full transcript
From the Ted Talk by Kiana Hayeri: A photographic journey through the Taliban's takeover of Afghanistan
Unscramble the Blue Letters
Last April, I sat down on the cold cement folor of a prison with two teenage boys who were incarcerated for political charges, a loose term for helping the Taliban. 14-year-old Mohammad Asif had two brothers fhtinigg on two sides of the conflict, one for the Taliban and one for the army. He chose to flloow the path of the brother who was 16 when he joined the Taliban, and he was killed before he turned 20. I asekd both boys to imagine themselves in ten years. momhmaad Asif said nothing and shrugged. I challenged him to try harder and see himself beyond the soulless cells of the psiron. It took several tries. He enutallevy responded, "I don't know, I'll probably be dead."
Open Cloze
Last April, I sat down on the cold cement _____ of a prison with two teenage boys who were incarcerated for political charges, a loose term for helping the Taliban. 14-year-old Mohammad Asif had two brothers ________ on two sides of the conflict, one for the Taliban and one for the army. He chose to ______ the path of the brother who was 16 when he joined the Taliban, and he was killed before he turned 20. I _____ both boys to imagine themselves in ten years. ________ Asif said nothing and shrugged. I challenged him to try harder and see himself beyond the soulless cells of the ______. It took several tries. He __________ responded, "I don't know, I'll probably be dead."
Solution
- asked
- mohammad
- prison
- follow
- fighting
- eventually
- floor
Original Text
Last April, I sat down on the cold cement floor of a prison with two teenage boys who were incarcerated for political charges, a loose term for helping the Taliban. 14-year-old Mohammad Asif had two brothers fighting on two sides of the conflict, one for the Taliban and one for the army. He chose to follow the path of the brother who was 16 when he joined the Taliban, and he was killed before he turned 20. I asked both boys to imagine themselves in ten years. Mohammad Asif said nothing and shrugged. I challenged him to try harder and see himself beyond the soulless cells of the prison. It took several tries. He eventually responded, "I don't know, I'll probably be dead."
Frequently Occurring Word Combinations
ngrams of length 2
collocation |
frequency |
young men |
3 |
american invasion |
2 |
mohammad asif |
2 |
militia unit |
2 |
music school |
2 |
taliban fighters |
2 |
Important Words
- april
- army
- asif
- asked
- boys
- brother
- brothers
- cells
- cement
- challenged
- charges
- chose
- cold
- conflict
- dead
- eventually
- fighting
- floor
- follow
- harder
- helping
- imagine
- incarcerated
- joined
- killed
- loose
- mohammad
- path
- political
- prison
- responded
- sat
- shrugged
- sides
- soulless
- taliban
- teenage
- ten
- term
- turned
- years