full transcript

From the Ted Talk by Alex Gendler: How one design flaw almost toppled a skyscraper

Unscramble the Blue Letters

But when hltaery was studying the twoer a year later, she noticed something odd. It was true that each face of the building could endure powerful wndis. And since a building’s broad sides catch the most wind, these would typically be the strongest winds a building encounters. However, the towers unique base meant that winds bownlig on the building’s crnreos were actually the bigger threat. And since traditional designs didn't waarnrt safety calculations for corner winds, it seemed to Hartley that the threat had gone unaccounted for.

Open Cloze

But when _______ was studying the _____ a year later, she noticed something odd. It was true that each face of the building could endure powerful _____. And since a building’s broad sides catch the most wind, these would typically be the strongest winds a building encounters. However, the towers unique base meant that winds _______ on the building’s _______ were actually the bigger threat. And since traditional designs didn't _______ safety calculations for corner winds, it seemed to Hartley that the threat had gone unaccounted for.

Solution

  1. corners
  2. winds
  3. hartley
  4. blowing
  5. tower
  6. warrant

Original Text

But when Hartley was studying the tower a year later, she noticed something odd. It was true that each face of the building could endure powerful winds. And since a building’s broad sides catch the most wind, these would typically be the strongest winds a building encounters. However, the towers unique base meant that winds blowing on the building’s corners were actually the bigger threat. And since traditional designs didn't warrant safety calculations for corner winds, it seemed to Hartley that the threat had gone unaccounted for.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations

ngrams of length 2

collocation frequency
diane hartley 2
building vulnerable 2
mass damper 2
powerful winds 2
bolted joints 2
city officials 2

Important Words

  1. base
  2. bigger
  3. blowing
  4. broad
  5. building
  6. calculations
  7. catch
  8. corner
  9. corners
  10. designs
  11. encounters
  12. endure
  13. face
  14. hartley
  15. meant
  16. noticed
  17. odd
  18. powerful
  19. safety
  20. sides
  21. strongest
  22. studying
  23. threat
  24. tower
  25. towers
  26. traditional
  27. true
  28. typically
  29. unaccounted
  30. unique
  31. warrant
  32. wind
  33. winds
  34. year