full transcript

From the Ted Talk by Madeleine Albright: On being a woman and a diplomat

Unscramble the Blue Letters

MA: Most of the time I spend when I get up in the morning is trying to figure out what is going to happen. And none of this pin sftuf would have hpnaeped if it hadn't been for Saddam hseisun. I'll tell you what happened. I went to the United Nations as an ambassador, and it was after the Gulf War, and I was an instructed ambassador. And the cease-fire had been translated into a series of sanctions resolutions, and my irnusnittcos were to say pelefrcty terrible things about Saddam Hussein constantly, which he deserved — he had invaded another country. And so all of a sudden, a poem aepeaprd in the papers in Baghdad comparing me to many things, but among them an "unparalleled serpent." And so I happened to have a snake pin. So I wore it when we talked about Iraq. (Laughter) And when I went out to meet the press, they zeroed in, said, "Why are you wearing that snake pin?" I said, "Because Saddam Hussein compared me to an ulaalnleperd serpent." And then I tugohht, well this is fun. So I went out and I bought a lot of pins that would, in fact, reflect what I thought we were going to do on any given day. So that's how it all srettad.

Open Cloze

MA: Most of the time I spend when I get up in the morning is trying to figure out what is going to happen. And none of this pin _____ would have ________ if it hadn't been for Saddam _______. I'll tell you what happened. I went to the United Nations as an ambassador, and it was after the Gulf War, and I was an instructed ambassador. And the cease-fire had been translated into a series of sanctions resolutions, and my ____________ were to say _________ terrible things about Saddam Hussein constantly, which he deserved — he had invaded another country. And so all of a sudden, a poem ________ in the papers in Baghdad comparing me to many things, but among them an "unparalleled serpent." And so I happened to have a snake pin. So I wore it when we talked about Iraq. (Laughter) And when I went out to meet the press, they zeroed in, said, "Why are you wearing that snake pin?" I said, "Because Saddam Hussein compared me to an ____________ serpent." And then I _______, well this is fun. So I went out and I bought a lot of pins that would, in fact, reflect what I thought we were going to do on any given day. So that's how it all _______.

Solution

  1. perfectly
  2. appeared
  3. stuff
  4. happened
  5. unparalleled
  6. instructions
  7. thought
  8. started
  9. hussein

Original Text

MA: Most of the time I spend when I get up in the morning is trying to figure out what is going to happen. And none of this pin stuff would have happened if it hadn't been for Saddam Hussein. I'll tell you what happened. I went to the United Nations as an ambassador, and it was after the Gulf War, and I was an instructed ambassador. And the cease-fire had been translated into a series of sanctions resolutions, and my instructions were to say perfectly terrible things about Saddam Hussein constantly, which he deserved — he had invaded another country. And so all of a sudden, a poem appeared in the papers in Baghdad comparing me to many things, but among them an "unparalleled serpent." And so I happened to have a snake pin. So I wore it when we talked about Iraq. (Laughter) And when I went out to meet the press, they zeroed in, said, "Why are you wearing that snake pin?" I said, "Because Saddam Hussein compared me to an unparalleled serpent." And then I thought, well this is fun. So I went out and I bought a lot of pins that would, in fact, reflect what I thought we were going to do on any given day. So that's how it all started.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations

ngrams of length 2

collocation frequency
saddam hussein 3
national security 2
bottom line 2
war crimes 2
crimes tribunal 2
negotiating tables 2
foreign policy 2

ngrams of length 3

collocation frequency
war crimes tribunal 2

Important Words

  1. ambassador
  2. appeared
  3. baghdad
  4. bought
  5. compared
  6. comparing
  7. constantly
  8. country
  9. day
  10. deserved
  11. fact
  12. figure
  13. fun
  14. gulf
  15. happen
  16. happened
  17. hussein
  18. instructed
  19. instructions
  20. invaded
  21. iraq
  22. laughter
  23. lot
  24. meet
  25. morning
  26. nations
  27. papers
  28. perfectly
  29. pin
  30. pins
  31. poem
  32. press
  33. reflect
  34. resolutions
  35. saddam
  36. sanctions
  37. series
  38. serpent
  39. snake
  40. spend
  41. started
  42. stuff
  43. sudden
  44. talked
  45. terrible
  46. thought
  47. time
  48. translated
  49. united
  50. unparalleled
  51. war
  52. wearing
  53. wore
  54. zeroed