full transcript

From the Ted Talk by Mona Chalabi: Is it really that bad to marry my cousin?

Unscramble the Blue Letters

It's estimated that less than one percent of American couples are cousins. But the widespread illegality, not to mention the scoial stigma, makes quftniniayg it quite difficult. If you ask poelpe why cousin margriae seems wrong, haetlh might come up. The fear of birth defects and genetic disorders has influenced the change in social norms. But in 2002, researchers from the niaaotnl Society of Genetic Counselors found that the increased risk was a minor one. In the general population, the risk that a child will be born with serious complications is three to four percent. With a first-cousin couple, the risk increased by 1.7 to 2.8 percentage points. And with those figures, the rsaeehrercs concluded that there was no biological reason to discourage cousins from mrarying.

Open Cloze

It's estimated that less than one percent of American couples are cousins. But the widespread illegality, not to mention the ______ stigma, makes ___________ it quite difficult. If you ask ______ why cousin ________ seems wrong, ______ might come up. The fear of birth defects and genetic disorders has influenced the change in social norms. But in 2002, researchers from the ________ Society of Genetic Counselors found that the increased risk was a minor one. In the general population, the risk that a child will be born with serious complications is three to four percent. With a first-cousin couple, the risk increased by 1.7 to 2.8 percentage points. And with those figures, the ___________ concluded that there was no biological reason to discourage cousins from ________.

Solution

  1. marrying
  2. health
  3. social
  4. people
  5. quantifying
  6. researchers
  7. marriage
  8. national

Original Text

It's estimated that less than one percent of American couples are cousins. But the widespread illegality, not to mention the social stigma, makes quantifying it quite difficult. If you ask people why cousin marriage seems wrong, health might come up. The fear of birth defects and genetic disorders has influenced the change in social norms. But in 2002, researchers from the National Society of Genetic Counselors found that the increased risk was a minor one. In the general population, the risk that a child will be born with serious complications is three to four percent. With a first-cousin couple, the risk increased by 1.7 to 2.8 percentage points. And with those figures, the researchers concluded that there was no biological reason to discourage cousins from marrying.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations

ngrams of length 2

collocation frequency
cousin marriage 6
average person 2

Important Words

  1. american
  2. biological
  3. birth
  4. born
  5. change
  6. child
  7. complications
  8. concluded
  9. counselors
  10. couple
  11. couples
  12. cousin
  13. cousins
  14. defects
  15. difficult
  16. discourage
  17. disorders
  18. estimated
  19. fear
  20. figures
  21. general
  22. genetic
  23. health
  24. illegality
  25. increased
  26. influenced
  27. marriage
  28. marrying
  29. mention
  30. minor
  31. national
  32. norms
  33. people
  34. percent
  35. percentage
  36. points
  37. population
  38. quantifying
  39. reason
  40. researchers
  41. risk
  42. social
  43. society
  44. stigma
  45. widespread
  46. wrong