full transcript

From the Ted Talk by Wajahat Ali: 3 lessons on hope in challenging times

Unscramble the Blue Letters

Over 500 people, mostly strangers, chose to sign up to be donors for Nusayba, even people who told me they hated me for my plciotis. They were moved by her story. Sometimes some pploee can change. Sometimes some people can choose to do and be good. An anonymous donor, Shawn Zahir, decided to give a piece of his liver to a girl he never met just so she could live. I'm not poanylnla. I'm not a fsioloh, wide-eyed, naive optimist. I'm a pgtsariamt, fully aware of the many challenges and horrors we are facing. But through my own personal experience, if it is at all helpful, I can assure you that winaklg through this forest of horrors, going on this jrunoey, wherever it may lead, if you cooshe to invest in hope, it at least makes the ride a bit sweeter and easier. And as the wise ram tells Po in “Kung Fu padna 2,” "Your story may not have such a happy beginning, but that does not make you who you are. It is the rest of it, who you choose to be."

Open Cloze

Over 500 people, mostly strangers, chose to sign up to be donors for Nusayba, even people who told me they hated me for my ________. They were moved by her story. Sometimes some ______ can change. Sometimes some people can choose to do and be good. An anonymous donor, Shawn Zahir, decided to give a piece of his liver to a girl he never met just so she could live. I'm not _________. I'm not a _______, wide-eyed, naive optimist. I'm a __________, fully aware of the many challenges and horrors we are facing. But through my own personal experience, if it is at all helpful, I can assure you that _______ through this forest of horrors, going on this _______, wherever it may lead, if you ______ to invest in hope, it at least makes the ride a bit sweeter and easier. And as the wise ram tells Po in “Kung Fu _____ 2,” "Your story may not have such a happy beginning, but that does not make you who you are. It is the rest of it, who you choose to be."

Solution

  1. panda
  2. journey
  3. pollyanna
  4. walking
  5. politics
  6. choose
  7. foolish
  8. people
  9. pragmatist

Original Text

Over 500 people, mostly strangers, chose to sign up to be donors for Nusayba, even people who told me they hated me for my politics. They were moved by her story. Sometimes some people can change. Sometimes some people can choose to do and be good. An anonymous donor, Shawn Zahir, decided to give a piece of his liver to a girl he never met just so she could live. I'm not Pollyanna. I'm not a foolish, wide-eyed, naive optimist. I'm a pragmatist, fully aware of the many challenges and horrors we are facing. But through my own personal experience, if it is at all helpful, I can assure you that walking through this forest of horrors, going on this journey, wherever it may lead, if you choose to invest in hope, it at least makes the ride a bit sweeter and easier. And as the wise ram tells Po in “Kung Fu Panda 2,” "Your story may not have such a happy beginning, but that does not make you who you are. It is the rest of it, who you choose to be."

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations

ngrams of length 2

collocation frequency
hopeless times 2
lived experience 2
bad news 2
news travels 2
wells fargo 2

ngrams of length 3

collocation frequency
bad news travels 2

Important Words

  1. anonymous
  2. assure
  3. aware
  4. beginning
  5. bit
  6. challenges
  7. change
  8. choose
  9. chose
  10. decided
  11. donor
  12. donors
  13. easier
  14. experience
  15. facing
  16. foolish
  17. forest
  18. fu
  19. fully
  20. girl
  21. give
  22. good
  23. happy
  24. hated
  25. helpful
  26. hope
  27. horrors
  28. invest
  29. journey
  30. lead
  31. live
  32. liver
  33. met
  34. moved
  35. naive
  36. nusayba
  37. optimist
  38. panda
  39. people
  40. personal
  41. piece
  42. po
  43. politics
  44. pollyanna
  45. pragmatist
  46. ram
  47. rest
  48. ride
  49. shawn
  50. sign
  51. story
  52. strangers
  53. sweeter
  54. tells
  55. told
  56. walking
  57. wise
  58. zahir