in the final years of World War II. It wasn't very effective, but, at the end of the war, both the U.S. and U.S.S.R. had captured the technology and the scientists that had developed it and began using them for their own projects. And by August 1957, the Soviet's successfully tested the first intercontinental ballistic _______, the R-7, the same rocket that would be used to launch _______ two months later. So, the _____ thing about Sputnik was not the orbiting ball itself, but the fact that the same __________ could be used to launch a nuclear _______ at any city. Not wanting to fall too far behind, President Eisenhower ordered the Navy to speed up its own project and launch a _________ as soon as possible. So, on December 6, 1957, excited ______ across the nation tuned in to watch the live _________ as the Vanguard TV3 satellite took off and crashed to the ground two seconds later. The Vanguard failure was a huge ____________ for the United States. Newspapers printed headlines like, "Flopnik" and "Kaputnik." And a ______ ________ at the U.N. _________ _________ that the U.S. should receive _______ aid for developing nations. ___________, the Army had been working on their own parallel project, The Explorer, which was ____________ ________ in January 1958, but the U.S. had ______ managed to catch up before they were surpassed again as Yuri Gargarin became the first man in space in April 1961. Almost a year passed and several more Soviet astronauts completed their missions before Project _______ succeeded in making John Glenn the first American in orbit in February 1962. By this time, President Kennedy had realized that simply ________ up to each Soviet _______ a few months later wasn't going to cut it. The U.S. had to do something first, and in May 1961, a month after Gargarin's ______, he announced the goal of putting a man on the moon by the end of the 1960s. They succeeded in this through the Apollo program with Neil Armstrong taking his ______ step on July 20, 1969. With both countries' next turning their attention to orbital space stations, there's no telling how much longer the space race could have gone on. But because of improving relations negotiated by Soviet Premier Leonid Breshnev and U.S. President Nixon, the U.S.S.R. and U.S. moved toward cooperation rather than competition. The successful joint mission, known as Apollo-Soyuz, in which an American Apollo spacecraft docked with a Soviet Soyuz craft and the two crews met, shook hands, and exchanged gifts, marked the end of the space race in 1975. So, in the end, what was the point of this whole _____ race? Was it just a massive waste of time? Two major superpowers trying to outdo each other by pursuing ________ projects that were both _________ and expensive, using resources that could have been better spent elsewhere? Well, sure, sort of, but the biggest benefits of the space program had nothing to do with one country beating another. During the space race, _______ for research and education, in _______, increased ____________, leading to many advances that may not have otherwise been made. Many NASA technologies _________ for space are now widely used in civilian life, from memory foam in __________ to freeze-dried food, to LEDs in cancer treatment. And, of course, the satellites that we rely on for our GPS and mobile phone signals would not have been there without the space program. All of which goes to show that the rewards of scientific research and advancement are often far more vast than even the people pursuing them can imagine.

Solution

allied
developed
flight
famous
people
space
technology
fortunately
catching
eighteen
dramatically
broadcast
delegate
mockingly
union
advance
soviet
mattresses
scary
satellite
october
funding
foreign
launched
suggested
world
barely
dangerous
germany
sputnik
mercury
symbolic
embarassment
watched
warhead
successfully
missile
general

Original Text

On October 4, 1957, the world watched in awe and fear as the Soviet Union launched Sputnik, the world's first man-made satellite, into space. This little metal ball, smaller than two feet in diameter, launched a space race between the U.S. and U.S.S.R. that would last for eighteen years and change the world as we know it. Sputnik was actually not the first piece of human technology to enter space. That superlative goes to the V-2 rocket used by Germany in missile attacks against Allied cities as a last-ditch effort in the final years of World War II. It wasn't very effective, but, at the end of the war, both the U.S. and U.S.S.R. had captured the technology and the scientists that had developed it and began using them for their own projects. And by August 1957, the Soviet's successfully tested the first intercontinental ballistic missile, the R-7, the same rocket that would be used to launch Sputnik two months later. So, the scary thing about Sputnik was not the orbiting ball itself, but the fact that the same technology could be used to launch a nuclear warhead at any city. Not wanting to fall too far behind, President Eisenhower ordered the Navy to speed up its own project and launch a satellite as soon as possible. So, on December 6, 1957, excited people across the nation tuned in to watch the live broadcast as the Vanguard TV3 satellite took off and crashed to the ground two seconds later. The Vanguard failure was a huge embarassment for the United States. Newspapers printed headlines like, "Flopnik" and "Kaputnik." And a Soviet delegate at the U.N. mockingly suggested that the U.S. should receive foreign aid for developing nations. Fortunately, the Army had been working on their own parallel project, The Explorer, which was successfully launched in January 1958, but the U.S. had barely managed to catch up before they were surpassed again as Yuri Gargarin became the first man in space in April 1961. Almost a year passed and several more Soviet astronauts completed their missions before Project Mercury succeeded in making John Glenn the first American in orbit in February 1962. By this time, President Kennedy had realized that simply catching up to each Soviet advance a few months later wasn't going to cut it. The U.S. had to do something first, and in May 1961, a month after Gargarin's flight, he announced the goal of putting a man on the moon by the end of the 1960s. They succeeded in this through the Apollo program with Neil Armstrong taking his famous step on July 20, 1969. With both countries' next turning their attention to orbital space stations, there's no telling how much longer the space race could have gone on. But because of improving relations negotiated by Soviet Premier Leonid Breshnev and U.S. President Nixon, the U.S.S.R. and U.S. moved toward cooperation rather than competition. The successful joint mission, known as Apollo-Soyuz, in which an American Apollo spacecraft docked with a Soviet Soyuz craft and the two crews met, shook hands, and exchanged gifts, marked the end of the space race in 1975. So, in the end, what was the point of this whole space race? Was it just a massive waste of time? Two major superpowers trying to outdo each other by pursuing symbolic projects that were both dangerous and expensive, using resources that could have been better spent elsewhere? Well, sure, sort of, but the biggest benefits of the space program had nothing to do with one country beating another. During the space race, funding for research and education, in general, increased dramatically, leading to many advances that may not have otherwise been made. Many NASA technologies developed for space are now widely used in civilian life, from memory foam in mattresses to freeze-dried food, to LEDs in cancer treatment. And, of course, the satellites that we rely on for our GPS and mobile phone signals would not have been there without the space program. All of which goes to show that the rewards of scientific research and advancement are often far more vast than even the people pursuing them can imagine.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations

ngrams of length 2

collocation	frequency
space race	3
space program	2

Important Words

advance
advancement
advances
aid
allied
american
announced
apollo
april
armstrong
army
astronauts
attacks
attention
august
awe
ball
ballistic
barely
beating
began
benefits
biggest
breshnev
broadcast
cancer
captured
catch
catching
change
cities
city
civilian
competition
completed
cooperation
country
craft
crashed
crews
cut
dangerous
december
delegate
developed
developing
diameter
docked
dramatically
education
effective
effort
eighteen
eisenhower
embarassment
enter
exchanged
excited
expensive
explorer
fact
failure
fall
famous
fear
february
feet
final
flight
foam
food
foreign
fortunately
funding
gargarin
general
germany
gifts
glenn
goal
gps
ground
hands
headlines
huge
human
ii
imagine
improving
increased
intercontinental
january
john
joint
july
kennedy
launch
launched
leading
leds
leonid
life
live
longer
major
making
man
managed
marked
massive
mattresses
memory
mercury
met
metal
missile
mission
missions
mobile
mockingly
month
months
moon
moved
nasa
nation
nations
navy
negotiated
neil
newspapers
nixon
nuclear
october
orbit
orbital
orbiting
ordered
outdo
parallel
passed
people
phone
piece
point
premier
president
printed
program
project
projects
pursuing
putting
race
realized
receive
relations
rely
research
resources
rewards
rocket
satellite
satellites
scary
scientific
scientists
seconds
shook
show
signals
simply
smaller
sort
soviet
soyuz
space
spacecraft
speed
spent
sputnik
states
stations
step
succeeded
successful
successfully
suggested
superlative
superpowers
surpassed
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technologies
technology
telling
tested
time
treatment
tuned
turning
union
united
vanguard
vast
wanting
war
warhead
waste
watch
watched
widely
working
world
year
years
yuri