TedTest

From the Ted Talk by Camille Seaman: The Arctic vs. the Antarctic

Unscramble the Blue Letters

On our planet, we have two polar regions: the Arctic, whose name comes from the Greek Arktikos, of the North, and the Antarctic from Antarktikos, opposite of the North. But there's an easier way to remember them if you just remember what surrounds them. The Arctic, situated in the Northern hemisphere of our planet, is an ocean entirely surrounded by land. On the other side of the world, the Antarctic is a continent entirely surrounded by ocean. So, the Arctic has polar bears but no penguins, and the Antarctic has penguins but no polar bears. Let's talk about the Arctic first. The Arctic region consists of a vast, ice-covered ocean srruoudend by treeless permafrost. The area can be dfneied as the region between the Arctic Circle and the North Pole. If you were to stand at the North Pole, everywhere you lokeod, in all dicorintes, would be south. But standing at the North Pole is difficult to do for very long because it's in the middle of an oacen, covered by constantly shifting, frozen sea ice. If you were to fall into the water at the nroth Pole, you'd fall into water that's 13,980 feet deep. Above the water, average winter temperatures can be as low as -40 deeergs Celsius, and the coldest recorded temperature is approximately -68 degrees Celsius. Despite these irbdcneily harsh conditions, humans have populated areas in the Arctic for thousands of years. Life in the aitrcc includes organisms living in the ice, zlkpaoootnn and phytoplankton, fish and mirane mammals, birds, land animals, plants, and human societies. Okay, what about Antarctica? Antarctica is Earth's southernmost cinnneott, and it contains the geographic South Pole. It's the fifth largest continent on the planet at nearly twice the size of Australia. Almost 98% of Anarctica is cvreeod by ice at least one mile in thickness. Conditions in Antarctica are some of the most etxreme in the entire world. On average, it's the cesldot, windiest, driest continent and has the highest arevgae elevation of all the continents. You might think that it snows all the time at the Poles, but Antarctica is so dry, it's considered a desert with annual precipitation of only 200 millimeters along the coast and far less inland. The temperature in Antarctica has reached -89 degrees Celsius. Because it's so harsh and hard to get to, there are no permanent hamun rdsteeins on Antarctica, but anywhere from 1,000 to 5,000 people reside throughout the year at the research soaittns stteeacrd across the continent. Even the most extreme animals fight for sravvuil, and only cold-adapted orasimngs survive there, including many types of algae, anamils, barcetia, fungi, plants, and protista. But why is Antarctica colder than its northern cousin? Well, first, much of the continent is more than three kilometers above sea lveel, and temperature decreases with elevation. That's why mountaintops have snow on them. Second, remember that the Arctic is really a froezn ocean. The waetr in the ocean beneath it is warmer than the frozen ground in the Antarctic, and that warmth is transferred through the ice pack. This prevents temperatures in the Arctic regions from reaching the exetmres typical of the land scfaure of aitnactcra. Third, the seasons are conspiring against the Antarctic. During the aphelion in July, when the Earth is the farthest away from the Sun, it also happens to be winter in the Antarctic, which caetres a double-whammy of cold for the southern pole. But despite being inhospitable, the North and South Pole are a big reason why our planet is the way it is. Both of our polar rogeins are very important climate controllers. They help moderate the temperature in our temperate zones and give us stable weather. As sea ice in the Arctic declines due to climate change and gblaol warming, weather around the globe becomes increasing more utsanble.

Open Cloze

On our planet, we have two polar regions: the Arctic, whose name comes from the Greek Arktikos, of the North, and the Antarctic from Antarktikos, opposite of the North. But there's an easier way to remember them if you just remember what surrounds them. The Arctic, situated in the Northern hemisphere of our planet, is an ocean entirely surrounded by land. On the other side of the world, the Antarctic is a continent entirely surrounded by ocean. So, the Arctic has polar bears but no penguins, and the Antarctic has penguins but no polar bears. Let's talk about the Arctic first. The Arctic region consists of a vast, ice-covered ocean __________ by treeless permafrost. The area can be _______ as the region between the Arctic Circle and the North Pole. If you were to stand at the North Pole, everywhere you ______, in all __________, would be south. But standing at the North Pole is difficult to do for very long because it's in the middle of an _____, covered by constantly shifting, frozen sea ice. If you were to fall into the water at the _____ Pole, you'd fall into water that's 13,980 feet deep. Above the water, average winter temperatures can be as low as -40 _______ Celsius, and the coldest recorded temperature is approximately -68 degrees Celsius. Despite these __________ harsh conditions, humans have populated areas in the Arctic for thousands of years. Life in the ______ includes organisms living in the ice, ___________ and phytoplankton, fish and ______ mammals, birds, land animals, plants, and human societies. Okay, what about Antarctica? Antarctica is Earth's southernmost _________, and it contains the geographic South Pole. It's the fifth largest continent on the planet at nearly twice the size of Australia. Almost 98% of Anarctica is _______ by ice at least one mile in thickness. Conditions in Antarctica are some of the most _______ in the entire world. On average, it's the _______, windiest, driest continent and has the highest _______ elevation of all the continents. You might think that it snows all the time at the Poles, but Antarctica is so dry, it's considered a desert with annual precipitation of only 200 millimeters along the coast and far less inland. The temperature in Antarctica has reached -89 degrees Celsius. Because it's so harsh and hard to get to, there are no permanent _____ _________ on Antarctica, but anywhere from 1,000 to 5,000 people reside throughout the year at the research ________ _________ across the continent. Even the most extreme animals fight for ________, and only cold-adapted _________ survive there, including many types of algae, _______, ________, fungi, plants, and protista. But why is Antarctica colder than its northern cousin? Well, first, much of the continent is more than three kilometers above sea _____, and temperature decreases with elevation. That's why mountaintops have snow on them. Second, remember that the Arctic is really a ______ ocean. The _____ in the ocean beneath it is warmer than the frozen ground in the Antarctic, and that warmth is transferred through the ice pack. This prevents temperatures in the Arctic regions from reaching the ________ typical of the land _______ of __________. Third, the seasons are conspiring against the Antarctic. During the aphelion in July, when the Earth is the farthest away from the Sun, it also happens to be winter in the Antarctic, which _______ a double-whammy of cold for the southern pole. But despite being inhospitable, the North and South Pole are a big reason why our planet is the way it is. Both of our polar _______ are very important climate controllers. They help moderate the temperature in our temperate zones and give us stable weather. As sea ice in the Arctic declines due to climate change and ______ warming, weather around the globe becomes increasing more ________.

Solution

animals
average
looked
antarctica
stations
north
extreme
covered
human
regions
scattered
global
defined
residents
arctic
frozen
survival
ocean
water
organisms
creates
surface
directions
incredibly
surrounded
bacteria
continent
coldest
zooplankton
level
degrees
unstable
marine
extremes

Original Text

On our planet, we have two polar regions: the Arctic, whose name comes from the Greek Arktikos, of the North, and the Antarctic from Antarktikos, opposite of the North. But there's an easier way to remember them if you just remember what surrounds them. The Arctic, situated in the Northern hemisphere of our planet, is an ocean entirely surrounded by land. On the other side of the world, the Antarctic is a continent entirely surrounded by ocean. So, the Arctic has polar bears but no penguins, and the Antarctic has penguins but no polar bears. Let's talk about the Arctic first. The Arctic region consists of a vast, ice-covered ocean surrounded by treeless permafrost. The area can be defined as the region between the Arctic Circle and the North Pole. If you were to stand at the North Pole, everywhere you looked, in all directions, would be south. But standing at the North Pole is difficult to do for very long because it's in the middle of an ocean, covered by constantly shifting, frozen sea ice. If you were to fall into the water at the North Pole, you'd fall into water that's 13,980 feet deep. Above the water, average winter temperatures can be as low as -40 degrees Celsius, and the coldest recorded temperature is approximately -68 degrees Celsius. Despite these incredibly harsh conditions, humans have populated areas in the Arctic for thousands of years. Life in the Arctic includes organisms living in the ice, zooplankton and phytoplankton, fish and marine mammals, birds, land animals, plants, and human societies. Okay, what about Antarctica? Antarctica is Earth's southernmost continent, and it contains the geographic South Pole. It's the fifth largest continent on the planet at nearly twice the size of Australia. Almost 98% of Anarctica is covered by ice at least one mile in thickness. Conditions in Antarctica are some of the most extreme in the entire world. On average, it's the coldest, windiest, driest continent and has the highest average elevation of all the continents. You might think that it snows all the time at the Poles, but Antarctica is so dry, it's considered a desert with annual precipitation of only 200 millimeters along the coast and far less inland. The temperature in Antarctica has reached -89 degrees Celsius. Because it's so harsh and hard to get to, there are no permanent human residents on Antarctica, but anywhere from 1,000 to 5,000 people reside throughout the year at the research stations scattered across the continent. Even the most extreme animals fight for survival, and only cold-adapted organisms survive there, including many types of algae, animals, bacteria, fungi, plants, and protista. But why is Antarctica colder than its northern cousin? Well, first, much of the continent is more than three kilometers above sea level, and temperature decreases with elevation. That's why mountaintops have snow on them. Second, remember that the Arctic is really a frozen ocean. The water in the ocean beneath it is warmer than the frozen ground in the Antarctic, and that warmth is transferred through the ice pack. This prevents temperatures in the Arctic regions from reaching the extremes typical of the land surface of Antarctica. Third, the seasons are conspiring against the Antarctic. During the aphelion in July, when the Earth is the farthest away from the Sun, it also happens to be winter in the Antarctic, which creates a double-whammy of cold for the southern pole. But despite being inhospitable, the North and South Pole are a big reason why our planet is the way it is. Both of our polar regions are very important climate controllers. They help moderate the temperature in our temperate zones and give us stable weather. As sea ice in the Arctic declines due to climate change and global warming, weather around the globe becomes increasing more unstable.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations

ngrams of length 2

collocation	frequency
polar bears	2
north pole	2
sea ice	2
degrees celsius	2
south pole	2

Important Words

algae
anarctica
animals
annual
antarctic
antarctica
antarktikos
aphelion
approximately
arctic
area
areas
arktikos
australia
average
bacteria
bears
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birds
celsius
change
circle
climate
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consists
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continent
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deep
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dry
due
earth
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fall
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fish
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fungi
geographic
give
global
globe
greek
ground
hard
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highest
human
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ice
important
includes
including
increasing
incredibly
inhospitable
inland
july
kilometers
land
largest
level
life
living
long
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mammals
marine
middle
mile
millimeters
moderate
mountaintops
north
northern
ocean
organisms
pack
penguins
people
permafrost
permanent
phytoplankton
planet
plants
polar
pole
poles
populated
precipitation
prevents
protista
reached
reaching
reason
recorded
region
regions
remember
research
reside
residents
scattered
sea
seasons
shifting
side
situated
size
snow
snows
societies
south
southern
southernmost
stable
stand
standing
stations
sun
surface
surrounded
surrounds
survival
survive
talk
temperate
temperature
temperatures
thickness
thousands
time
transferred
treeless
types
typical
unstable
vast
warmer
warming
warmth
water
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windiest
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year
years
zones
zooplankton