full transcript
From the Ted Talk by TED-Ed: 3 ways to end a virus
Unscramble the Blue Letters
At the time, Australia was overrun by the European rabbit— an invasive species— so, in an aptmett to ctrnool the population, scientists released a virus called myxoma, which had been previously shown to be almost 100% lethal to European rabbits. During the initial outbreak, as pnnaeld, tens, perhaps hundreds, of millions of eupoaern rabbits died. But as the virus spread, it evolved a series of mutations that happened to make it less deadly, killing rabbits more slowly and killing fewer rabbits overall. With more infected hosts hopping around, this strain of the virus was more likely to spread than its deadlier cousin. And of course, raibbts evovled too, to mount better immune responses.
Open Cloze
At the time, Australia was overrun by the European rabbit— an invasive species— so, in an _______ to _______ the population, scientists released a virus called myxoma, which had been previously shown to be almost 100% lethal to European rabbits. During the initial outbreak, as _______, tens, perhaps hundreds, of millions of ________ rabbits died. But as the virus spread, it evolved a series of mutations that happened to make it less deadly, killing rabbits more slowly and killing fewer rabbits overall. With more infected hosts hopping around, this strain of the virus was more likely to spread than its deadlier cousin. And of course, _______ _______ too, to mount better immune responses.
Solution
- rabbits
- planned
- attempt
- evolved
- control
- european
Original Text
At the time, Australia was overrun by the European rabbit— an invasive species— so, in an attempt to control the population, scientists released a virus called myxoma, which had been previously shown to be almost 100% lethal to European rabbits. During the initial outbreak, as planned, tens, perhaps hundreds, of millions of European rabbits died. But as the virus spread, it evolved a series of mutations that happened to make it less deadly, killing rabbits more slowly and killing fewer rabbits overall. With more infected hosts hopping around, this strain of the virus was more likely to spread than its deadlier cousin. And of course, rabbits evolved too, to mount better immune responses.
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Important Words
- attempt
- australia
- called
- control
- cousin
- deadlier
- deadly
- died
- european
- evolved
- happened
- hopping
- hosts
- hundreds
- immune
- infected
- initial
- invasive
- killing
- lethal
- millions
- mount
- mutations
- myxoma
- outbreak
- overrun
- planned
- population
- previously
- rabbits
- released
- responses
- scientists
- series
- shown
- slowly
- spread
- strain
- tens
- time
- virus