A truly beautiful mind - Reading Comprehension

AP/ NCERT Board-Based Reading Comprehension Passages Grade 9 Beehive 
Chapter 4 A truly beautiful mind 

Reading Comprehension 1

ALBERT Einstein was born on 14 March 1879 in the German city of Ulm, without any indication that he was destined for greatness. On the contrary, his mother thought Albert was a freak. To her, his head seemed much too large.

At the age of two-and-a-half, Einstein still wasn’t talking. When he finally did learn to speak, he uttered everything twice. Einstein did not know what to do with other children, and his playmates called him “Brother Boring.” So the youngster played by himself much of the time. He especially loved mechanical toys. Looking at his newborn sister, Maja, he is said to have said: “Fine, but where are her wheels?”

Otto Neugebauer, the historian of ancient mathematics, told a story about the boy Einstein that he characterises as a “legend”, but that seems fairly authentic. As he was a late talker, his parents were worried. At last, at the supper table one night, he broke his silence to say, “The soup is too hot.” Greatly relieved, his parents asked why he had never said a word before. Albert replied, “Because up to now everything was in order.”

1. Where was Albert Einstein born?

   a) Berlin

   b) Munich

   c) Ulm

   d) Hamburg

2. What did Einstein's mother think about him as a child?

   a) She believed he was destined for greatness.

   b) She thought he was a freak with a large head.

   c) She considered him a brilliant speaker.

   d) She thought he was a perfect child.

3. At what age did Einstein start talking?

   a) At the age of one

   b) At the age of two

   c) At the age of two-and-a-half

   d) At the age of three

4. What nickname did Einstein's playmates give him?

   a) Brother Genius

   b) Brother Brilliant

   c) Brother Boring

   d) Brother Talkative

5. What did young Einstein say when he finally started speaking?

   a) "I love mechanical toys."

   b) "Where are my toys?"

   c) "The soup is too cold."

   d) "Because up to now everything was in order."

Reading Comprehension 2

A headmaster once told his father that what Einstein chose as a profession wouldn’t matter, because “he’ll never make a success at anything.” Einstein began learning to play the violin at the age of six, because his mother wanted him to; he later became a gifted amateur violinist, maintaining this skill throughout his life.

But Albert Einstein was not a bad pupil. He went to high school in Munich, where Einstein’s family had moved when he was 15 months old, and scored good marks in almost every subject. Einstein hated the school’s regimentation, and often clashed with his teachers. At the age of 15, Einstein felt so stifled there that he left the school for good.

The previous year, Albert’s parents had moved to Milan, and left their son with relatives. After prolonged discussion, Einstein got his wish to continue his education in German-speaking Switzerland, in a city which was more liberal than Munich.

1. What instrument did Albert Einstein start learning to play at the age of six?

   a) Piano

   b) Violin

   c) Trumpet

   d) Flute

2. How did Einstein perform in high school in Munich?

   a) He excelled in all subjects.

   b) He scored good marks in almost every subject.

   c) He struggled with his studies.

   d) He dropped out of school.

3. What aspect of school did Einstein dislike?

   a) The subjects he had to study

   b) The teachers he had

   c) The school's regimentation

   d) The lack of challenging material

4. Why did Einstein leave his high school at the age of 15?

   a) He wanted to pursue a career in music.

   b) He had conflicts with his teachers.

   c) His family moved to Milan.

   d) He finished his education.

5. True or False: Einstein continued his education in a more liberal city in German-speaking Switzerland after his parents moved to Milan.

Reading Comprehension 3

Einstein was highly gifted in mathematics and interested in physics, and after finishing school, he decided to study at a university in Zurich. But science wasn’t the only thing that appealed to the dashing young man with the walrus moustache.

 He also felt a special interest in a fellow student, Mileva Maric, 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. The couple fell in love. Letters survive in which they put their affection into words, mixing science with tenderness. Wrote Einstein: “How happy and proud I shall be when we both have brought our work on relativity to a victorious conclusion.”

1. What was Einstein's academic focus when he finished school and decided to study at a university in Zurich?

   a) Mathematics and physics

   b) Chemistry and biology

   c) Literature and history

   d) Medicine and engineering

2. In addition to his interest in science, what else appealed to Albert Einstein when he was a young student?

   a) Art and literature

   b) Music and philosophy

   c) History and politics

   d) Romance and relationships

3. What special interest did Einstein have in a fellow student, Mileva Maric?

   a) Her athletic abilities

   b) Her academic excellence

   c) Her cleverness

   d) Her social status

4. Why did Mileva Maric come to Switzerland to study?

   a) To pursue a degree in physics

   b) To be with her family

   c) To marry Albert Einstein

   d) Because it was one of the few European universities where women could get degrees

5. What did Einstein and Mileva express in their letters to each other?

   a) Their shared interest in art and literature

   b) Their desire to become famous scientists

   c) Their affection for each other, blending science with tenderness

   d) Their plans to travel the world together

Reading Comprehension 4

In 1900, at the age of 21, Albert Einstein was a university graduate and unemployed. He worked as a teaching assistant, gave private lessons and finally secured a job in 1902 as a technical expert in the patent office in Bern. While he was supposed to be assessing other people’s inventions, Einstein was actually developing his own ideas in secret. He is said to have jokingly called his desk drawer at work the “bureau of theoretical physics.”

One of the famous papers of 1905 was Einstein’s Special Theory of Relativity, according to which time and distance are not absolute. Indeed, two perfectly accurate clocks will not continue to show the same time if they come together again after a journey if one of them has been moving very fast relative to the other. From this followed the world’s most famous formula which describes the relationship between mass and energy:

E = mc2

(In this mathematical equation, E stands for energy, m for mass and c for the speed of the light in a vacuum (about 300,000 km/s).

1. In 1900, what was Albert Einstein's employment status after completing university?

   a) He was a university professor.

   b) He was unemployed.

   c) He was a successful inventor.

   d) He worked as a patent examiner.

2. What was Albert Einstein's job in 1902 at the patent office in Bern?

   a) Teaching assistant

   b) Technical expert

   c) University professor

   d) Private tutor

3. What did Albert Einstein jokingly call his desk drawer at work?

   a) The "bureau of theoretical physics"

   b) The "invention repository"

   c) The "secret ideas vault"

   d) The "patent examiner's desk"

4. What is the famous formula introduced in Einstein's Special Theory of Relativity?

   a) E = mc3

   b) F = ma

   c) E = mc2

   d) H = R × A

5. In the equation E = mc2, what does "c" represent?

   a) Charge

   b) Speed of sound

   c) Speed of light in a vacuum

   d) Temperature in Celsius

Reading Comprehension 5

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.

 Einstein’s new personal chapter coincided with his rise to world fame. In 1915, he had published his General Theory of Relativity, which provided a new interpretation of gravity. An eclipse of the sun in 1919 brought proof that it was accurate. Einstein had correctly calculated in advance the extent to which the light from fixed stars would be deflected through the sun’s gravitational field. The newspapers proclaimed his work as “a scientific revolution.”

Einstein received the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1921. He was showered with honours and invitations from all over the world, and lauded by the press.

1. Why did Albert Einstein delay marrying Mileva, despite wanting to marry her right after finishing his studies?

   a) He was uncertain about his feelings for Mileva.

   b) His mother opposed the marriage.

   c) Mileva was not interested in marriage.

   d) They were too busy with their academic pursuits.

2. What was one of the reasons Albert's mother was against his marriage to Mileva?

   a) She thought Mileva was too young.

   b) She believed Mileva was not intelligent enough.

   c) She thought Mileva was too old for Albert.

   d) She preferred he marry someone from their own town.

3. When did Albert Einstein and Mileva finally get married?

   a) Right after his studies

   b) In 1919

   c) In 1903

   d) After their divorce

4. What did Mileva become as the years went by in her marriage with Einstein?

   a) An accomplished scientist

   b) An unhappy housewife

   c) A famous writer

   d) A successful entrepreneur

5. Why did Einstein divorce Mileva and marry his cousin Elsa in 1919?

   a) They were both unhappy in their marriage.

   b) He wanted to marry someone more intelligent.

   c) Mileva left him for someone else.

   d) Elsa was his true love.

Reading Comprehension 7

When the Nazis came to power in Germany in 1933, Einstein emigrated to the United States. Five years later, the discovery of nuclear fission in Berlin had American physicists in an uproar. Many of them had fled from Fascism, just as Einstein had, and now they were afraid the Nazis could build and use an atomic bomb.

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 buildup and using his popularity to campaign for peace and democracy.

When Einstein died in 1955 at the age of 76, he was celebrated as a visionary and world citizen as much as a scientific genius.

1. Why did Albert Einstein emigrate to the United States in 1933?

   a) He was offered a lucrative job in the U.S.

   b) He wanted to continue his scientific research.

   c) The discovery of nuclear fission in Berlin prompted his emigration.

   d) He wanted to escape from World War II.

2. What prompted Albert Einstein to write a letter to President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1939?

   a) A request from the American government

   b) Concerns about the use of atomic bombs by the Nazis

   c) His interest in world politics

   d) His admiration for Roosevelt's leadership

3. What was the purpose of Einstein's letter to President Roosevelt in 1939?

   a) To request a job in the U.S. government

   b) To propose a world government

   c) To warn about the potential destructive power of atomic bombs

   d) To request funding for scientific research

4. In what year were atomic bombs dropped on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki?

   a) 1945

   b) 1933

   c) 1939

   d) 1955

5. How did Einstein respond to the use of atomic bombs in 1945?

   a) He celebrated the achievement of science.

   b) He wrote a public missive to the United Nations.

   c) He called for the further development of nuclear weapons.

   d) He disassociated himself from political involvement.