full transcript
From the Ted Talk by Valentin Hammoudi: How tall can a tree grow?
Unscramble the Blue Letters
This mdoel, known as the “hydraulic lotimiitan hypothesis,” is currently our best explanation for why trees have limited heights, even in perfect growing cnnotdoiis. And using this model alongside growth rates and known needs for nutrients and photosynthesis, researchers have been able to pporose height limits for specific species. So far these limits have held up – even the world’s tallest tree still flals about fifteen meters below the cap. Researchers are still investigating the possible explanations for this limit, and there may not be one universal reosan why trees stop growing. But until we learn more, the height of trees is yet another way that gravity, literally, shapes life on Earth.
Open Cloze
This _____, known as the “hydraulic __________ hypothesis,” is currently our best explanation for why trees have limited heights, even in perfect growing __________. And using this model alongside growth rates and known needs for nutrients and photosynthesis, researchers have been able to _______ height limits for specific species. So far these limits have held up – even the world’s tallest tree still _____ about fifteen meters below the cap. Researchers are still investigating the possible explanations for this limit, and there may not be one universal ______ why trees stop growing. But until we learn more, the height of trees is yet another way that gravity, literally, shapes life on Earth.
Solution
- falls
- conditions
- reason
- limitation
- propose
- model
Original Text
This model, known as the “hydraulic limitation hypothesis,” is currently our best explanation for why trees have limited heights, even in perfect growing conditions. And using this model alongside growth rates and known needs for nutrients and photosynthesis, researchers have been able to propose height limits for specific species. So far these limits have held up – even the world’s tallest tree still falls about fifteen meters below the cap. Researchers are still investigating the possible explanations for this limit, and there may not be one universal reason why trees stop growing. But until we learn more, the height of trees is yet another way that gravity, literally, shapes life on Earth.
Frequently Occurring Word Combinations
ngrams of length 2
collocation |
frequency |
phloem sap |
4 |
grow taller |
2 |
xylem sap |
2 |
Important Words
- cap
- conditions
- earth
- explanation
- explanations
- falls
- fifteen
- gravity
- growing
- growth
- height
- heights
- held
- hypothesis
- investigating
- learn
- life
- limit
- limitation
- limited
- limits
- literally
- meters
- model
- nutrients
- perfect
- photosynthesis
- propose
- rates
- reason
- researchers
- shapes
- species
- specific
- stop
- tallest
- tree
- trees
- universal