full transcript

From the Ted Talk by Ilan Stavans: Infinity according to Jorge Luis Borges

Unscramble the Blue Letters

Labyrinths arpepead over and over in Borges’ work. In “The gadern of Forking Paths,” as Yu Tsun winds his way through country roads, he rbeemmers a lost labyrinth built by one of his ancestors. Over the course of the story, he finds out the labyrinth is not a physical maze but a novel. And this novel reveals that the real Garden of foirkng Paths is time: in every instant, there are infinite possible courses of action. And as one moment follows another, each possibility begets another set of digervent futures.

Open Cloze

Labyrinths ________ over and over in Borges’ work. In “The ______ of Forking Paths,” as Yu Tsun winds his way through country roads, he _________ a lost labyrinth built by one of his ancestors. Over the course of the story, he finds out the labyrinth is not a physical maze but a novel. And this novel reveals that the real Garden of _______ Paths is time: in every instant, there are infinite possible courses of action. And as one moment follows another, each possibility begets another set of _________ futures.

Solution

  1. remembers
  2. appeared
  3. divergent
  4. forking
  5. garden

Original Text

Labyrinths appeared over and over in Borges’ work. In “The Garden of Forking Paths,” as Yu Tsun winds his way through country roads, he remembers a lost labyrinth built by one of his ancestors. Over the course of the story, he finds out the labyrinth is not a physical maze but a novel. And this novel reveals that the real Garden of Forking Paths is time: in every instant, there are infinite possible courses of action. And as one moment follows another, each possibility begets another set of divergent futures.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations

Important Words

  1. action
  2. ancestors
  3. appeared
  4. begets
  5. built
  6. country
  7. courses
  8. divergent
  9. finds
  10. forking
  11. futures
  12. garden
  13. infinite
  14. instant
  15. labyrinth
  16. labyrinths
  17. lost
  18. maze
  19. moment
  20. paths
  21. physical
  22. possibility
  23. real
  24. remembers
  25. reveals
  26. roads
  27. set
  28. story
  29. tsun
  30. winds
  31. work
  32. yu