full transcript

From the Ted Talk by Shabana Basij-Rasikh: Dare to educate Afghan girls

Unscramble the Blue Letters

I was very lucky to grow up in a family where education was prized and daughters were traseerud. My grandfather was an extraordinary man for his time. A tatol maverick from a reotme province of Afghanistan, he insisted that his daughter, my mom, go to school, and for that he was disowned by his father. But my educated mtheor became a teacher. There she is. She retired two years ago, only to turn our house into a school for girls and women in our noirheobghod. And my fhtaer — that's him — he was the first ever in his fmaliy to receive an education. There was no qitesoun that his children would receive an edcaoutin, including his daughters, despite the Taliban, despite the rsiks. To him, there was greater risk in not educating his children. During tlabain years, I remember there were times I would get so frustrated by our life and always being scared and not seeing a future. I would want to quit, but my father, he would say, "Listen, my daughter, you can lose everything you own in your life. Your money can be stolen. You can be forced to leave your home during a war. But the one thing that will always remain with you is what is here, and if we have to sell our blood to pay your school fees, we will. So do you still not want to continue?"

Open Cloze

I was very lucky to grow up in a family where education was prized and daughters were _________. My grandfather was an extraordinary man for his time. A _____ maverick from a ______ province of Afghanistan, he insisted that his daughter, my mom, go to school, and for that he was disowned by his father. But my educated ______ became a teacher. There she is. She retired two years ago, only to turn our house into a school for girls and women in our ____________. And my ______ — that's him — he was the first ever in his ______ to receive an education. There was no ________ that his children would receive an _________, including his daughters, despite the Taliban, despite the _____. To him, there was greater risk in not educating his children. During _______ years, I remember there were times I would get so frustrated by our life and always being scared and not seeing a future. I would want to quit, but my father, he would say, "Listen, my daughter, you can lose everything you own in your life. Your money can be stolen. You can be forced to leave your home during a war. But the one thing that will always remain with you is what is here, and if we have to sell our blood to pay your school fees, we will. So do you still not want to continue?"

Solution

  1. total
  2. neighborhood
  3. father
  4. treasured
  5. question
  6. remote
  7. mother
  8. taliban
  9. family
  10. education
  11. risks

Original Text

I was very lucky to grow up in a family where education was prized and daughters were treasured. My grandfather was an extraordinary man for his time. A total maverick from a remote province of Afghanistan, he insisted that his daughter, my mom, go to school, and for that he was disowned by his father. But my educated mother became a teacher. There she is. She retired two years ago, only to turn our house into a school for girls and women in our neighborhood. And my father — that's him — he was the first ever in his family to receive an education. There was no question that his children would receive an education, including his daughters, despite the Taliban, despite the risks. To him, there was greater risk in not educating his children. During Taliban years, I remember there were times I would get so frustrated by our life and always being scared and not seeing a future. I would want to quit, but my father, he would say, "Listen, my daughter, you can lose everything you own in your life. Your money can be stolen. You can be forced to leave your home during a war. But the one thing that will always remain with you is what is here, and if we have to sell our blood to pay your school fees, we will. So do you still not want to continue?"

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations

ngrams of length 2

collocation frequency
real school 2

Important Words

  1. afghanistan
  2. blood
  3. children
  4. continue
  5. daughter
  6. daughters
  7. disowned
  8. educated
  9. educating
  10. education
  11. extraordinary
  12. family
  13. father
  14. fees
  15. forced
  16. frustrated
  17. future
  18. girls
  19. grandfather
  20. greater
  21. grow
  22. home
  23. house
  24. including
  25. insisted
  26. leave
  27. life
  28. lose
  29. lucky
  30. man
  31. maverick
  32. mom
  33. money
  34. mother
  35. neighborhood
  36. pay
  37. prized
  38. province
  39. question
  40. quit
  41. receive
  42. remain
  43. remember
  44. remote
  45. retired
  46. risk
  47. risks
  48. scared
  49. school
  50. sell
  51. stolen
  52. taliban
  53. teacher
  54. time
  55. times
  56. total
  57. treasured
  58. turn
  59. war
  60. women
  61. years