full transcript

From the Ted Talk by Lee Hotz: Inside an Antarctic time machine

Unscramble the Blue Letters

This process requires extraordinary precautions. The scientists must insure that the ice is not contaminated. Moreover, in this 8,000-mile journey, they have to insure this ice doesn't melt. Imagine juggling a snowball across the tropics. They have to, in fact, make sure this ice never gets warmer than about 20 degrees below zero, otherwise, the key gases inside it will dissipate. So, in the coldest plcae on erath, they work inside a refgioerartr. As they hdnlae the ice, in fact, they keep an extra pair of gloves warming in an oven, so that, when their work gloves frzeee and their fingers stiffen, they can don a fresh pair. They work against the cclok and against the tthmmreeeor.

Open Cloze

This process requires extraordinary precautions. The scientists must insure that the ice is not contaminated. Moreover, in this 8,000-mile journey, they have to insure this ice doesn't melt. Imagine juggling a snowball across the tropics. They have to, in fact, make sure this ice never gets warmer than about 20 degrees below zero, otherwise, the key gases inside it will dissipate. So, in the coldest _____ on _____, they work inside a ____________. As they ______ the ice, in fact, they keep an extra pair of gloves warming in an oven, so that, when their work gloves ______ and their fingers stiffen, they can don a fresh pair. They work against the _____ and against the ___________.

Solution

  1. freeze
  2. refrigerator
  3. earth
  4. thermometer
  5. handle
  6. clock
  7. place

Original Text

This process requires extraordinary precautions. The scientists must insure that the ice is not contaminated. Moreover, in this 8,000-mile journey, they have to insure this ice doesn't melt. Imagine juggling a snowball across the tropics. They have to, in fact, make sure this ice never gets warmer than about 20 degrees below zero, otherwise, the key gases inside it will dissipate. So, in the coldest place on Earth, they work inside a refrigerator. As they handle the ice, in fact, they keep an extra pair of gloves warming in an oven, so that, when their work gloves freeze and their fingers stiffen, they can don a fresh pair. They work against the clock and against the thermometer.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations

ngrams of length 2

collocation frequency
greenhouse gases 5
climate change 3
early explorers 2
trace chemicals 2
united states 2

Important Words

  1. clock
  2. coldest
  3. contaminated
  4. degrees
  5. dissipate
  6. don
  7. earth
  8. extra
  9. extraordinary
  10. fact
  11. fingers
  12. freeze
  13. fresh
  14. gases
  15. gloves
  16. handle
  17. ice
  18. imagine
  19. insure
  20. journey
  21. juggling
  22. key
  23. melt
  24. oven
  25. pair
  26. place
  27. precautions
  28. process
  29. refrigerator
  30. requires
  31. scientists
  32. snowball
  33. stiffen
  34. thermometer
  35. tropics
  36. warmer
  37. warming
  38. work