full transcript

From the Ted Talk by Stefan Al: Will there ever be a mile-high skyscraper?

Unscramble the Blue Letters


Besides dtefanieg gravity, which psheus the building down, a skyscraper also needs to ocerovme the blowing wind, which pushes from the side. On average days, wind can exert up to 17 pounds of force per square meter on a high-rise building– as heavy as a gust of bowling balls. Designing structures to be aerodynamic, like China’s sleek Shanghai toewr, can rdeuce that force by up to a quarter. And wind-bearing fremas inside or outside the building can arobsb the remaining wind force, such as in Seoul’s Lotte Tower.

But even after all these measures, you could still find yourself swaying back and forth more than a meter on top floors during a hnrcuiare. To prevent the wind from rocking tower tops, many skyscrapers employ a counterweight weighing hundreds of tons called a “tuned mass damper.” The Taipei 101, for instance, has suspended a giant metal orb above the 87th floor. When wind moves the building, this orb sways into action, absorbing the building’s kinetic energy. As its movements taril the tower’s, hydraulic cylinders between the ball and the building convert that kenitic energy into heat, and sztiliabe the swaying sttrruuce.

Open Cloze


Besides _________ gravity, which ______ the building down, a skyscraper also needs to ________ the blowing wind, which pushes from the side. On average days, wind can exert up to 17 pounds of force per square meter on a high-rise building– as heavy as a gust of bowling balls. Designing structures to be aerodynamic, like China’s sleek Shanghai _____, can ______ that force by up to a quarter. And wind-bearing ______ inside or outside the building can ______ the remaining wind force, such as in Seoul’s Lotte Tower.

But even after all these measures, you could still find yourself swaying back and forth more than a meter on top floors during a _________. To prevent the wind from rocking tower tops, many skyscrapers employ a counterweight weighing hundreds of tons called a “tuned mass damper.” The Taipei 101, for instance, has suspended a giant metal orb above the 87th floor. When wind moves the building, this orb sways into action, absorbing the building’s kinetic energy. As its movements _____ the tower’s, hydraulic cylinders between the ball and the building convert that _______ energy into heat, and _________ the swaying _________.

Solution


  1. overcome
  2. kinetic
  3. hurricane
  4. frames
  5. structure
  6. stabilize
  7. defeating
  8. trail
  9. reduce
  10. absorb
  11. pushes
  12. tower

Original Text


Besides defeating gravity, which pushes the building down, a skyscraper also needs to overcome the blowing wind, which pushes from the side. On average days, wind can exert up to 17 pounds of force per square meter on a high-rise building– as heavy as a gust of bowling balls. Designing structures to be aerodynamic, like China’s sleek Shanghai Tower, can reduce that force by up to a quarter. And wind-bearing frames inside or outside the building can absorb the remaining wind force, such as in Seoul’s Lotte Tower.

But even after all these measures, you could still find yourself swaying back and forth more than a meter on top floors during a hurricane. To prevent the wind from rocking tower tops, many skyscrapers employ a counterweight weighing hundreds of tons called a “tuned mass damper.” The Taipei 101, for instance, has suspended a giant metal orb above the 87th floor. When wind moves the building, this orb sways into action, absorbing the building’s kinetic energy. As its movements trail the tower’s, hydraulic cylinders between the ball and the building convert that kinetic energy into heat, and stabilize the swaying structure.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations


ngrams of length 2

collocation frequency
wright proposed 2
eiffel tower 2
kinetic energy 2


Important Words


  1. absorb
  2. absorbing
  3. action
  4. aerodynamic
  5. average
  6. ball
  7. balls
  8. blowing
  9. bowling
  10. building
  11. called
  12. convert
  13. counterweight
  14. cylinders
  15. damper
  16. days
  17. defeating
  18. designing
  19. employ
  20. energy
  21. exert
  22. find
  23. floor
  24. floors
  25. force
  26. frames
  27. giant
  28. gravity
  29. gust
  30. heat
  31. heavy
  32. hundreds
  33. hurricane
  34. hydraulic
  35. instance
  36. kinetic
  37. lotte
  38. mass
  39. measures
  40. metal
  41. meter
  42. movements
  43. moves
  44. orb
  45. overcome
  46. pounds
  47. prevent
  48. pushes
  49. quarter
  50. reduce
  51. remaining
  52. rocking
  53. shanghai
  54. side
  55. skyscraper
  56. skyscrapers
  57. sleek
  58. square
  59. stabilize
  60. structure
  61. structures
  62. suspended
  63. swaying
  64. sways
  65. taipei
  66. tons
  67. top
  68. tops
  69. tower
  70. trail
  71. weighing
  72. wind