full transcript

From the Ted Talk by Celeste Headlee: 10 ways to have a better conversation

Unscramble the Blue Letters

You know, I grew up with a very famous gathrnfdaer, and there was kind of a ritual in my home. People would come over to talk to my gradnrnpates, and after they would lvaee, my mother would come over to us, and she'd say, "Do you know who that was? She was the runner-up to Miss America. He was the mayor of Sacramento. She won a Pulitzer Prize. He's a Russian ballet dancer." And I kind of grew up assuming everyone has some hidden, aianmzg thing about them. And honestly, I think it's what makes me a better host. I keep my mouth shut as often as I possibly can, I keep my mind open, and I'm always prepared to be ameazd, and I'm never disappointed.

Open Cloze

You know, I grew up with a very famous ___________, and there was kind of a ritual in my home. People would come over to talk to my ____________, and after they would _____, my mother would come over to us, and she'd say, "Do you know who that was? She was the runner-up to Miss America. He was the mayor of Sacramento. She won a Pulitzer Prize. He's a Russian ballet dancer." And I kind of grew up assuming everyone has some hidden, _______ thing about them. And honestly, I think it's what makes me a better host. I keep my mouth shut as often as I possibly can, I keep my mind open, and I'm always prepared to be ______, and I'm never disappointed.

Solution

  1. leave
  2. grandparents
  3. amazing
  4. grandfather
  5. amazed

Original Text

You know, I grew up with a very famous grandfather, and there was kind of a ritual in my home. People would come over to talk to my grandparents, and after they would leave, my mother would come over to us, and she'd say, "Do you know who that was? She was the runner-up to Miss America. He was the mayor of Sacramento. She won a Pulitzer Prize. He's a Russian ballet dancer." And I kind of grew up assuming everyone has some hidden, amazing thing about them. And honestly, I think it's what makes me a better host. I keep my mouth shut as often as I possibly can, I keep my mind open, and I'm always prepared to be amazed, and I'm never disappointed.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations

ngrams of length 2

collocation frequency
paying attention 2

Important Words

  1. amazed
  2. amazing
  3. america
  4. assuming
  5. ballet
  6. dancer
  7. disappointed
  8. famous
  9. grandfather
  10. grandparents
  11. grew
  12. hidden
  13. home
  14. honestly
  15. host
  16. kind
  17. leave
  18. mayor
  19. mind
  20. mother
  21. mouth
  22. open
  23. people
  24. possibly
  25. prepared
  26. prize
  27. pulitzer
  28. ritual
  29. russian
  30. sacramento
  31. shut
  32. talk
  33. won