Class 11th English Snapshot ( Albert Einstein ) Important question- Term- 2

 1- Why did Mr. Braun scold young Einstein ?

• Ans. Mr. Braun, the history teacher scolded young Einstein because he did not remember. the dates of events in history. Further, the annoyed him by giving statements against education. He told the teacher that learning the dates of historical events was meaningless.

2- Why was Albert tense about this neighborhood ?

• Ans. Albert did not like the environment of his neighbourhood as the land lord often beat his
• wife. The wife also beat children. There was a lot of violence in the neighbourhood.
• The landlady did not let him play violin.

3- What was the opinion of Mrs. Koch about Albert ?

• Ans. Mr. Koch appreciated Albert for him intelligence. He was impressed by his knowledge of maths. He felt that Albert knew more than him in Maths. He gave him a glowing certificate in Maths

4- What was Einstein’s view on education ?

• Ans. Einstein believed that the existing system of education was  incapable of meeting the purpose of education. He believed  that memorising dates and facts was not education. Ideas,  that come from critical thinking and analysis, form real education. 

5- Do you think Einstein was being impolite while answering the history teacher ?  

• Ans. I think Einstein was not being rude or impolite while  answering his history teacher. He just wanted to express his  frank opinion about education. As his views did not match  with that of the teacher’s, he was scolded and punished. 

6- Who was Elsa ? What advice did she give to Einstein ? 

• Ans. Elsa was Einstein’s cousin and lived in Berlin. She sometimes  came to Munich and met Einstein.  Einstein told her that he doubted if he could pass the  exams for the school diploma. Elsa told him that she had  seen boys who were more stupid than Einstein who had  passed the diploma exam. She advised him to learn like a  parrot and repeat it in the exam so that he would pass.

7- What did Einstein plan to do after leaving the school and how did he plan to achieve it ?

• Ans. Einstein wanted to go to Italy for higher studies in maths,  where his parents lived and wanted to take admission in an  Italian institute for this purpose. But for this, he must have a  reference from his teacher. So, he went to his maths teacher,  Mr Koch, who had firm faith in Einstein’s abilities and held  him in high esteem. He gave Einstein the required reference.

8- What do you understand about Einstein’s nature  from his conversation with his history teacher, his  mathematics teacher and the head teacher ? 

• Ans. Einstein’s nature appears to be that of a rebel. He did not  believe in the prevailing rote learning system of education.  Thus, he found memorising facts and dates useless. Ideas  interested him more than facts because of which he had an  argument with his history teacher.  From his conversation with the maths teacher, we come to  know that he was a genius at maths, because his maths  teacher frankly told him that Einstein could even teach  maths soon to the teacher himself.  Thus, Einstein can be recognised as a person of rebellious  nature, who is very honest and straightforward about his  thoughts. 
• He is also a genius at maths and thus, his history  teacher’s comment about him being a disgrace and  ungrateful is incorrect. Later, when he confronts the head  teacher, we find him defensive at the beginning and carefree  at the end of the meeting.  His interaction with the head teacher shows him as a mature  person who doesn’t want to get into pointless arguments.

9- Why did the author refer to Einstein’s interest in music as his only comfort ? 

• Ans. Einstein used to feel miserable both at his school as well as at  where he stayed in Munich. The school atmosphere was  oppressive, and did not give any opportunity for creativity.  ‘Slum violence’ was depressing where he stayed in Munich.  So playing music only provided Einstein some comfort in this  unpleasant environment. 

10- How was Einstein comforted by the doctor when he  met him for the medical certificate ?

• Ans. Dr Ernst comforted Einstein when he met him by saying that  he understood Einstein’s feelings because he was also a  student until recently. Dr Ernst also discussed Einstein’s  plans about what he wanted to do after leaving school. Both  these factors comforted Einstein when he met the doctor. 

11- Yuri calls Einstein ‘the world’s worst liar’. Is it a compliment or an insult to Einstein ?

• Ans. It was a compliment. Einstein believed in truth and  honesty. He was unable to tell a deliberate lie. Even if he  tried to lie, his face betrayed it and people could make out  that he was lying. 

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