A Truly Beautiful Mind – NCERT Solutions

Q. 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.

1. Einstein’s equation
2. Einstein meets his future wife
3. The making of a violinist
4. Mileva and Einstein’s mother
5. A letter that launched the arms race
6. A desk drawer full of ideas
7. Marriage and divorce

Answer

1. 9
2. 7
3. 3
4. 10
5. 14
6. 8
7. 11

Q. 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. A headmaster.
3. His mother.

Q. 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?

Answer

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.
3. Einstein saw in Mileva Maric an ally against the “Philistines”—those people in his family and at the university with whom he was constantly at odds. He found that she was a “clever creature”.
4. These tell that Einstein was a genius and had the capabilities to achieve his targets. He knew how to achieve greatness in the world of science and technology.

Q. What did Einstein call his desk drawer at the patent office? Why?

Ans. Einstein called his desk drawer at the patent office the “bureau of theoretical physics”. Einstein was actually developing his own ideas in secret and his drawer had all the evidences which could reveal the secret.

Q. Why did Einstein write a letter to Franklin Roosevelt?

Ans. With the emergence of Nazis in Germany, Einstein emigrated to the United States. It was the fact that the Nazis had the ability to develop the atomic bomb. It could destroy the whole world. So he warned Franklin D. Roosevelt in his letter.

Q. How did Einstein react to the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki?

Ans. 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.

Q. Why does the world remember Einstein as a ‘world citizen’?

Ans. 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 aftermaths of the bomb. He was really a world citizen who was concerned to humanity.

Q. Here are some facts from Einstein’s life. Arrange them in chronological order.

• [ ] Einstein publishes his special theory of relativity.
• [ ] 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.

Answer

1. Einstein is born 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 the centre 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.

Q. Here are some sentences from the story. Choose the word from the brackets which can be substituted for the italicised 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 moustache. (interested, challenged, worried)

Answer

1. failed
2. in disagreement
3. declared
4. campaigning
5. permanently
6. in a state of commotion
7. interested.

Q. Complete the sentences below by filling in the blanks with suitable participial clauses. The information that has to be used in the phrases is provided as a sentence in brackets.

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.)

Answer

1. Working round the clock, the fire fighters 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.

Q. Your teacher will dictate these paragraphs to you. Write down the paragraphs with correct punctuation marks.

In 1931 Charlie Chaplin invited Albert Einstein, who was visiting Hollywood, to a private screening of his new film, City Lights. As the two men drove into town together, passersby waved and cheered. Chaplin turned to his guest and explained: ‘‘The people are applauding you because none of them understands you and applauding me because everybody understands me.’’

One of Einstein’s colleagues asked him for his telephone number one day. Einstein reached for a telephone directory and looked it up. ‘‘You don’t remember your own number?’’ the man asked, startled.

‘‘No,’’ Einstein answered. ‘‘Why should I memorise something I can so easily get from a book?’’ (In fact, Einstein claimed never to memorise anything which could be looked up in less than two minutes.)