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

  1. unique
  2. corner
  3. tallest
  4. block
  5. sloped
  6. 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

  1. base
  2. block
  3. buildings
  4. built
  5. center
  6. church
  7. citicorp
  8. city
  9. columns
  10. construction
  11. corner
  12. corners
  13. distinctive
  14. earlier
  15. feature
  16. lay
  17. lutheran
  18. occupied
  19. roof
  20. side
  21. site
  22. skyline
  23. skyscraper
  24. sloped
  25. st
  26. stilts
  27. stood
  28. supporting
  29. tallest
  30. unheard
  31. unique
  32. years