full transcript

From the Ted Talk by Asha de Vos: Why are blue whales so enormous?

Unscramble the Blue Letters


But, why are blue wahles so big? Blue whales are considerably larger than the lsgaret living land animal, the enalhept. The heavier an animal is, the greater its relative surface area. As weight iseaecrns, there’s a point at which the legs of that animal would smpliy collapse. That explains why elephants don’t stand on the delicate legs of a horse. They need legs shaped like stout pedestals to hold their bodies up against gravity.

In water, the situation is quite different. Buoyancy counteracts the gravitational pull on the body and their great bulk is therefore pltairlay supported by the water. So, the ocean is a great pcale for species that want to grow bgiger.

Open Cloze


But, why are blue ______ so big? Blue whales are considerably larger than the _______ living land animal, the ________. The heavier an animal is, the greater its relative surface area. As weight _________, there’s a point at which the legs of that animal would ______ collapse. That explains why elephants don’t stand on the delicate legs of a horse. They need legs shaped like stout pedestals to hold their bodies up against gravity.

In water, the situation is quite different. Buoyancy counteracts the gravitational pull on the body and their great bulk is therefore _________ supported by the water. So, the ocean is a great _____ for species that want to grow ______.

Solution


  1. place
  2. bigger
  3. partially
  4. largest
  5. elephant
  6. simply
  7. whales
  8. increases

Original Text


But, why are blue whales so big? Blue whales are considerably larger than the largest living land animal, the elephant. The heavier an animal is, the greater its relative surface area. As weight increases, there’s a point at which the legs of that animal would simply collapse. That explains why elephants don’t stand on the delicate legs of a horse. They need legs shaped like stout pedestals to hold their bodies up against gravity.

In water, the situation is quite different. Buoyancy counteracts the gravitational pull on the body and their great bulk is therefore partially supported by the water. So, the ocean is a great place for species that want to grow bigger.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations


ngrams of length 2

collocation frequency
blue whales 9
blue whale 4
lunge feeding 3
allowed blue 2

ngrams of length 3

collocation frequency
allowed blue whales 2

Important Words


  1. animal
  2. area
  3. big
  4. bigger
  5. blue
  6. bodies
  7. body
  8. bulk
  9. buoyancy
  10. collapse
  11. considerably
  12. counteracts
  13. delicate
  14. elephant
  15. elephants
  16. explains
  17. gravitational
  18. gravity
  19. great
  20. greater
  21. grow
  22. heavier
  23. hold
  24. horse
  25. increases
  26. land
  27. larger
  28. largest
  29. legs
  30. living
  31. ocean
  32. partially
  33. pedestals
  34. place
  35. point
  36. pull
  37. relative
  38. shaped
  39. simply
  40. situation
  41. species
  42. stand
  43. stout
  44. supported
  45. surface
  46. water
  47. weight
  48. whales