full transcript

From the Ted Talk by Nnedi Okorafor: Sci-fi stories that imagine a future Africa

Unscramble the Blue Letters

It was a half-mile walk along the dark desert road. With the transporter woinkrg I would make it there on time. Straightening up, I paeusd and shut my eyes. Now, the weight of my erinte life was pressnig on my shoulders. I was defying the most traditional part of myself for the first time in my entire life. I was leaving in the dead of ngiht, and they had no clue. My nine siblings, all older than me except for my yguenor sister and brother, would never see this coming. My parents would never imagine I'd do such a thing in a million years. By the time they all realized what I'd done and where I was going, I'd have left the planet.

Open Cloze

It was a half-mile walk along the dark desert road. With the transporter _______ I would make it there on time. Straightening up, I ______ and shut my eyes. Now, the weight of my ______ life was ________ on my shoulders. I was defying the most traditional part of myself for the first time in my entire life. I was leaving in the dead of _____, and they had no clue. My nine siblings, all older than me except for my _______ sister and brother, would never see this coming. My parents would never imagine I'd do such a thing in a million years. By the time they all realized what I'd done and where I was going, I'd have left the planet.

Solution

  1. younger
  2. pressing
  3. working
  4. night
  5. entire
  6. paused

Original Text

It was a half-mile walk along the dark desert road. With the transporter working I would make it there on time. Straightening up, I paused and shut my eyes. Now, the weight of my entire life was pressing on my shoulders. I was defying the most traditional part of myself for the first time in my entire life. I was leaving in the dead of night, and they had no clue. My nine siblings, all older than me except for my younger sister and brother, would never see this coming. My parents would never imagine I'd do such a thing in a million years. By the time they all realized what I'd done and where I was going, I'd have left the planet.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations

ngrams of length 2

collocation frequency
science fiction 11
african girl 2
entire life 2
binti leaves 2
classic science 2

ngrams of length 3

collocation frequency
classic science fiction 2

Important Words

  1. brother
  2. clue
  3. coming
  4. dark
  5. dead
  6. defying
  7. desert
  8. entire
  9. eyes
  10. imagine
  11. leaving
  12. left
  13. life
  14. million
  15. night
  16. older
  17. parents
  18. part
  19. paused
  20. planet
  21. pressing
  22. realized
  23. road
  24. shoulders
  25. shut
  26. siblings
  27. sister
  28. straightening
  29. time
  30. traditional
  31. transporter
  32. walk
  33. weight
  34. working
  35. years
  36. younger