NCERT Solutions for Class 9 English

Chapter 4 – A Truly Beautiful Mind

Thinking about the Text

Question 1

Here are some headings for paragraphs in the text. Write the number(s) of the paragraph(s) for each title against the heading.

Answer:

(i) Einstein’s equation – 9

(ii) Einstein meets his future wife – 7

(iii) The making of a violinist – 3

(iv) Mileva and Einstein’s mother – 10

(v) A letter that launched the arms race – 15

(vi) A desk drawer full of ideas – 8

(vii) Marriage and divorce – 11

Question 2

Who had these opinions about Einstein?

Answer:

(i) The people who felt that Einstein was boring were his childhood companions, as he did not enjoy common games and preferred to stay quiet.

(ii) The person who believed Einstein was foolish and would fail in life was his school headmaster, who disliked his questioning nature.

(iii) Einstein’s mother sometimes thought of him as strange because of his unusual habits and delayed speech.

Question 3

Explain the reasons for the following.

Answer:

(i) Einstein left the school in Munich permanently because the strict discipline of the school restricted his freedom. He strongly disliked rote learning and often clashed with his teachers.

(ii) Einstein wished to continue his studies in Switzerland as the education system there was more open-minded and encouraged independent thinking, unlike Munich.

(iii) Einstein found a companion in Mileva because she shared his views and supported his ideas. She understood his dislike for narrow-minded people and conservative thinking.

(iv) These incidents show that Einstein valued freedom, originality, and independent thought. He was unwilling to follow traditions blindly.

Question 4

What did Einstein call his desk drawer at the patent office? Why?

Answer:

Einstein referred to his desk drawer as the “bureau of theoretical physics” because he used it to secretly develop scientific ideas while working at the patent office.

Question 5

Why did Einstein write a letter to Franklin Roosevelt?

Answer:

Einstein wrote to Franklin Roosevelt to alert the American government about Germany’s progress in atomic research and the possible development of a powerful bomb.

Question 6

How did Einstein react to the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki?

Answer:

Einstein was deeply disturbed by the destruction caused by the atomic bombs. After this incident, he strongly supported global peace and urged nations to control the use of nuclear weapons.

Question 7

Why does the world remember Einstein as a “world citizen”?

Answer:

Einstein is remembered as a world citizen because he worked beyond national boundaries and actively promoted peace, democracy, and opposition to the arms race.

Question 8

Arrange the following events in chronological order.

Answer:

Einstein is born in Ulm
He studies at a school in Munich
His family moves to Milan
He leaves school due to strict discipline
He joins a university in Zurich
He works at a patent office
He publishes the special theory of relativity
He presents a new theory of gravity
He receives the Nobel Prize
He leaves Germany after Hitler’s rise
He writes to President Roosevelt
Einstein dies

Thinking about Language

I. Substitution of words

Answer:

faltered – became weak
at odds – in disagreement
proclaimed – declared
agitating – campaigning
for good – permanently
uproar – state of confusion
appealed – interested

II. Participial phrases

Answer:

Working continuously, the firefighters finally controlled the fire.
She watched the sunset, observing the colours blending gently.
The excited horse pawed the ground, neighing repeatedly.
Having boarded the wrong train, I reached Bangalore instead of Benaras.
Not bathing for two days, I felt an urgent need to freshen up.
The stone steps, being badly worn, needed replacement.
The actor received many letters, requesting his photograph.

Writing – Newspaper Report

Student Unearths Einstein Manuscript

21 August 2005:
An original handwritten manuscript of Albert Einstein was discovered at a university in the Netherlands.

The document was found by a student named Rowdy Boeynik while he was researching papers related to one of Einstein’s old friends.

The 16-page manuscript, dated 1924, includes Einstein’s work on atomic behaviour at extremely low temperatures, later known as Bose-Einstein Condensation.

The valuable manuscript will be preserved at Leyden University, where Einstein had earlier received the Nobel Prize.

Poem: The Lake Isle of Innisfree

Question 1

Describe Innisfree.

Answer:

Innisfree is a peaceful and natural place that provides calmness to the poet.

(i) He wishes to build a small hut, grow beans, and keep bees.

(ii) He hears gentle natural sounds and observes beautiful scenes, which bring him inner peace.

(iii) Even when far away, the sound of the lake remains alive in his heart.

Question 2

How does the poet contrast Innisfree with the place where he stands?

Answer:

The poet contrasts the calm beauty of Innisfree with the dull, grey, and noisy city environment, highlighting his longing for peace.

Question 3

Is Innisfree a place or a state of mind?

Answer:

Innisfree is both a real place and a mental escape. The poet misses the physical location as well as the peace it represents.

Question 4

What images do the words create?

Answer:

The expressions create pictures of buzzing bees, flying birds in the evening sky, and gentle waves of water, all symbolising tranquillity.

Question 5

Explain “peace comes dropping slow”.

Answer:

The poet suggests that peace arrives gradually, spreading softly from morning until it fills the surroundings with calmness.