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CBSE Class 9 English Question 6 of 24

A Truly Beautiful Mind — Question 12

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12
Question
Your teacher will dictate these paragraphs to you. Write down the paragraphs with correct punctuation marks. In 1931 Charlie Chaplin invited Albert Einstein, who was visiting Hollywood, to a private screening of his new film, City Lights. As the two men drove into town together, passersby waved and cheered. Chaplin turned to his guest and explained: “The people are applauding you because none of them understands you and applauding me because everybody understands me.” One of Einstein’s colleague
Answer

In 1931, Charlie Chaplin invited Albert Einstein, who was visiting Hollywood, to a private screening of his new film, “City Lights”. As the two men drove into town together, passers-by waved and cheered. Chaplin turned to his guest and explained: “The people are applauding you because none of them understands you and applauding me because everybody understands me.”
One of Einstein’s colleagues asked him for his telephone number one day. Einstein reached for a telephone directory and looked it up. “You don’t remember your own number?” the man asked, startled. “No”, Einstein answered. “Why should I memorise something I can so easily get from a book?” (In fact, Einstein claimed never to memorise anything which could be looked up in less than two minutes.)
Extract Based Questions(3 marks each)
Read the passage given below and answer the questions that follow:

Overview: A Truly Beautiful Mind

This biographical account traces Einstein from a seemingly slow child (late to speak, considered dull by teachers) to the greatest physicist of the 20th century. He left school at 15, studied in Switzerland, and published groundbreaking papers in 1905 including the Special Theory of Relativity and E=mc². After the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, he became a passionate advocate for peace and nuclear disarmament. The title argues that true beauty lies in intellect and moral courage.

Key Points

  • Born 1879 in Ulm, Germany — late to speak, considered a slow learner
  • Left school at 15, studied in Zurich, Switzerland
  • Published Special Theory of Relativity in 1905 (his "miracle year")
  • E=mc² — the famous mass-energy equivalence equation
  • Nobel Prize in Physics, 1921
  • Emigrated to USA when Nazis came to power in Germany
  • After Hiroshima/Nagasaki, campaigned for peace and nuclear disarmament
  • Wrote to US President urging nuclear responsibility
  • Title: True beauty is intellectual and moral, not physical
  • Died in 1955 — remembered as scientist and humanitarian

Frequently Asked Questions

Why is Einstein called "a truly beautiful mind"?
Einstein is called "a truly beautiful mind" because his beauty was intellectual and moral, not physical. His mind produced revolutionary scientific theories, and his conscience led him to campaign for world peace when his equation was used for destruction.
How did Einstein advocate for peace?
After atomic bombs were dropped on Japan (using the principle of E=mc²), Einstein felt a deep moral responsibility. He wrote to the United Nations, campaigned against nuclear weapons, and spent the rest of his life advocating for disarmament and world peace.

Common Mistakes

  • Not reading the text carefully before attempting questions.
  • Giving vague answers without specific textual references.
  • Confusing characters, events, or themes from different chapters.
  • Writing too much for short-answer questions (should be 30-40 words).

Scoring Tips

  • For extract-based MCQs: read the passage carefully; eliminate wrong options systematically.
  • For short answers: be concise (30-40 words), use key vocabulary from the text.
  • For long answers: structure with introduction, body, conclusion. Quote from the text.
  • Always identify the chapter/poem name and author when answering.