A Truly Beautiful Mind
Thinking about the Text, Language & WritingThinking about the Text
I. Matching Paragraphs
(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
(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
II. Opinions about Einstein
(i) He was boring: His playmates.
(ii) He was stupid and would never succeed in life: A headmaster.
(iii) He was a freak: His mother.
(ii) He was stupid and would never succeed in life: A headmaster.
(iii) He was a freak: His mother.
III. Reasons & Insights
Explain the reasons for the following:
(i) Leaving Munich: Einstein hated the school’s regimentation (strict discipline) and often clashed with teachers. He felt stifled and left for good.
(ii) Studying in Switzerland: He wanted to study in German-speaking Switzerland because it was more liberal than Munich.
(iii) Seeing Mileva as an ally: He saw her as a “clever creature” and a fellow intellectual who shared his interest in art, literature, and music, opposing the “philistines” (people who disliked art/culture) in his family.
(iv) What this tells us: This tells us that Einstein was a free thinker who valued intellectual freedom and creativity over strict discipline. He sought companionship based on intellectual compatibility.
(ii) Studying in Switzerland: He wanted to study in German-speaking Switzerland because it was more liberal than Munich.
(iii) Seeing Mileva as an ally: He saw her as a “clever creature” and a fellow intellectual who shared his interest in art, literature, and music, opposing the “philistines” (people who disliked art/culture) in his family.
(iv) What this tells us: This tells us that Einstein was a free thinker who valued intellectual freedom and creativity over strict discipline. He sought companionship based on intellectual compatibility.
IV. Short Answers
4. What did Einstein call his desk drawer at the patent office? Why?He called it the “bureau of theoretical physics” because he was secretly developing his own ideas and theories while supposedly assessing other people’s inventions.
He wrote the letter to warn the American President that Germany might build and use an atomic bomb, which could destroy an entire port and surrounding territory.
He was deeply shaken by the extent of the destruction. He wrote a public missive to the United Nations proposing the formation of a world government to prevent such destruction in the future.
He is remembered as a world citizen because he campaigned for peace and democracy and agitated against the arms buildup, transcending his role as just a scientist.
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 gravity.
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.
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 gravity.
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
I. Vocabulary Substitution
1. faltered → became weak
2. at odds → in disagreement
3. proclaimed → declared
4. agitating → campaigning
5. for good → permanently
6. in an uproar → in a state of commotion
7. appealed → interested
2. at odds → in disagreement
3. proclaimed → declared
4. agitating → campaigning
5. for good → permanently
6. in an uproar → in a state of commotion
7. appealed → interested
II. Participial Phrases
Complete the sentences using the information in brackets:
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.
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 Report
Student Unearths Einstein Manuscript
21 AUGUST 2005, NETHERLANDS
An original handwritten Albert Einstein manuscript has been unearthed at a university in the Netherlands. The discovery was made by a student named Rowdy Boeynik at the University of the Netherlands.
Boeynik was researching papers belonging to an old friend of Einstein when he stumbled upon the document. The authenticity of the manuscript was confirmed by the presence of Einstein’s fingerprints on the papers.
The 16-page document, dated 1924, contains Einstein’s work on his last theory regarding the behaviour of atoms at low temperatures. This phenomenon is now famously known as the Bose-Einstein condensation.
The manuscript will be kept at Leyden University, the same institution where Einstein often lectured and where he received the news of his Nobel Prize. It serves as a valuable addition to the university’s archives.
Dictation
Correct Text for Checking:
“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.)”
“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.)”