full transcript

From the Ted Talk by Kenny Coogan: Vultures The acid-puking, plague-busting heroes of the ecosystem

Unscramble the Blue Letters

This colossal competition is too dangerous for the tiny Egyptian vulurte. With a wingspan of only 180 centimeters, this vulture migrated to arfica from his family nest in Portugal, using thermal updrafts to stay aloft for hours at a time. But upon arrival, he fdnis himself near the bottom of the pecking order. Fortunately, what he lacks in size, he makes up for in intelligence. A short dicsatne away, he stops an unguarded ostrich nest, full of isnmeme, but impenetrable eggs. Using a lgrae rock, he smashes one open for a well-earned meal— though he’ll circle back to the gazelle once the larger birds are gone.

Open Cloze

This colossal competition is too dangerous for the tiny Egyptian _______. With a wingspan of only 180 centimeters, this vulture migrated to ______ from his family nest in Portugal, using thermal updrafts to stay aloft for hours at a time. But upon arrival, he _____ himself near the bottom of the pecking order. Fortunately, what he lacks in size, he makes up for in intelligence. A short ________ away, he _____ an unguarded ostrich nest, full of _______, but impenetrable eggs. Using a _____ rock, he smashes one open for a well-earned meal— though he’ll circle back to the gazelle once the larger birds are gone.

Solution

  1. distance
  2. vulture
  3. large
  4. spots
  5. africa
  6. finds
  7. immense

Original Text

This colossal competition is too dangerous for the tiny Egyptian vulture. With a wingspan of only 180 centimeters, this vulture migrated to Africa from his family nest in Portugal, using thermal updrafts to stay aloft for hours at a time. But upon arrival, he finds himself near the bottom of the pecking order. Fortunately, what he lacks in size, he makes up for in intelligence. A short distance away, he spots an unguarded ostrich nest, full of immense, but impenetrable eggs. Using a large rock, he smashes one open for a well-earned meal— though he’ll circle back to the gazelle once the larger birds are gone.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations

Important Words

  1. africa
  2. aloft
  3. arrival
  4. birds
  5. bottom
  6. centimeters
  7. circle
  8. colossal
  9. competition
  10. dangerous
  11. distance
  12. eggs
  13. egyptian
  14. family
  15. finds
  16. fortunately
  17. full
  18. gazelle
  19. hours
  20. immense
  21. impenetrable
  22. intelligence
  23. lacks
  24. large
  25. larger
  26. migrated
  27. nest
  28. open
  29. order
  30. ostrich
  31. pecking
  32. portugal
  33. rock
  34. short
  35. size
  36. smashes
  37. spots
  38. stay
  39. thermal
  40. time
  41. tiny
  42. unguarded
  43. updrafts
  44. vulture
  45. wingspan