full transcript

From the Ted Talk by Alex Gendler: The myth of Hercules

Unscramble the Blue Letters

Next came three more beastly foes, each requiring a clever strategy to defeat. The carnivorous stphyaliamn birds nested in an ipntmelbraee samwp, but Hercules used Athena’s scapiel rattle to frighten them into the air, at which point he shot them down. No mortal could stand before the Cretan bull’s mad rampage, but a chokehold from behind did the trick. And the mad King Diomedes, who had trained his horses to devour his guests, got a taste of his own medicine when Hercules wrestled him into his own selatbs. The ennsiug feast celamd the beasts enough for Hercules to bind their mouths.

Open Cloze

Next came three more beastly foes, each requiring a clever strategy to defeat. The carnivorous ___________ birds nested in an ____________ _____, but Hercules used Athena’s _______ rattle to frighten them into the air, at which point he shot them down. No mortal could stand before the Cretan bull’s mad rampage, but a chokehold from behind did the trick. And the mad King Diomedes, who had trained his horses to devour his guests, got a taste of his own medicine when Hercules wrestled him into his own _______. The _______ feast ______ the beasts enough for Hercules to bind their mouths.

Solution

  1. calmed
  2. stables
  3. special
  4. ensuing
  5. stymphalian
  6. impenetrable
  7. swamp

Original Text

Next came three more beastly foes, each requiring a clever strategy to defeat. The carnivorous Stymphalian birds nested in an impenetrable swamp, but Hercules used Athena’s special rattle to frighten them into the air, at which point he shot them down. No mortal could stand before the Cretan bull’s mad rampage, but a chokehold from behind did the trick. And the mad King Diomedes, who had trained his horses to devour his guests, got a taste of his own medicine when Hercules wrestled him into his own stables. The ensuing feast calmed the beasts enough for Hercules to bind their mouths.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations

ngrams of length 2

collocation frequency
king eurystheus 2
hercules fought 2

Important Words

  1. air
  2. beastly
  3. beasts
  4. bind
  5. birds
  6. calmed
  7. carnivorous
  8. chokehold
  9. clever
  10. cretan
  11. defeat
  12. devour
  13. diomedes
  14. ensuing
  15. feast
  16. foes
  17. frighten
  18. guests
  19. hercules
  20. horses
  21. impenetrable
  22. king
  23. mad
  24. medicine
  25. mortal
  26. mouths
  27. nested
  28. point
  29. rampage
  30. rattle
  31. requiring
  32. shot
  33. special
  34. stables
  35. stand
  36. strategy
  37. stymphalian
  38. swamp
  39. taste
  40. trained
  41. trick
  42. wrestled