full transcript

From the Ted Talk by Allison Ramsey and Mary Staicu: The accident that changed the world

Unscramble the Blue Letters

What Fleming sulmtebd upon was a microbial dnfeese system. The penicillium mold constantly pedrcous penicillin in odrer to defend itself from threats, such as nbraey brtiaaecl colonies that might consume its resources. Penicillin destroys many types of bacteria by dsinuriptg synthesis of their cell walls. These walls get their strength from a thick, protective mesh of sugars and amino acids, that are constantly being broken down and rebuilt. Penicillin binds to one of the cdnmopous that weaves this mesh together and prevents the wall from being reconstructed at a ciiratcl phase. Meanwhile, penicillin stimulates the release of highly reactive molecules that cause additional damage. Eventually, the cell’s structure breaks down completely. This two-pronged attack is lethal to a wide range of bacteria, whether in petri-dishes, our bodies, or elsewhere. It’s not, however, harmful to our own cells, because those don’t have cell wllas.

Open Cloze

What Fleming ________ upon was a microbial _______ system. The penicillium mold constantly ________ penicillin in _____ to defend itself from threats, such as ______ _________ colonies that might consume its resources. Penicillin destroys many types of bacteria by __________ synthesis of their cell walls. These walls get their strength from a thick, protective mesh of sugars and amino acids, that are constantly being broken down and rebuilt. Penicillin binds to one of the _________ that weaves this mesh together and prevents the wall from being reconstructed at a ________ phase. Meanwhile, penicillin stimulates the release of highly reactive molecules that cause additional damage. Eventually, the cell’s structure breaks down completely. This two-pronged attack is lethal to a wide range of bacteria, whether in petri-dishes, our bodies, or elsewhere. It’s not, however, harmful to our own cells, because those don’t have cell _____.

Solution

  1. bacterial
  2. compounds
  3. disrupting
  4. order
  5. nearby
  6. stumbled
  7. defense
  8. critical
  9. produces
  10. walls

Original Text

What Fleming stumbled upon was a microbial defense system. The penicillium mold constantly produces penicillin in order to defend itself from threats, such as nearby bacterial colonies that might consume its resources. Penicillin destroys many types of bacteria by disrupting synthesis of their cell walls. These walls get their strength from a thick, protective mesh of sugars and amino acids, that are constantly being broken down and rebuilt. Penicillin binds to one of the compounds that weaves this mesh together and prevents the wall from being reconstructed at a critical phase. Meanwhile, penicillin stimulates the release of highly reactive molecules that cause additional damage. Eventually, the cell’s structure breaks down completely. This two-pronged attack is lethal to a wide range of bacteria, whether in petri-dishes, our bodies, or elsewhere. It’s not, however, harmful to our own cells, because those don’t have cell walls.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations

ngrams of length 2

collocation frequency
cell walls 2

Important Words

  1. acids
  2. additional
  3. amino
  4. attack
  5. bacteria
  6. bacterial
  7. binds
  8. bodies
  9. breaks
  10. broken
  11. cell
  12. cells
  13. colonies
  14. completely
  15. compounds
  16. constantly
  17. consume
  18. critical
  19. damage
  20. defend
  21. defense
  22. destroys
  23. disrupting
  24. eventually
  25. fleming
  26. harmful
  27. highly
  28. lethal
  29. mesh
  30. microbial
  31. mold
  32. molecules
  33. nearby
  34. order
  35. penicillin
  36. penicillium
  37. phase
  38. prevents
  39. produces
  40. protective
  41. range
  42. reactive
  43. rebuilt
  44. reconstructed
  45. release
  46. resources
  47. stimulates
  48. strength
  49. structure
  50. stumbled
  51. sugars
  52. synthesis
  53. system
  54. thick
  55. threats
  56. types
  57. wall
  58. walls
  59. weaves
  60. wide