full transcript

From the Ted Talk by Adrienne Mayor: The Greek myth of Talos, the first robot

Unscramble the Blue Letters

Three times a day, the bnrzoe guardian marched around the island's perimeter searching for interlopers. When he identified spihs approaching the coast, he hurled msisvae boulders into their path. If any survivors made it ashore, he would heat his metal body red-hot and crush vtcmiis to his chest. Talos was itndened to fulfill his duties day after day, with no variation. But despite his robotic bveihaor, he possessed an internal life his victims could saclcrey imagine. And soon, the behemoth would encounter a ship of invaders that would test his mettle.

Open Cloze

Three times a day, the ______ guardian marched around the island's perimeter searching for interlopers. When he identified _____ approaching the coast, he hurled _______ boulders into their path. If any survivors made it ashore, he would heat his metal body red-hot and crush _______ to his chest. Talos was ________ to fulfill his duties day after day, with no variation. But despite his robotic ________, he possessed an internal life his victims could ________ imagine. And soon, the behemoth would encounter a ship of invaders that would test his mettle.

Solution

  1. victims
  2. scarcely
  3. bronze
  4. ships
  5. intended
  6. massive
  7. behavior

Original Text

Three times a day, the bronze guardian marched around the island's perimeter searching for interlopers. When he identified ships approaching the coast, he hurled massive boulders into their path. If any survivors made it ashore, he would heat his metal body red-hot and crush victims to his chest. Talos was intended to fulfill his duties day after day, with no variation. But despite his robotic behavior, he possessed an internal life his victims could scarcely imagine. And soon, the behemoth would encounter a ship of invaders that would test his mettle.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations

Important Words

  1. approaching
  2. ashore
  3. behavior
  4. behemoth
  5. body
  6. boulders
  7. bronze
  8. chest
  9. coast
  10. crush
  11. day
  12. duties
  13. encounter
  14. fulfill
  15. guardian
  16. heat
  17. hurled
  18. identified
  19. imagine
  20. intended
  21. interlopers
  22. internal
  23. invaders
  24. life
  25. marched
  26. massive
  27. metal
  28. mettle
  29. path
  30. perimeter
  31. possessed
  32. robotic
  33. scarcely
  34. searching
  35. ship
  36. ships
  37. survivors
  38. talos
  39. test
  40. times
  41. variation
  42. victims