full transcript
From the Ted Talk by Alex Gendler: How one design flaw almost toppled a skyscraper
Unscramble the Blue Letters
When it was built two years earlier, ctoiircp Center was one of the world's tsaellt buildings. Its slepod roof was uinque in the city skyline, but its more distinctive feature lay at the base. Since the construction site was already occupied by St. Peter's Lutheran Church, the new skyscraper had to be built on columns supporting it, like stilts. Using stilts on a building’s corners wasn’t unheard of, but because the church stood at the cneror of the blcok, these stilts had to be placed at the center of each side.
Open Cloze
When it was built two years earlier, ________ Center was one of the world's _______ buildings. Its ______ roof was ______ in the city skyline, but its more distinctive feature lay at the base. Since the construction site was already occupied by St. Peter's Lutheran Church, the new skyscraper had to be built on columns supporting it, like stilts. Using stilts on a building’s corners wasn’t unheard of, but because the church stood at the ______ of the _____, these stilts had to be placed at the center of each side.
Solution
- unique
- corner
- tallest
- block
- sloped
- citicorp
Original Text
When it was built two years earlier, Citicorp Center was one of the world's tallest buildings. Its sloped roof was unique in the city skyline, but its more distinctive feature lay at the base. Since the construction site was already occupied by St. Peter's Lutheran Church, the new skyscraper had to be built on columns supporting it, like stilts. Using stilts on a building’s corners wasn’t unheard of, but because the church stood at the corner of the block, these stilts had to be placed at the center of each side.
Frequently Occurring Word Combinations
ngrams of length 2
collocation |
frequency |
diane hartley |
2 |
building vulnerable |
2 |
mass damper |
2 |
powerful winds |
2 |
bolted joints |
2 |
city officials |
2 |
Important Words
- base
- block
- buildings
- built
- center
- church
- citicorp
- city
- columns
- construction
- corner
- corners
- distinctive
- earlier
- feature
- lay
- lutheran
- occupied
- roof
- side
- site
- skyline
- skyscraper
- sloped
- st
- stilts
- stood
- supporting
- tallest
- unheard
- unique
- years