Thinking about the Text (Page 50)
Question 1.
Here are some headings for paragraphs in the text. Write the number(s) of the paragraph(s) for each title against the heading. The first one is done for you.
i. Einstein’s equation [ 9 ]
ii. Einstein meets his future wife [ ]
iii. The making of a violinist [ ]
iv. Mileva and Einstein’s mother [ ]
v. A letter that launched the arms race [ ]
vi. A desk drawer full of ideas [ ]
vii. Marriage and divorce [ ]
Answers:
i. Einstein’s equation [ 9 ]
ii. Einstein meets his future wife [ 7 ]
iii. The making of a violinist [ 3 ]
iv. Mileva and Einstein’s mother [ 10 ]
v. A letter that launched the arms race [ 15]
vi. A desk drawer full of ideas [ 8 ]
vii. Marriage and divorce [ 11]
Question 2.
Who had these opinions about Einstein?
1. He was boring.
2. He was stupid and would never succeed in life.
3. He was a freak.
Answer:
1. His playmates.
2. His headmaster.
3. His mother.
Question 3.
Explain what the reasons for the following are:
1. Einstein leaving the school in Munich for good.
2. Einstein wanting to study in Switzerland rather than in Munich.
3. Einstein seeing in Mileva an ally.
4. What do these tell you about Einstein?
Answers:
1. Einstein left the school in Munich because he did not like the discipline of the school. He hated the school’s regimentation and often clashed with teachers.
2. Albert’s parents moved to Milan and left their son with relatives. After prolonged discussion, Einstein got his wish to continue his education in German-speaking Switzerland. Actually, it was more liberal than Munich.
3. Einstein saw in Mileva Maric an ally against the “Philistines” - the people in his family and at the university with whom he was constantly at odds. He found that she was a “clever creature”. He wanted to mix science with tenderness.
4. We can say that Einstein liked freedom as he didn’t like the discipline of the school. He was capable of fulfilling his desires as he could convince his family and continue his education in German-speaking Switzerland. He had specific views on his life as he chose Mileva Maric, a Serbian girl who was elder to him, as his would-be wife.
Question 4.
What did Einstein call his desk drawer at the patent office? Why?
Answer:
Einstein called his desk drawer at the patent office the “bureau of theoretical physics” because he kept all his writings of his theories in it. Einstein was actually developing his own ideas in secret and his drawer had all the evidence which could reveal the secret.
Question 5.
Why did Einstein write a letter to Franklin Roosevelt?
Answer:
With the emergence of Nazis in Germany, Einstein emigrated to the United States. It was known that the Nazis had the ability to develop and make an atomic bomb. Einstein was aware of its destructive power. A bomb could damage a large area. So he warned Franklin D. Roosevelt in his letter.
Question 6.
How did Einstein react to the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki?
Answer:
The atomic bomb devastated the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. He was deeply shaken by the extent of the destruction and wrote a public missive to the United Nations.
Question 7.
Why does the world remember Einstein as a ‘world citizen’?
Answer:
The world remembers Einstein as a ‘world citizen’ because he believed in universal peace. When there was the rat race for becoming atomic power, he was worried about the aftermath of the bomb. He was really a world citizen who was concerned with humanity.
Question 8.
Here are some facts from Einstein’s life. Arrange them in chronological order.
[ ] Einstein publishes his special theory of relativity.
[ ] He is awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics.
[ ] Einstein writes a letter to U.S. President, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and warns against Germany’s building of an atomic bomb.
[ ] Einstein attends a high school in Munich.
[ ] Einstein’s family moves to Milan.
[ ] Einstein is born in the German city of Ulm.
[ ] Einstein joins a University in Zurich, where he meets Mileva.
[ ] Einstein dies.
[ ] He provides a new interpretation of gravity.
[ ] Tired of the school’s regimentation, Einstein withdraws from school.
[ ] He works in a patent office as a technical expert.
[ ] When Hitler comes to power, Einstein leaves Germany for the United States.
Answers:
[1] Einstein is bom in the German city of Ulm.
[2] Einstein attends a high school in Munich.
[3] Einstein’s family moves to Milan.
[4] Tired of the school’s regimentation, Einstein withdraws from school.
[5] Einstein joins a University in Zurich where he meets Mileva.
[6] He works in a patent office as a technical expert.
[7] Einstein publishes his special theory of relativity.
[8] He provides a new interpretation of gravitation.
[9] He is awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics.
[10] When Hitler comes to power, Einstein leaves Germany for the United States.
[11] Einstein writes a letter to U.S. President, Franklin D. Roosevelt and warns against Germany’s building of an atomic bomb.
[12] Einstein dies.
Thinking about language (Page 51)
Question 1.
Here are some sentences from the story.
Choose the word from the brackets which can be substituted for the italicized words in the sentences.
1. A few years later, the marriage faltered, (failed, broke, became weak)
2. Einstein was constantly at odds with people at the university, (on bad terms, in disagreement, unhappy)
3. The newspapers proclaimed his work as “a scientific revolution”, (declared, praised, showed)
4. Einstein got ever more involved in politics, agitating for an end to the arms buildup. (campaigning, fighting, supporting)
5. At the age of 15, Einstein felt so stifled that he left the school for good. (permanently, for his benefit, for a short time)
6. Five years later, the discovery of nuclear fission in Berlin had American physicists in an uproar, (in a state of commotion, full of criticism, in a desperate state)
7. Science wasn’t the only thing that appealed to the dashing young man with the walrus mustache, (interested, challenged, worried)
Answers:
1. failed
2. in disagreement
3. declared
4. campaigning
5. permanently
6. in a state of commotion
7. interested.
Question 2.
1. ……………. the firefighters finally put out the fire. (They worked round the clock.)
2. She watched the sunset above the mountain, ……………. (She noticed the colours blending softly into one another.)
3. The excited horse pawed the ground rapidly, ……………. (While it neighed continually.)
4. ……………. ,I found myself in Bangalore, instead of Benaras. (I had taken the wrong train.)
5. ……………., I was desperate to get to the bathroom. (I had not bathed for two days)
6. The stone steps, ……………. needed to be replaced. (They were worn down).
7. The actor received hundreds of letters from his fans, ……………. (They asked him to send them his photograph.)
Answers:
1. Working round the clock the firefighters finally put out the fire.
2. She watched the sunset above the mountain, noticing the colours blending softly into one another.
3. The excited horse pawed the ground rapidly, neighing continually.
4. Having taken the wrong train I found myself in Bangalore instead of Benaras.
5. Having not bathed for two days I was desperate to get to the bathroom.
6. The stone steps being worn down needed to be replaced.
7. The actor received hundreds of letters from his fans asking him to send them his photograph.
Writing newspaper reports (Page 53)
Write a newspaper report. Here are some notes which you could use to write a report.
21 August 2005—original handwritten manuscript of Albert Einstein unearthed— by student Rowdy Boeynik in the Univer¬sity of Netherlands—Boeynik researching papers—papers belonging to an old friend of Einstein—fingerprints of Einstein on these papers—16 page document dated 1924—Einstein’s work on this last theory—behavior of atoms at low temperature—now known as the Bose-Einstein condensation—the manuscript to be kept at Leyden University where Einstein got the Nobel Prize.
Question 1.
Write a report which has four paragraphs, one each on:
• what was unearthed?
• who unearthed it and when.
• what the document contained.
• where it will be kept.
Answer:
21 August 2005. Student Unearths Einstein Manuscript. An original handwritten Albert Einstein manuscript has been unearthed at the University of Netherlands.
A student named Rowdy Boeynik, who was researching the papers belonging to an old companion of Einstein had found a 16-page document dated 1924. The document had Einstein’s fingerprints on it.
It contained Einstein’s work on his last theory about the behavior of atoms at low temperatures. The theory is known as ‘Bose-Einstein Condensation’ nowadays.
The manuscript will be kept at Leyden University where Einstein got the Nobel Prize.
