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
- corners
- winds
- hartley
- blowing
- tower
- 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
- base
- bigger
- blowing
- broad
- building
- calculations
- catch
- corner
- corners
- designs
- encounters
- endure
- face
- hartley
- meant
- noticed
- odd
- powerful
- safety
- sides
- strongest
- studying
- threat
- tower
- towers
- traditional
- true
- typically
- unaccounted
- unique
- warrant
- wind
- winds
- year