Gujarat Board GSEB Class 9 English Textbook Solutions Beehive Chapter 4 A Truly Beautiful Mind Textbook Exercise Important Questions and Answers, Notes Pdf.
Gujarat Board Textbook Solutions Class 9 English Beehive Chapter 4 A Truly Beautiful Mind
GSEB Class 9 English A Truly Beautiful Mind Text Book Questions and Answers
Thinking about the Text
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.)
Answer:
(1) 9
(2) 7
(3) 3
(4) 10
(5) 15
(6) 8
(7) 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) Einstein’s playmates thought that he was boring.
(2) Einstein’s headmaster thought that he was stupid and would never succeed at anything in life.
(3) Einstein’s mother thought that he was a freak.
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 ?
Answer:
(1) Einstein left the school in Munich for good because he hated the school’s regimentation.
(2) Einstein wanted to study in Switzerland rather than in Munich because it was a more liberal city.
(3) Einstein found in Mileva an ally because she, like him, disapproved of the ‘philistines’ or the people who did not like art, literature or music.
(4) These tell us about Einstein that he loved freedom. He was liberal and cultured person.
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’. This was because the drawer was where he used to store his secretly developed ideas.
Question 5.
Why did Einstein write a letter to Franklin Roosevelt ?
Answer:
Einstein wrote a letter to Franklin Roosevelt to warn about the destructive effect of bomb and also wanted to encourage them to make a bomb to utilize its destruction potential.
Question 6.
How did Einstein react to the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki ?
Answer:
Einstein was deeply shaken by the extent of destruction on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. He wrote a public missive to the United Nations. He proposed the formation of a world government to stop the nuclear weapons.
Question 7.
Why does the world remember Einstein as a ‘world citizen’ ?
Answer:
Einstein is remembered as a ‘world citizen’ as much as a genius scientist because of his efforts towards world peace and democracy, and for his crusade against the use of arms.
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.
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 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. 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
II. Study the following sentences:
- Einstein became a gifted amateur violinist, maintaining this skill throughout his life.
- Letters survive in which they put their affection into words, mixing science with tenderness.
The parts in italics in the above sentences begin with -ing verbs, and are called participial phrases. Participial phrases say something more about the person or thing talked about or the idea expressed by the sentence as a whole.
For example :
Einstein became a gifted amateur violinist. He maintained this skill throughout his life.
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 Bengaluru, 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 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 Bengaluru, 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
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 University of the 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 – behaviour 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.
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.
Your report could begin like this:
Answer:
Student Unearths Einstein Manuscript
21 AUGUST 2005. An original handwritten Albert Einstein manuscript has been unearthed at a university in the Netherlands …
By Rowdy Boeynik – a student. Boeynik was a research student. He was researching papers belonging to an old friend of Einstein. These papers had fingerprints of Einstein. It was a 16-page document dated 1924. Those papers contained Einstein’s work on the theory of how atoms behave at low temperature. This document is now known as Bose-Einstein condensation. The manuscript of this theory is to be kept at Leyden University. This is the University where Einstein got the Nobel Prize.
GSEB Class 9 English A Truly Beautiful Mind Additional Important Questions and Answers
Reading Comprehension
Read the following passages and select the most appropriate answers for the questions given below them:
Question 1.
He also felt a special interest in a fellow student, Mileva Marie, whom he found to be a ‘clever creature’. This young Serb had come to Switzerland because the University in Zurich was one of the few in Europe where women could get degrees. Einstein saw in her an ally against the ‘philistines’ – those people in his family and at the university with whom he was constantly at odds.
Questions:
1. Mileva Marie hailed from …………………
A. Spain.
B. Switzerland.
C. Serbia.
D. France.
Answer:
C. Serbia.
2. Mileva came to Switzerland to ……………….
A. marry Einstein.
B. get her degree.
C. survey the university in Zurich.
D. Both ‘A’ and ‘B’
Answer:
B. get her degree.
3. Einstein had a special dislike for ……………. people.
A. Swiss
B. Serbs
C. Philistines
D. Europeans
Answer:
C. Philistines
4. The phrase ‘at odds’ means …………….
A. in disagreement.
B. not in right position.
C. in somebody’s favour.
D. at irregular time.
Answer:
A. in disagreement.
Question 2.
While Einstein was solving the most difficult problems in Physics, his private life was unravelling. Albert had wanted to marry Mileva right after finishing his studies, but his mother was against it. She thought Mileva, who was three years older than her son, was too old for him. She was also bothered by Mileva’s intelligence. “She is a book like you,” his mother said. Einstein put the wedding off.
The pair finally married in January 1903, and had two sons. But a few years later, the marriage faltered. Mileva, meanwhile, was losing her intellectual ambition and becoming an unhappy housewife. After years of constant fighting, the couple finally divorced in 1919. Einstein married his cousin Elsa the same year.
Questions:
1. The meaning of the word ‘unravelling’ is ……………….
A. ‘survive’.
B. ‘get intimate’.
C.‘collapse’.
D.‘become smooth’.
Answer:
C.‘collapse’.
2. The reason for not allowing Albert to marry Mileva was ………………..
A. that his mother had doubts regarding her intelligence.
B. that Mileva was three years older than Albert.
C. that Mileva did not belong to their community.
D. Both ‘A’ and ‘B’
Answer:
3. ‘She is a book like you’. What does this sentence mean ?
A. ‘She is clever like you’.
B. ‘She is too studious (bookworm) like you’.
C. ‘She has a great knowledge like you’.
D. ‘She is quite insincere like you’.
Answer:
B. ‘She is too studious (bookworm) like you’.
4. The reason of divorce between Mileva and Einstein was …
A. that Mileva could not fulfil her intellectual ambition.
B. with the course of time, Mileva was becoming an unhappy housewife.
C. Mileva did not treat her sons well.
D. Both ‘A’ and ‘B’
Answer:
D. Both ‘A’ and ‘B’
Question 3.
At the urging of a colleague, Einstein wrote a letter to the American President, Franklin D. Roosevelt, on 2 August 1939, in which he warned : “A single bomb of this type … exploded in a port, might very well destroy the whole port together with some of the surrounding territory.” His words did not fail to have an effect. The Americans developed the atomic bomb in a secret project of their own, and dropped it on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945.
Einstein was deeply shaken by the extent of the destruction. This time he wrote a public missive to the United Nations. In it he proposed the formation of a world government. Unlike the letter to Roosevelt, this one made no impact. But ‘over the next decade, Einstein got ever more involved in politics – agitating for an end to the arms build up and using his popularity to campaign for peace and democracy.
Questions:
1. What made Einstein write a letter to the American President ?
A. He had some personal differences with the President.
B. He was against the policy of the President.
C. His colleague urged him to do so.
D. All of these three
Answer:
C. His colleague urged him to do so.
2. What was the effect of Einstein’s letter on the President ?
A. Americans developed the atomic bomb in a secret project.
B. The President did not endorse his proposal.
C. The President was greatly annoyed receiving the letter.
D. None of these three
Answer:
A. Americans developed the atomic bomb in a secret project.
3. What was the subject of Einstein’s letter to the United Nations ?
A. To extend help to the victims of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
B. To form a world government.
C. To appeal the countries of the world to destroy all atomic bombs.
D. To develop atomic bombs.
Answer:
B. To form a world government.
4. The motive of Einstein’s involvement in politics was ……………..
A. to agitate for end the arms build up.
B. to campaign for peace and democracy.
D. Both ‘A’ and ‘B’
Answer:
D. Both ‘A’ and ‘B’
Answer the following questions in three to four sentences each:
Question 1.
Why did the people call Einstein a world citizen ?
Answer:
People called Einstein a world citizen because he campaigned for peace and democracy and was agitated against arms and bombs especially after the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Question 2.
Why did Albert Einstein leave his school?
Answer:
Albert Einstein left his school because he was not happy with the education system. He was not at ease with the strict regimentation of the school. He felt suffocated because of which he had to leave school.
Question 3.
Why did Einstein hate school?
Answer:
He hated school regimentation because of its extreme sense of discipline. He felt tired and suffocated with this atmosphere. He often clashed with his teachers.
Question 4.
Why did Einstein write a letter to Franklin Roosevelt ?
OR
Why did Einstein write a letter to the American President Roosevelt ?
Answer:
Einstein wrote a letter to the American President Franklin Roosevelt when the Nazis came to power in Germany and he had to migrate from there. The discovery of Nuclear fission in Germany made the American physicists upset that the Nazis could build and use an atom bomb.
Question 5.
What is Einstein’s Special Theory of Relativity ?
Answer:
According to Einstein’s Special Theory of Relativity, time and distance are not absolute. From this followed the world’s most famous formula which describes the relationship between mass and energy, i.e., E = mc2.
Question 6.
Why did Einstein’s playmates call him ‘Brother Boring?
Answer:
Einstein could not mix up with other children. He did not find their games interesting. He often uttered every word twice. He was often teased for his abnormally huge head. And so his friends called him ‘Brother Boring.’
Question 7.
How was Einstein’s private life unravelling after he finished his studies ?
Answer:
He had wanted to marry Mileva Marie but his mother was against it. She thought Mileva was three years older than her son and too intelligent for him.
Answer:
Einstein’s head was larger than usual. He was called ‘Brother Boring’, because he never mixed up with his classmates. He left school because he was not happy with the strict regimentation. He loved mechanical toys and thought his sister to be a toy. The head master thought him to be stupid and good for nothing and that he would never succeed in life. He also told Einstein’s father that whatever profession he chose would not matter, because “he will never make a success at anything”. This proves that Einstein was an unusual child with no indication of his potential greatness.
Question 8.
What did Einstein call his desk drawer at the patent office and why ?
Answer:
Einstein called his desk drawer at the patent office the ‘bureau of theoretical physics’ because he was working as a technical expert in the patent office in Bern where he was supposed to be assessing other peoples’ inventions.
Question 9.
How did Einstein react to the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki ?
Answer:
Einstein was shocked at the extent of destruction caused by the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. He wrote a long letter to the United Nations and suggested that there should be a world government.
Answer the following questions in five to six sentences each:
Question 1.
Write down the achievements of Albert Einstein.
Answer:
Albert Einstein was really a scientific genius. He felt at home in Mathematics but he showed keen interest in Physics. After graduating from the University in Zurich he started working vigorously. With his university education he was working on relativity. After, his graduation, he remained jobless. So, he gave private lessons. In 1902, he secured a job as a technical expert in the patent office in Bern. But he went on developing his own ideas. The world showered on him honours and invitations. He was honoured with the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1921.
Question 2.
Einstein was an unusual child with no indication of his potential greatness. Comment.
Answer:
Einstein’s head was larger than usual. He was called ‘Brother Boring’, because he never mixed up with his classmates. He left school because he was not happy with the strict regimentation. He loved mechanical toys and thought his sister to be a toy. The head master thought him to be stupid and good for nothing and that he would never succeed in life. He also told Einstein’s father that whatever profession he chose would not matter, because “he will never make a success at anything”. This proves that Einstein was an unusual child with no indication of his potential greatness.
Question 3.
What was the outcome of Einstein’s letter which he wrote to the American President, Franklin D. Roosevelt ? Did his warning have any impact on America ?
Answer:
On his colleague’s insistence, Einstein wrote a letter to the American President, Roosevelt when the Nazis came to power in Germany and he had to migrate from there. The discovery of Nuclear fission in Germany made the American physicists upset that the Nazis could use the bomb. He warned him of the consequences of the atomic bomb. His words had a great impact. The Americans developed the atomic bomb secretly. They dropped it on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945. Einstein was greatly moved by the destruction. He wrote a long letter to the United Nations and suggested that there should be a world government. This definitely helped in ending the world war.
Vocabulary And Grammar
Vocabulary
Fill in the blanks choosing the correct words given in the brackets:
(1) (prolonged, moved, previous, left)
The …………a………… year, Albert’s parents had …………b…………. to Milan, and …………c………….. their son with relatives. After …………..d…………. discussion, Einstein got his wish to continue his education in Switzerland.
Answer:
a. previous
b. moved
c. left
d. prolonged
(2) (private, right, while, unravelling)
……………….a………… Einstein was solving the most difficult problems in Physics, his …………..b…………. life was ………….c………….. . Albert had wanted to marry Mileva ………….d………… after finishing his studies.
Answer:
a. While
b. private
c. unravelling
d. right
Rectify the errors in the passage:
(1)
Answer:
At the age of two-and-half, Einstein still wasn’t talk. When he finally did learn to speak, he uttered nothing twice. Einstein did not know what doing with other children, and his playmates asked him “Brother Boring.” So the old man played by himself much of the time.
| Errors | Corrections |
| (a) two-and-half | two-and-a-half |
| (b) talk | talking |
| (c) nothing | everything |
| (d) doing | to do |
| (e) asked | called |
| (f) old man | youngster |
(2)
Answer:
A headmaster ones told Einstein’s father If what Einstein chose as a profession wouldn’t matter, therefore “he’ll never make a success at everything.” Einstein began to learn to play the violin at the
age of six, therefore his mother wanted him to.
| Errors | Corrections |
| (a) ones | once |
| (b) If | that |
| (c) therefore | because |
| (d) everything | anything |
| (e) to learn | learning |
| (f) therefore | because |
Fill in the blanks using article(s), conjunctions(s) and preposition(s) at the correct places:
(1) Albert Einstein went …………a………… high school ………..b………. Munich, …………c………. Einstein’s family had moved …………..d………….. he was 15-months-old, …………….e………… scored good marks in …………….f………….. every subject.
Answer:
a. to
b. in
c. where
d. when
e. and
f. almost
(2) …………….a…………… Einstein died ……………b………….. 1955 …………..c…………. the age …………d………….. 76, he was celebrated ……………e…………… a visionary ……………f………… world citizen.
Answer:
a. When
b. in
c. at
d. of
e. as
f. and
Punctuate the following passage:
He especially loved mechanical toys looking at his newborn sister Maja he is said to have said fine but where are her wheels
Answer:
He especially loved mechanical toys. Looking at his newborn sister, Maja, he is said to have said, “Fine, but where are her wheels ?”
Convert the following into Indirect Speech:
Einstein said, “How happy and proud I shall be when we both have brought our work on relativity to a victorious conclusion!”
Answer:
Einstein exclaimed with great joy that he would be extremely happy and proud when they both had brought their work on relativity to a victorious conclusion.
Rewrite as directed:
(1) To Einstein’s mother, his head seemed much too large. (Remove ‘too’.)
(2) At the age two-and-a-half, Einstein still wasn’t talking. (Turn into Affirmative.)
(3) He will never make a success at anything. (Turn into Complex.)
(4) Einstein hated the school’s regimentation. (Turn into Negative.)
(5) Einstein was highly gifted in Mathematics. (Turn into Exclamatory.)
(6) Albert wanted to marry Mileva right after finishing his studies, but his mother was against it. (Use ‘Though’.)
(7) Mileva was older than Einstein. (Change the Voice.)
Answer:
(1) To Einstein’s mother, his head seemed abnormally large.
(2) At the age two-and-a-half, Einstein still kept mute.
(3) He will never make a success in whatever he does.
(4) Einstein did not like the school’s regimentation.
(5) How gifted Einstein was in Mathematics !
(6) Though Albert wanted to marry Mileva right after finishing his studies, his mother was against it.
(7) Einstein was not so old as Mileva.
A Truly Beautiful Mind Summary in English
A Truly Beautiful Mind Summary:
This unit is just a brief account of a visionary and world citizen – an extraordinary genius – Albert Einstein. Albert Einstein, born on 14 March, 1879 in a German city of Ulm, was a freak according to his mother. He uttered everything twice. He did not know what to do ‘ with other children, so his playmates called him ‘Brother Boring’. He loved mechanical toys. His headmaster reported to his father, “He will never make a success at anything.” He learnt violin at the age of 6 and became a gifted violinist. The skill lasted till the end of his life.
Einstein hated the school’s regimentation and often clashed with his teachers. At the age of 15, he left the school. His parents shifted to Milan. He took admission in the university in Zurich. There he fell in love with Mileva Marie, whom he found to be ‘a clever creature’. But as his mother was not ready to get him married with Mileva, their marriage was postponed, but then in 1903 the pair married and had two sons. But because of constant frictions between the couple they divorced in 1919 and the same year Einstein married his cousin – Elsa. In 1905, Einstein’s famous papers – Special
Theory of Relativity – came out. According to it, he established that time and distance are not absolute. They are relative and came the formula E = mc2. In 1915, he had published his General Theory of Relativity, which provided a new interpretation of gravity. He received the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1921. When the Nazis came to power in Germany in 1933, Einstein emigrated to the United States.
In the wake of making and using of atomic bomb, Einstein wrote a letter to the American President, Franklin D. Roosevelt on 2 August, 1939, in which he warned about the devastating effects of atomic bomb and America developed the atomic bomb and the result was destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. Once more he wrote a public missive to the United Nations and in it he proposed the formation of a world government. It had no effect. But over the next decade, Einstein got ever more involved in politics – agitating for an end to the arms build up and using his popularity to campaign for peace and democracy. He died in 1955 at the age of 76.