Thinking about the text
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
(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
Answer :-
(i) __9
(ii)___7
(iii)___3
(iv)___10
(iv)___15
(v)___8
(vi)___11
2. Who had these opinions about Einstein?
(i) He was boring.
(ii) He was stupid and would never succeed in life.
(iii) He was a freak.
Answer:-
(i) His playmates.
(ii) A headmaster
(iii) His mother
3. Explain what the reasons for the following are.
(i) Einstein leaving the school in Munich for good.
Answer:- 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.
(ii) Einstein wanting to study in Switzerland rather than in Munich.
Answer:- 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. It was more liberal than Munich.
(iii) Einstein seeing in Mileva an ally.
Answer:- Einstein saw in Mileva Marie 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”.
(iv) What do these tell you about Einstein?
Answer:- These tell that Einstein was a genius and had the capabilities to achieve his targets. Moreover, he had his view of life. He liked freedom too much.
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”. Einstein was developing his ideas in secret and his drawer had all the evidence which could reveal the secret.
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 the fact that the Nazis could develop the atomic bomb. It could destroy the whole world. So he warned Franklin D. Roosevelt in his letter.
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.
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 aftermaths of the bomb. He was a world citizen who was concerned with humanity.
8. Here are some facts from Einstein's life. Arrange them in chronological order.
[i] Einstein publishes his special theory of relativity.
[ii] He is awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics.
[iii] Einstein writes a letter to U.S. President, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and warns against Germany's building of an atomic bomb.
[iv] Einstein attends a high school in Munich. 1 Einstein's family moves to Milan.
[v] Einstein is born in the German city of Ulm.
[vi] Einstein joins a university in Zurich. where he meets Mileva.
[vii] Einstein dies.
[viii] He provides a new interpretation of gravity.
[ix] Tired of the school's regimentation, Einstein withdraws from school.
[x] He works in a patent office as a technical expert.
[xi] 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 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.
THE SNACK AND THE MIRROR
Thinking about the text
1. “ The sound was a familiar one.” What sound did the doctor hear? What did he think it was? How many times did he hear it? (Find the places in the text.) When and why did the sounds stop?
Answer:
The doctor heard the sound of rats. The sound was a familiar one. He heard this sound four times. The phrases are ‘Again I heard that sound from above’, ‘Again came that noise from above’, ‘Suddenly there came a dull thud as if a rubber tube has fallen’. The sounds stopped after the appearance of the snake.
2. What two “important” and “earth¬shaking” decisions did the doctor take while he was looking into the mirror?
Answer:
The doctor took the following two ‘important’ and ‘earth shaking’ decisions:
(a) He would shave daily and grow a thin mustache to look more handsome.
(b) He would always keep that attractive smile on his face.
3. “I looked into the mirror and smiled,” says the doctor. A little later he says, “I forgot my danger and smiled feebly at myself.” What is the doctor’s opinion about himself when (i) he first smiles, and (ii) he smiles again? In what way do his thoughts change in between, and why?
Answer:
The doctor thought that he had a good smile when he first smiled. But when he smiled a little later, he laughed at his destiny. His life was in danger. His thoughts got changed because of the snake. He was quite near to death.
II. This story about a frightening incident is narrated humorously. What makes it humorous? (Think of the contrasts it presents between dreams and reality. Some of them are listed below.)
1. (i) The kind of person the doctor is (money, possessions)
Answer: A doctor is a poor man. He does not have much money. His house has no electricity. It is a small rented room which has many rats. He has about sixty rupees in his suitcase. Along with some shirts and dhotis, he also possesses one solitary black coat.
(ii) The kind of person he wants to be (appearance, ambition)
Answer:
He wants to be a handsome person. So he decides to shave daily and grow a mustache. He also wishes to accumulate wealth.
2. (i) The person he wants to marry
Answer: He intends to marry an actor who has plenty of money a good medical practice. He wishes to have a fat wife so that she cannot run after him and catch him when he would make a mistake.
(ii) The person he marries
Answer: The person ly marries is a thin reedy person with the gift of a sprinter.
3. (i) His thoughts when he looks into the mirror
Answer: He thinks that he should look smart. So he decides to shave daily and retain his smile. He is happy and contented when he looks into the mirror.
(ii) His thoughts when the snake is coiled around his arm
Answer: When the snake coiled around his left arm above the elbow, he kept sitting there holding his breath. He became motionless. He was afraid of the snake.
Write a short paragraph on each of these to get your answer.
Thinking about language
Here are some sentences from the text. Say which of them tell you, that the author:
(a) was afraid of the snake, (b) was proud of his appearance, (c) had a sense of humor, (d) was no longer afraid of the snake.
1. I was turned to stone.
2. I was no mere image cut in granite.
3. The arm was beginning to be drained of strength.
4. I tried in my imagination to write in bright letters outside my little heart the words, ‘O God.
5. I didn’t tremble. I didn’t cry out.
6. I looked into the mirror and smiled. It was an attractive smile.
7. I was suddenly a man of flesh and blood.
8. I was after all a bachelor, and a doctor too on top of it!
9. The fellow had such a sense of cleanliness …! The rascal could have taken it and used it after washing it with soap and water.
10.Was it trying to make an important decision about mustache a mustache or using eye shadow and mascara or wearing a vermilion spot on its forehead.
Answer:
•The sentences (1), (3), (4), (5) tell that the author (a) was afraid of the snake.
- The sentences (6) and (8) tell that he
(b) was proud of his appearance. - The sentences (9) and (10) tell that
(c) he had a sense of humor. - The sentences (2) and (7) tell that (d) he was no longer afraid of the snake.
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