full transcript
From the Ted Talk by Alyssa Loorya: What I learned from digging under New York City's streets
Unscramble the Blue Letters
And its remote location made it an ideal spot for the city to construct its first poor house. And it's from that period, circa 1735, that we find these bone buttons. These were made by poor persons in the amsslhoue. Poor porsnes in the almshouse were assigned various tasks to earn their keep, among them, shredding old rope for reuse, dressing hemp, picking oakum, mikang bone buttons, in the toughht that hard work would reform these poor persons into productive meermbs of society. The almshouse served several groups: poor needy persons, sturdy beggars, idle wandering vagabonds. And reasons to be admitted? Insanity, pregnancy, or being a widow or an orphan who could no longer pay their way. Which makes this peice all the more interesting. This child's ptale was found within the wllas of the Bridewell. The Bridewell was one of the most feared and notorious prisons of its time, and it happened to have been right next door to the almshouse. In fact, there were porniss on either side of the almshouse, and at times, these institutions were so overcrowded. posnriers and poor persons were sharing the same spaces. And while there is a lot of calomr about how can you expose children to hardened criminals, let's not forget that children as young as twelve were convicted to the bdewielrl for stealing bread. What all this gives us is an insight into life in the 18th ctneury, what it was like to be poor in the 18th century, perhaps being sreeteaggd from a portion of society, perhaps being assigned takss to earn their keep. It was a time when three-fifths of New York City's population were living at or near the subsistence level, if not below. And 10% of the population owned more than half of the city's wealth. The past has a lot to taceh us about our present and our future. I'm a firm believer that in oerdr to have a sualatsnibe future, we must have a well-understood past. Archaeology affords us New Yorkers and pretty much anyone in an ubarn center the opportunity to irprcaootne the knowledge of our past into our present-day dialogues, into the dialogues about our futures, incorporate the iofmatoinrn into our shared spaces, and hopefully, it can bring all of our diverse communities within New York City, again, within any city closer together. And if I can get just one person to think a little bit differently about what they see when they walk down the city sertets, or through an urban park, then I've done my job of sharing the past. Thank you. (Applause)
Open Cloze
And its remote location made it an ideal spot for the city to construct its first poor house. And it's from that period, circa 1735, that we find these bone buttons. These were made by poor persons in the _________. Poor _______ in the almshouse were assigned various tasks to earn their keep, among them, shredding old rope for reuse, dressing hemp, picking oakum, ______ bone buttons, in the _______ that hard work would reform these poor persons into productive _______ of society. The almshouse served several groups: poor needy persons, sturdy beggars, idle wandering vagabonds. And reasons to be admitted? Insanity, pregnancy, or being a widow or an orphan who could no longer pay their way. Which makes this _____ all the more interesting. This child's _____ was found within the _____ of the Bridewell. The Bridewell was one of the most feared and notorious prisons of its time, and it happened to have been right next door to the almshouse. In fact, there were _______ on either side of the almshouse, and at times, these institutions were so overcrowded. _________ and poor persons were sharing the same spaces. And while there is a lot of ______ about how can you expose children to hardened criminals, let's not forget that children as young as twelve were convicted to the _________ for stealing bread. What all this gives us is an insight into life in the 18th _______, what it was like to be poor in the 18th century, perhaps being __________ from a portion of society, perhaps being assigned _____ to earn their keep. It was a time when three-fifths of New York City's population were living at or near the subsistence level, if not below. And 10% of the population owned more than half of the city's wealth. The past has a lot to _____ us about our present and our future. I'm a firm believer that in _____ to have a ___________ future, we must have a well-understood past. Archaeology affords us New Yorkers and pretty much anyone in an _____ center the opportunity to ___________ the knowledge of our past into our present-day dialogues, into the dialogues about our futures, incorporate the ___________ into our shared spaces, and hopefully, it can bring all of our diverse communities within New York City, again, within any city closer together. And if I can get just one person to think a little bit differently about what they see when they walk down the city _______, or through an urban park, then I've done my job of sharing the past. Thank you. (Applause)
Solution
- bridewell
- piece
- streets
- clamor
- persons
- almshouse
- tasks
- members
- teach
- century
- prisons
- thought
- plate
- sustainable
- urban
- prisoners
- walls
- information
- incorporate
- order
- making
- segregated
Original Text
And its remote location made it an ideal spot for the city to construct its first poor house. And it's from that period, circa 1735, that we find these bone buttons. These were made by poor persons in the almshouse. Poor persons in the almshouse were assigned various tasks to earn their keep, among them, shredding old rope for reuse, dressing hemp, picking oakum, making bone buttons, in the thought that hard work would reform these poor persons into productive members of society. The almshouse served several groups: poor needy persons, sturdy beggars, idle wandering vagabonds. And reasons to be admitted? Insanity, pregnancy, or being a widow or an orphan who could no longer pay their way. Which makes this piece all the more interesting. This child's plate was found within the walls of the Bridewell. The Bridewell was one of the most feared and notorious prisons of its time, and it happened to have been right next door to the almshouse. In fact, there were prisons on either side of the almshouse, and at times, these institutions were so overcrowded. Prisoners and poor persons were sharing the same spaces. And while there is a lot of clamor about how can you expose children to hardened criminals, let's not forget that children as young as twelve were convicted to the Bridewell for stealing bread. What all this gives us is an insight into life in the 18th century, what it was like to be poor in the 18th century, perhaps being segregated from a portion of society, perhaps being assigned tasks to earn their keep. It was a time when three-fifths of New York City's population were living at or near the subsistence level, if not below. And 10% of the population owned more than half of the city's wealth. The past has a lot to teach us about our present and our future. I'm a firm believer that in order to have a sustainable future, we must have a well-understood past. Archaeology affords us New Yorkers and pretty much anyone in an urban center the opportunity to incorporate the knowledge of our past into our present-day dialogues, into the dialogues about our futures, incorporate the information into our shared spaces, and hopefully, it can bring all of our diverse communities within New York City, again, within any city closer together. And if I can get just one person to think a little bit differently about what they see when they walk down the city streets, or through an urban park, then I've done my job of sharing the past. Thank you. (Applause)
Frequently Occurring Word Combinations
ngrams of length 2
collocation |
frequency |
poor persons |
4 |
city streets |
2 |
york city |
2 |
city hall |
2 |
Important Words
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