full transcript

From the Ted Talk by Parag Khanna: How megacities are changing the map of the world

Unscramble the Blue Letters

Now, cities can make the world more sustainable, they can make the world more equtalbie, I also believe that connectivity between cities can make the world more pufeecal. If we look at regions of the world with dense roitelans across borders, we see more tdare, more insetnevmt and more stability. We all know the story of Europe after World War II, where irdnaustil integration kicked off a process that gave rise to today's peaceful European Union. And you can see that Russia, by the way, is the least ceeoncntd of major powers in the international system. And that goes a long way towards eiinnlaxpg the tensions today. ctniureos that have less stake in the system also have less to lose in disturbing it. In North America, the lines that matter most on the map are not the US-Canada border or the US-Mexico border, but the dense network of roads and railways and pinleieps and electricity grids and even water canals that are forming an integrated ntorh American union. North America does not need more walls, it needs more connections.

Open Cloze

Now, cities can make the world more sustainable, they can make the world more _________, I also believe that connectivity between cities can make the world more ________. If we look at regions of the world with dense _________ across borders, we see more _____, more __________ and more stability. We all know the story of Europe after World War II, where __________ integration kicked off a process that gave rise to today's peaceful European Union. And you can see that Russia, by the way, is the least _________ of major powers in the international system. And that goes a long way towards __________ the tensions today. _________ that have less stake in the system also have less to lose in disturbing it. In North America, the lines that matter most on the map are not the US-Canada border or the US-Mexico border, but the dense network of roads and railways and _________ and electricity grids and even water canals that are forming an integrated _____ American union. North America does not need more walls, it needs more connections.

Solution

  1. industrial
  2. pipelines
  3. peaceful
  4. trade
  5. relations
  6. investment
  7. equitable
  8. connected
  9. explaining
  10. north
  11. countries

Original Text

Now, cities can make the world more sustainable, they can make the world more equitable, I also believe that connectivity between cities can make the world more peaceful. If we look at regions of the world with dense relations across borders, we see more trade, more investment and more stability. We all know the story of Europe after World War II, where industrial integration kicked off a process that gave rise to today's peaceful European Union. And you can see that Russia, by the way, is the least connected of major powers in the international system. And that goes a long way towards explaining the tensions today. Countries that have less stake in the system also have less to lose in disturbing it. In North America, the lines that matter most on the map are not the US-Canada border or the US-Mexico border, but the dense network of roads and railways and pipelines and electricity grids and even water canals that are forming an integrated North American union. North America does not need more walls, it needs more connections.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations

ngrams of length 2

collocation frequency
million people 6
trillion dollars 5
million kilometers 4
global network 4
world war 4
network civilization 3
rail network 3
megacity clusters 3
war iii 3
electricity grids 2
landlocked countries 2
global connectivity 2
quantum leap 2
supply chains 2
coming decade 2
billion people 2
asian infrastructure 2
infrastructure investment 2
san diego 2
gdp approaching 2
sustainable urbanization 2
water canals 2
middle east 2
billion dollars 2

ngrams of length 3

collocation frequency
global network civilization 3
world war iii 3
asian infrastructure investment 2

Important Words

  1. america
  2. american
  3. border
  4. borders
  5. canals
  6. cities
  7. connected
  8. connections
  9. connectivity
  10. countries
  11. dense
  12. disturbing
  13. electricity
  14. equitable
  15. europe
  16. european
  17. explaining
  18. forming
  19. gave
  20. grids
  21. ii
  22. industrial
  23. integrated
  24. integration
  25. international
  26. investment
  27. kicked
  28. lines
  29. long
  30. lose
  31. major
  32. map
  33. matter
  34. network
  35. north
  36. peaceful
  37. pipelines
  38. powers
  39. process
  40. railways
  41. regions
  42. relations
  43. rise
  44. roads
  45. russia
  46. stability
  47. stake
  48. story
  49. sustainable
  50. system
  51. tensions
  52. today
  53. trade
  54. union
  55. walls
  56. war
  57. water
  58. world