While Einstein was solving the most difficult problems in Physics…

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?”
Questions:
Q.1. Why did Albert’s mother think that he was a freak?
A. He was not able to speak.
B. He uttered everything twice.
C. He wanted to know about the wheels of his sister.
D. His head seemed too large.
Q.2. What happened when Albert learnt to speak?
A. He became a loner.
B. He uttered everything twice.
C. He started loving mechanical toys.
D. He didn’t know what to do with other children.

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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:
Q.1. Mileva Marie hailed from …………
A. Spain.
B. Switzerland.
C. Serbia.
D. France.
Q.2. Mileva came to Switzerland to …………
A. marry Einstein.
B. get her degree.
C. survey the university in Zurich.
D. Both ‘A’ and ‘B’.

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INTRUDER: (preparing to shoot) As I said before, this conversation bores me.
GERRARD: Don’t be a fool. If you shoot, you’ll hang for sure. If not as yourself, then as Vincent Charles Gerrard.
INTRUDER: What is this?
GERRARD: This is your big surprise. I said you wouldn’t kill me and I was right. Why do you think I am here today and gone tomorrow, never see tradespeople? You say my habits would suit you. You are a crook. Do you think I am a Sunday-school teacher?
The game’s up as far as I’m concerned. Things went wrong with me. I said it with bullets and got away. Unfortunately they got one of my men, and found things the fool should have burnt. Tonight I’m expecting trouble. My bag’s packed ready to clear off. There it is.
INTRUDER: It’s a bag all right and this is a gun all right. What’s all this?
GERRARD: That’s a disguise outfit; false moustaches and whatnot. Now do you believe me?
Questions:
Q.1. What does Gerrard want to convey through the words ‘Do you think I am a Sunday-school teacher’?
A. That he is equally smart as Intruder.
B. That he is not a straight-forward fellow.
C. That as a teacher, he works on weekdays, too.
D. Both ‘A’ and ‘B’
Q.2. What has gone wrong with Gerrard as he narrates?
A. He has killed somebody.
B. His accomplice was caught red-handed.
C. He has allowed Intruder to enter his house.
D. Both ‘A’ and ‘B’

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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 her wheels are?” 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.
Questions:
Q.1. What was unnatural from the following?
A. Einstein should no indication that he was destined for greatness.
B. Einstein wasn’t able to talk even though he was two-and-a-half years old.
C. Maja was not born with wheels.
D. Einstein would never make a success at anything
Q.2. Albert Einstein became a professional violinist. Is this statement true or false?
A. True
B. False

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Margie was scornful. “School? What’s there to write about school? I hate school.” Margie always hated school, but now she hated it more than ever. The mechanical teacher had been giving her test after test in geography and she had been doing worse and worse until her mother had shaken her head sorrowfully and sent for the county inspector. He was a round little man with a red face and a whole box of tools with dials and wires. He smiled at Margie and gave her an apple, then took the teacher apart.
Questions:
Q.1. Why did Margie’s mother call for the county inspector?
A. Her daughter hated studies.
B. Her daughter’s mechanical teacher was not functioning.
C. Her daughter was doing badly in geography.
D. Her daughter was scornful about school.
Q.2. Margie hoped that the county inspector would fail to put the teacher together again.
A. True
B. False

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Laboriously, with double cotton, the little girl stitched three sides. But what to fill it with? That was the question. The grandmother was out in the garden, and she wandered into mother’s bedroom to look for scraps. On the bed-table she discovered a great many sheets of fine paper, gathered them up, tore them into tiny pieces, and stuffed her case, then sewed up the fourth side. That night there was a hue and cry in the house. Father’s great speech for the port authority had been lost. Rooms were searched, servants questioned. Finally, mother came into Kezia’s room, “Kezia, I suppose you didn’t see some papers on a table in our room?” “Oh yes,” she said, “I tore them up for my surprise.” “What!” screamed mother. “Come straight down to the dining-room this instant.”
Questions:
Q.1. Kezia knew very well that papers on the table were important papers for her father.
A. True
B. False
Q.2. .................. told Kezia that a gift to father would be appropriate.
A. mother
B. Alice
C. Grandmother
D. Mr. Macdonald

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The Macdonalds lived next door. They had five children. Looking through a gap in the fence, the little girl saw them playing ‘tag’ in the evening. The father, with the baby, Mao, on his shoulders, two little girls hanging on to his coat pockets, ran round and round the flower beds, shaking with laughter. Once she saw the boys turn the hose on him – and he tried to catch them laughing all the time. Then it was she decided there were different sorts of fathers.
Questions:
Q.1. Who has penned this story?
A. Deborah Cowley
B. Katherine Mansfield
C. Ruskin Bond
D. Coates Kinney
Q.2. Which statement is false?
A. The Macdonalds lived next door to Kezia.
B. The Macdonalds had five children.
C. They played games together.
D. Coates Kinney

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Thereafter, Santosh went on an expedition every year. Her climbing skills matured rapidly. Also, she developed a remarkable resistance to cold and the altitude. Equipped with an iron will, physical endurance and an amazing mental toughness, she proved herself repeatedly. The culmination of her hard work and sincerity came in 1992, just four years after she had shyly asked the Aravalli mountaineers if she could join them.
At barely twenty years of age, Santosh Yadav scaled Mt. Everest, becoming the youngest woman in the world to achieve the feat. If her climbing skills, physical fitness, and mental strength impressed her seniors, her concern for others and desire to work together with them found her a special place in the hearts of fellow climbers.
Questions:
Q.1. __________ includes Santosh’s climbing skills.
A. Resistance to cold
B. Resistance to the altitude
C. Resistance to physical endurance
D. Both ‘A’ and ‘B’
Q.2. The qualities that Santosh was equipped with were __________.
A. iron will.
B. physical endurance.
C. amazing mental toughness.
D. All of these three

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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:
Q.1. The meaning of the word ‘unravelling’ is …………
A. ‘survive’.
B. ‘get intimate’.
C. ‘collapse’.
D. ‘become smooth’.
Q.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’.

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Then the Second World War was over and India’s freedom was imminent. “Indians will build their own India”, declared Gandhiji. The whole country was filled with an unprecedented optimism. I asked my father for permission to leave Rameswaram and study at the district headquarters in Ramanathapuram.
He told me as if thinking aloud, “Abdul! I know you have to go away to grow. Does the seagull not fly across the sun, alone and without a nest?” He quoted Khalil Gibran to my hesitant mother. “Your children are not your children. They are the sons and daughters of life’s longing for itself. They come through you but not from you. You may give them your love but not your thoughts. For they have their own thoughts.”
Questions:
Q.1. The meaning of the word ‘imminent’ is ………..
A. ‘distant’.
B. ‘near’.
C. ‘urgent’.
D. ‘delayed’.
Q.2. What was the reason of ‘unprecedented optimism’ of people of India ?
A. India’s freedom seemed close by.
B. Gandhiji’s speeches spread optimism.
C. The Second World War was over.
D. Both ‘A’ and ‘B’.

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