full transcript

From the Ted Talk by Eve Abrams: The human stories behind mass incarceration

Unscramble the Blue Letters

I have never been arrested, never spent a ngiht in jail, never had a loved one thrown into the back of a squad car or behind bars, or be at the mrecy of a scary, confusing system that at best sees them with indifference, and at worst as monstrous. The United settas of America lckos up more people than any other nation on the planet, and Louisiana is our beigsgt ionartreaccr. Most of you are probably like me — lucky. The closest we get to crime and punishment is likely what we see on TV. While making "Unprisoned," I met a woman who used to be like us — Sheila Phipps.

Open Cloze

I have never been arrested, never spent a _____ in jail, never had a loved one thrown into the back of a squad car or behind bars, or be at the _____ of a scary, confusing system that at best sees them with indifference, and at worst as monstrous. The United ______ of America _____ up more people than any other nation on the planet, and Louisiana is our _______ ____________. Most of you are probably like me — lucky. The closest we get to crime and punishment is likely what we see on TV. While making "Unprisoned," I met a woman who used to be like us — Sheila Phipps.

Solution

  1. locks
  2. mercy
  3. states
  4. incarcerator
  5. night
  6. biggest

Original Text

I have never been arrested, never spent a night in jail, never had a loved one thrown into the back of a squad car or behind bars, or be at the mercy of a scary, confusing system that at best sees them with indifference, and at worst as monstrous. The United States of America locks up more people than any other nation on the planet, and Louisiana is our biggest incarcerator. Most of you are probably like me — lucky. The closest we get to crime and punishment is likely what we see on TV. While making "Unprisoned," I met a woman who used to be like us — Sheila Phipps.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations

ngrams of length 2

collocation frequency
innocent people 4
criminal legal 4
legal system 4
brother missed 3
high school 3
judicial system 3
young people 3
sheila phipps 2
eyewitness testimony 2
district attorney 2
birthday dinner 2
black people 2

ngrams of length 3

collocation frequency
criminal legal system 4

Important Words

  1. america
  2. arrested
  3. bars
  4. biggest
  5. car
  6. closest
  7. confusing
  8. crime
  9. incarcerator
  10. indifference
  11. jail
  12. locks
  13. louisiana
  14. loved
  15. lucky
  16. making
  17. mercy
  18. met
  19. monstrous
  20. nation
  21. night
  22. people
  23. phipps
  24. planet
  25. punishment
  26. scary
  27. sees
  28. sheila
  29. spent
  30. squad
  31. states
  32. system
  33. thrown
  34. tv
  35. united
  36. woman
  37. worst