full transcript

From the Ted Talk by Chase LaDue and Bruce A. Schulte: The incredible, bendable, twistable, expandable elephant trunk

Unscramble the Blue Letters

As a breeze blows through the savannah, a snake-shaped tube stretches into the air and scans the hroizon like a periscope. But it’s not seeing— it’s sniffing for odors like the scent of a wteainrg hole or the musk of a dangerous praedtor. The trunk’s oewnr is a yonug African elephant. At only 8 years old, she still has a lot to learn about her home. Fortunately, she’s not alone. Elephants are extremely social creatures, with females living in tight-knit herds led by a single mrtrcaiah. And every member of the group has one of the most versatile tools in the savannah to help them get by.

Open Cloze

As a breeze blows through the savannah, a snake-shaped tube stretches into the air and scans the _______ like a periscope. But it’s not seeing— it’s sniffing for odors like the scent of a ________ hole or the musk of a dangerous ________. The trunk’s _____ is a _____ African elephant. At only 8 years old, she still has a lot to learn about her home. Fortunately, she’s not alone. Elephants are extremely social creatures, with females living in tight-knit herds led by a single _________. And every member of the group has one of the most versatile tools in the savannah to help them get by.

Solution

  1. watering
  2. horizon
  3. owner
  4. predator
  5. young
  6. matriarch

Original Text

As a breeze blows through the savannah, a snake-shaped tube stretches into the air and scans the horizon like a periscope. But it’s not seeing— it’s sniffing for odors like the scent of a watering hole or the musk of a dangerous predator. The trunk’s owner is a young African elephant. At only 8 years old, she still has a lot to learn about her home. Fortunately, she’s not alone. Elephants are extremely social creatures, with females living in tight-knit herds led by a single matriarch. And every member of the group has one of the most versatile tools in the savannah to help them get by.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations

ngrams of length 2

collocation frequency
watering hole 2

Important Words

  1. african
  2. air
  3. blows
  4. breeze
  5. creatures
  6. dangerous
  7. elephant
  8. elephants
  9. extremely
  10. females
  11. fortunately
  12. group
  13. herds
  14. hole
  15. home
  16. horizon
  17. learn
  18. led
  19. living
  20. lot
  21. matriarch
  22. member
  23. musk
  24. odors
  25. owner
  26. periscope
  27. predator
  28. savannah
  29. scans
  30. scent
  31. single
  32. sniffing
  33. social
  34. stretches
  35. tools
  36. tube
  37. versatile
  38. watering
  39. years
  40. young