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Albert Einstein at School Extra Questions and Answers Class 11 English Snapshots
Albert Einstein at School Extra Questions and Answers Short Answer Type
Question 1.
Do you think Albert is being impolite while answering the history teacher’s questions? Give your reasons.
Answer:
Albert was not being rude to his history teacher. He was honest enough to tell the teacher what he thought of the subject.
Question 2.
What characteristic of Einstein’s nature is highlighted in the exchanges between him and the history teacher?
Answer:
Einstein’s honesty is highlighted in his exchange with the history teacher. He does not hide his dislike for learning facts.
Question 3.
What was Einstein’s chief objection against learning history?
Answer:
Einstein’s chief objection against learning history was that there was no point in learning dates arid facts. They could easily be looked up in the books. It would be more useful to learn the reasons behind the facts.
Question 4.
What did Mr Koch think of Albert?
Answer:
Mr. Koch thought very highly of Albert. He knew that Einstein was brilliant. He said soon Einstein would be in a position to teach him. He recommended him for higher studies in mathematics.
Question 5.
How was the history teacher and math teacher’s opinion about Albert different?
Answer:
The history teacher thought that Einstein was rude and impudent. He did not make any attempt to learn historical facts. On the other hand, the maths teacher, Mr. Koch, thought Einstein was brilliant. He had taught him all he could. He gave him a reference for admission to a college or an institute.
Question 6.
Who is Elsa? What advice does she give to Albert to clear the diploma?
Or
Who was Elsa? What advice did she give to Einstein?
Answer:
Elsa is Albert’s cousin. She lives in Berlin and comes to Munich from time to time. She advises him to learn enough so that he can repeat the lessons in the diploma exams and pass.
Question 7.
Why did Yuri call Einstein the world’s worst liar?
Answer:
Yuri sent Einstein to meet Dr Weil, a new doctor, for a certificate. He said this because he knew that Einstein could not lie, therefore he told Einstein to be absolutely truthful with Dr Weil. In fact, world’s worst liar was not an insult. It highlights Einstein’s honesty and his inability to lie.
Question 8.
What was Yuri’s advice to Albert regarding his meeting with Dr Ernst Weil? Give two reasons why Yuri advised Einstein so.
Answer:
Yuri advised Albert not to lie to Dr Ernst Weil. He said so because he knew Dr. Weil could not be deceived by lies. Secondly, Einstein was the world’s worst liar, so he should not even try deception.
Question 9.
Why was Albert nervous when he met the doctor? What does this nervousness indicate about his nature?
Answer:
Albert was nervous when he met the doctor because he could not decide what to tell him. We know that he was a truthful person and was nervous when there was a possibility that he would have to lie.
Question 10.
Einstein was not happy in his lodgings. What disturbed him the most?
Answer:
Albert’s room was in the poorest quarter of Munich. The most unbearable element in his environment was slum violence. His landlady used to beat the children and was in turn beaten up by her husband.. This was extremely repulsive to Einstein.
Question 11.
Why does the biographer refer to Albert’s interest in music as a comfort’?
Answer:
Interest in music was a ‘comfort’ to Einstein because it gave him some solace. He found the school as well as his lodgings detestable. He had no friends except Yuri. Playing his violin was the only source of comfort to him.
Question 12.
What was Albert’s plan for further education after leaving the school at Munich?
Answer:
Einstein planned to continue his education in Milan in an Italian college or institute. To secure admission there, he would get a certificate from his maths teacher.
Question 13.
How did Albert hope to get admission to an Italian college without a diploma from the German school?
Answer:
Albert hoped to get admission to an Italian college on the strength of the reference his maths teacher Mr. Koch would give him as his maths teacher has a very good opinion about him as a student of maths. He praised his mathematical prowess and wrote a glowing reference for Albert.
Question 14.
Finally, the head of the school and Albert were in agreement about a matter. What was it?
Answer:
Albert Einstein and the head teacher were in agreement over the matter of the former’s leaving school. Einstein wanted to leave the school because he hated it. The head teacher wanted him to leave because he was too rebellious and disturbed teachers and students.
Question 15.
Why did the head teacher at Munich school expel Albert?
Answer:
The head teacher expelled Einstein from school because he felt the latter was rebellious and did not allow studies to progress in class. The teachers found him argumentative and obstructive
Question 16.
What reasons did the head teacher offer for expelling Albert from school?
Answer:
The head teacher said Einstein would have to leave because the teachers could not teach their classes due to his attitude and behaviour. He said Einstein was in constant rebellion and hindered regular work.
Albert Einstein at School Extra Questions and Answers Long Answer Type
Question 1.
What are Einstein’s views on education as revealed in his conversation with the History teacher?
Answer:
Einstein got into an argument with his history teacher. He was extremely honest about what he thought about various study subjects. He told the history teacher point blank that he did not see any advantage in learning dates. If one needed to know, dates could always be found in books.
It was not just dates, but he found no advantage even in learning facts. He did not think learning facts was education at all. He felt it would be more important to know the reasons behind the facts, for example, why battles were fought. His history teacher sarcastically called his views as Einstein’s theory of education.
Question 2.
Why did Einstein consider the school ‘a hateful place’?
Or
Why did Einstein want to get away from school?
Answer:
Einstein did not like his school at Munich at all. He considered it a hateful place where he did not wish to go back to the next morning. Most of the days were filled with unpleasant experiences. He had been sent there to take his diploma, but he wished he could leave the school.
He was expected to learn things by heart, which he did not like. The teachers were unsympathetic and sarcastic. There was hardly any study of science at school. The only subject he liked was maths, His maths teacher was extremely happy with him. After six months, Einstein got so fed up with the school that he wanted to get away.
Question 3.
Write a brief essay on Albert Einstein’s unhappy days in his school.
Answer:
Einstein did not like his school at Munich at all. He considered it a hateful place where he did not wish to go back to the next morning. Most of the days were filled with unpleasant experiences. He had been sent there to take his diploma, but he wanted to leave the school.
He was expected to learn things by heart, which he did not like. The teachers were unsympathetic and sarcastic. There was hardly any study of science at school. The only subject he liked was maths. His maths teacher was extremely happy with him. After six months, Einstein got so fed up with the’ school that he wanted to get away.
Question 4.
Albert Einstein found himself miserable both in the German school and his quarters at Munich. What were the reasons for his misery and how did he attempt to get out of the situation?
Answer:
Einstein did not like his school at Munich at all. He considered it a hateful place where he did not wish to go back to the next morning. Most of the days were filled with unpleasant experiences. He had been sent there to take his diploma, but he wished he could leave the school. His living quarters were shabby and squalid. The food was bad. Above all this, there was an atmosphere of slum violence.
Einstein knew that if he ran away from school, he would be sent back by his father. Therefore, he wanted to leave school ‘officially’, with a valid reason. If he could get a certificate from a doctor that he had suffered a nervous breakdown and that he needed rest for a long time, he could get away with it. His friend, Yuri, was a medical student. He asked him to find a doctor who would be willing to give him such a certificate. Einstein felt that if he had to live longer in Munich and study in the school, he would really have a nervous breakdown.
Question 5.
Were the teachers interested in understanding Albert and bringing out his potential?
Answer:
At the school, the teachers did not seem to be interested in helping Einstein and in bringing out his potential as his history teacher signified traditional style of learning and did nothing to bring out the talent of Albert and even could not convince him of the relevance of his subject and became sarcastic. Only the maths teacher cared for Einstein and helped him and truly recognized the potential of Albert. He was impressed by his phenomenal talent and gave him a reference for admission to a college in Milan.
Question 6.
What was Einstein’s plan to get away from school? How was Yuri of help to him?
Answer:
Einstein knew that if he ran away from school, he would be sent back by his father. Therefore, he wanted to leave school ‘officially’ with a valid reason. If he could get a certificate from a doctor that he had suffered a nervous breakdown and that he needed rest for a long time, he could get away with it. His friend Yuri was a medical student. He asked him to find a doctor who would be willing to give him such a certificate. Einstein felt that if he had to live longer in Munich and study in the school, he would really have a nervous breakdown.
Question 7.
Comment on the role of Yuri as described in the extract.
Answer:
Yuri was a good friend of Einstein. He was a medical student himself. Einstein felt very close to him. In fact, he was the only one for whom Einstein had any feeling. Yuri tried to keep his spirit up. When Einstein wanted to leave school in a manner that he would not be sent back, he asked for Yuri’s help. He wanted Yuri to find a doctor who would certify that he was suffering from a nervous breakdown and needed rest for at least six months. Yuri introduced him to Dr Ernst Weil who had recently acquired a medical degree. Thus, Yuri was extremely helpful.
Question 8.
Show how Albert did not finally need the certificate from Dr Weil.
Answer:
Albert Einstein was sick and tired of his school at Munich and desperately wanted to leave. He thought of obtaining a certificate from Dr Ernst Weil saying that he was suffering from a nervous breakdown and needed rest for six months. After obtaining this certificate, he wanted to meet the head teacher. He was surprised, however, to be summoned by the head teacher. He thought he would be punished for laziness and bad work.
The head teacher informed him that his work Was so terrible that he could not be tolerated in the school any more and he would have to leave. He said that his presence in the class made it impossible for the teachers to teach and for the students to learn. He was being expelled for being in constant rebellion. Thus, he did not need the medical certificate at all.
Question 9.
Keeping the whole story in mind, briefly discuss Einstein’s character as it is revealed here.
Answer:
Even as a student Einstein had a mind of his own. He was honest enough to tell the history teacher what he thought of the subject. He was interested in the study of science and mathematics. He could not simply cram facts and was sure to fail in the examination. He hated violence.
He loved maths and music which soothed his troubled nerves Albert was sure of his potential and had self¬pride. He did not bow down before Mr. Braun or the head teacher. They branded him as a rebel or mischief maker: It was only his maths teacher who understood and appreciated his mathematical abilities. On the whole he detested the school.