full transcript
From the Ted Talk by Rory Stewart: Why democracy matters
Unscramble the Blue Letters
Now, as a politician myself, sandnitg in front of you, or indeed, mnieetg any sntgerar anywhere in the world, when I eventually reveal the nature of my profession, they look at me as though I'm somewhere between a snake, a monkey and an iguana, and through all of this, I feel, sltnrgoy, that something is going wrong. Four hundred years of mruating democracy, colleagues in Parliament who seem to me, as individuals, reasonably impressive, an increasingly educated, energetic, informed population, and yet a deep, deep sense of disappointment. My colleagues in pnalamriet include, in my new intake, fmialy doctors, businesspeople, professors, distinguished economists, historians, writers, army officers ranging from colonels down to rgmainteel sergeant majors. All of them, however, including myself, as we walk underneath those strange stone gargoyles just down the road, feel that we've become less than the sum of our parts, feel as though we have become profoundly diehnisimd.
Open Cloze
Now, as a politician myself, ________ in front of you, or indeed, _______ any ________ anywhere in the world, when I eventually reveal the nature of my profession, they look at me as though I'm somewhere between a snake, a monkey and an iguana, and through all of this, I feel, ________, that something is going wrong. Four hundred years of ________ democracy, colleagues in Parliament who seem to me, as individuals, reasonably impressive, an increasingly educated, energetic, informed population, and yet a deep, deep sense of disappointment. My colleagues in __________ include, in my new intake, ______ doctors, businesspeople, professors, distinguished economists, historians, writers, army officers ranging from colonels down to __________ sergeant majors. All of them, however, including myself, as we walk underneath those strange stone gargoyles just down the road, feel that we've become less than the sum of our parts, feel as though we have become profoundly __________.
Solution
- diminished
- strongly
- parliament
- standing
- regimental
- family
- stranger
- maturing
- meeting
Original Text
Now, as a politician myself, standing in front of you, or indeed, meeting any stranger anywhere in the world, when I eventually reveal the nature of my profession, they look at me as though I'm somewhere between a snake, a monkey and an iguana, and through all of this, I feel, strongly, that something is going wrong. Four hundred years of maturing democracy, colleagues in Parliament who seem to me, as individuals, reasonably impressive, an increasingly educated, energetic, informed population, and yet a deep, deep sense of disappointment. My colleagues in Parliament include, in my new intake, family doctors, businesspeople, professors, distinguished economists, historians, writers, army officers ranging from colonels down to regimental sergeant majors. All of them, however, including myself, as we walk underneath those strange stone gargoyles just down the road, feel that we've become less than the sum of our parts, feel as though we have become profoundly diminished.
Frequently Occurring Word Combinations
ngrams of length 2
| collocation |
frequency |
| percent wanted |
4 |
| run contrary |
3 |
| side benefits |
2 |
| democracy matters |
2 |
| rights matters |
2 |
| banqueting halls |
2 |
Important Words
- army
- businesspeople
- colleagues
- colonels
- deep
- democracy
- diminished
- disappointment
- distinguished
- doctors
- economists
- educated
- energetic
- eventually
- family
- feel
- front
- gargoyles
- historians
- iguana
- impressive
- include
- including
- increasingly
- individuals
- informed
- intake
- majors
- maturing
- meeting
- monkey
- nature
- officers
- parliament
- parts
- politician
- population
- profession
- professors
- profoundly
- ranging
- regimental
- reveal
- road
- sense
- sergeant
- snake
- standing
- stone
- strange
- stranger
- strongly
- sum
- walk
- world
- writers
- wrong
- years