My-Friend-Albert-Einstein课件

Unit ThreeText I: My Friend, Albert EinsteinBanesh HoffmannI.Pre-reading Brainstorming:1.What do you know about Einstein? What was he like?The text is mainly about Einstein personality and his incomparable contributions to science. It is inevitable that mention must be made of Einstein’s theory of relativity and his other achievements in mathematics and physics which, however, are very difficult for layman（外行人）to understand and explain. For this reason, only very brief notes are given to the technical terms. What is more important about the text is a description of Einstein concerning his “knack for going instinctively to the heart of a matter”（凭本能抓住事物本质的技巧）(Line 5-6), his “utter naturalness”(Line, 17-18), the “fantastic intensity and depth of his concentration”（考虑问题的强度和深度都是奇妙无比）(Line, 46), the “revolutionary ideas”(Line, 95) about mathematics and physics, etc. There is much to learn from the language of the text, too.His main achievements: theory of relativity; E=mc(energy equals mass times the speed of light squared) （能量=质量×光速）；the quantum theory of light（光量子理论）A very famous scientist, a scientific genius with a lock of long, graying hair.2. How do you think Hoffmann describes Einstein as his friend?Hoffmann takes a different perspective. He tries to reveal some of the less well-known aspects of Einstein’s personality, traits that characterize him more as a man than as a scientific genius.II. Related Information1. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: （1756-1791）, Austrian composer, one of the world’s greatest music al geniuses，wrote masterpieces in every branch of music. During his short life, Mozart composed a great volume of music. His 789 compositions include operas, symphonies, concertos（协奏曲）, quartets （四重奏）for the piano and for stringed instruments and sonatas for both piano and violin. His music has delicate beauty and is always fresh and pleasing to the ear.2. Ludwig van Beethoven: (1770-1827), German composer, was one of music’s greatest genius es. His works have a rare of originality, emotional depth, and expressive power. He was known for his nine symphonies, pianoconcertos and sonatas, and string quartets（弦乐四重奏）. Most of Beethoven’s compositions were written in the classical forms established by his predecessors Mozart and Haydn, so he is sometimes considered the last great composer in the classical tradition. But he also remolded and expanded the old forms and infused them with a highly personal intensity of emotion, so he is also referred to as the first of the Romantics.3. The Nobel Prize: Alfred Bernhard Nobel (1838-1896), a distinguished Swedish chemist and industrialist, provided for the award of Nobel Prize. He experimented with different kinds of explosives such as nitroglycerin（硝酸甘油）and dynamite（黄色炸药）, both deadly explosives. However, he was a pacifist and he feared that his inventions might further warfare. In his will he left about $9,000,000 in a fund to reward those who did most for his fellow man in science, literature, and peace. In his will, he specified that the interest accrued by the fund “be annually distributed in the form of prizes to those who during the preceding year, shall have conferred the greatest benefit on mankind”in the field of physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, literature, and peace, regardless of nationality.4. The Nazis: Nazism is a political doctrine of racial supremacy, nationalism, and dictatorship. Nazi is an abbreviation of German word for National Socialist Party founded by Hitler. He defined the Germanic people as a race, called Aryans superior to other races. He blamed Germany’s troubles on Jewish capitalism, Communism, and the heavy reparation payments Germany was required to make to the victorious Allies by the Treaty of Versailles (June 28, 1919) that ended the First World War.III.Text Comprehension:1) Main Idea:This profile(short, vivid biography, briefly outlining a person’s most outstanding characteristics: his ability, personality, or career人物简介) is mainly about Einstein’s personality and his incomparable contributions to science.2) Purpose of writing and Tone:The purpose is to illustrate with anecdotes some characteristic features of Einstein both as a man and as a scientist.3) Organization and Development:Introduction (P1):Using the word “simplicity” to begin the illustration of Einstein’s essence Body (P2-19):P2-4: About his modesty;P5-7: Einstein’s brief life history and his two great theories;P8-11: About his concentration on work;P12-13: About his love of natural simplicity;P14-16: About his academic courage;P17-18: About his sense of justice;P19: About his youthful innocence;Conclusion: (P20)Summing up what it means to have known Einstein and his work.4) Comprehension Questions:1. Which phrase in the first paragraph explains the abstract notion of “simplicity”?--- "going instinctively to the heart of a matter"2. From the two anecdotes related in para. 2-4, what impression of Einstein have you got?--- He was a very modest person, never thinking himself any superior to or more authoritative than others because of his fame and achievements as a great scientist of the time.3. What, according to the author, is Einstein’s most outstanding trait a s a scientist?--- Concentration. Refer to the first sentence of para. 9.（The intensity and depth of his concentration were fantastic.）4. Why did Einstein insist on working hard when he was so badly shaken by his wife’s death?--- Working hard requires concentration, which would help him to dispel the feeling of sorrow.5. How do you interpret the sentence in para. 11: “To help him, I steered the discussion away from routine matters into more difficult theoretical problems”?--- Tackling more difficult theoretical problems requires greater concentration and absorption. This would help him temporarily forget the sadness caused by his wife's death.6. What revelation is made through Einstein’ comment on Beethoven and Mozart’ works?--- As a simple man, Einstein takes it that beauty exists in the Universe. Such beauty is natural, pure, and simple. Beauty found is even greater and more admirable than beauty created.7. How did Einstein feel about the destructive effect produced as a result of the application of his E=mc formula?--- This is something he had not expected. He was greatly dismayed by the devastating effect his formula produced once it was put into application.8. Do you think the anecdote relat ed in para. 19 aims to illustrate Einstein’s “whimsicality”? If not, what personality trait other than being whimsicality is revealed here?--- He was not really a whimsical man. If he could be called a whimsical man, then his whimsicality came from the young heart and childlike innocence which he had managed to retain.5) Difficult Sentences for Paraphrasing:1. This knack for going instinctively to the heart of a matter was the secret of his major scientific discoveries --- this and his extraordinary feeling for beauty. (Para. 1)--- This natural ability of intuitively getting to the essence of a subject was the key to the great discoveries made by him in science. This natural gift and his unusual awareness of beauty.2. The intensity and depth of his concentration were fantastic. When battling a recalcitrant problem, he worried it as an animal worries its prey.(P-9)--- His engrossment in ideas was incredibly intense and deep. When attacking a problem difficult to solve, he kept attempting to deal with it with great effort, just as an animal chases and bites a weaker animal it preys upon until the latter gives in.3. A dreamy, faraway and yet inward look would come over his face. There was no appearance of concentration, no furrowing of the blow --- only a placid inner communion. (P-10)他脸上会露出心不在焉、恍恍惚惚却又像在内心思索的神色。

我的朋友阿尔伯特•爱因斯坦班尼旭·霍夫曼爱因斯坦是历史上最伟大的科学家，如果用一个词出神入化地描述他，那就是“率真”。

有个例子很能表现他的率真：一次，爱因斯坦突遇大雨，他脱下帽子将其藏在衣内。

问及为什么这样，他很有逻辑地说，大雨会淋坏帽子，脱下帽子，头发受淋没什么关系。

真是一语切入问题实质。

正是这种人品素质，以及他对美的非凡感受，才是奠定他重大科学发现的秘诀。

第一次见到爱因斯坦，是1935年，在新泽西州普林斯顿那所著名的高级研究院里。

他是受研究院邀请最早的学者之一，薪金任他自己填写。

可令院长失望的是，爱因斯坦填写的薪金太少了，院长不得不恳请先生多填一些。

我非常敬畏爱因斯坦。

一次，我正在研究一个问题，必须向先生请教。

临行前，我一直犹犹豫豫。

当我终于敲响先生的屋门时，听到一声温和的“请进！”-------声调微微上扬，透着欢迎和询问的语气。

我走进办公室，见先生坐在桌前，一边吸烟一边做计算。

他头发有些凌乱，一副不修边幅的样子。

他对我颔首微笑，平易的面容使我立即消除了紧张感。

我开始解释自己的想法。

他让我把公式写在黑板上，以便能看明白每一个发展步骤。

“请你慢慢说，我接受力很慢。

”先生的请求令我愕然，也使我倍感亲切。

这话竟出自爱因斯坦之口，而且说得那么温和！我笑了。

所有的拘束荡然无存。

与爱因斯坦合作让我终身不忘。

1937年我和波兰物理学家奥波德•英费尔德请求与先生一起工作，他愉快地答应了。

当时，他的万有引力设想正待进一步研究和证明。

这以后，工作中的朝夕相处，使我们不仅接近和了解了作为人，作为朋友的爱因斯坦，更了解了作为科学家的爱因斯坦。

爱因斯坦研究之专注，是无与伦比的。

较量难题，他犹如野兽扑食物。

每当我们陷入一个近乎难以超越的困境，爱因斯坦便习惯地站起来，放下烟斗，用他那滑稽的英语说“我想想”（他发不”th”这个音，所以把“think”说成了“ tink”）。

边说边在屋里来回踱步，食指还不停地捻弄他那一头乱发。

Unit ThreeI. Lead-in1. Movie ClipWatch the following video and then do the exercises. You can find the interpretation of some words and phrases in “Word Bank”.ScriptSteven Paul Jobs died on October 5th, 2011, at the age of 56. A life cut short in its creative prime by cancer. His death was not a surprise, and yet its impact reverberated around the world. The news was spread and the tributes were created on the new i-devices that his visionary genius had made. His is a success story that could only have happened in the USA.―I don‘t mean to say that there aren‘t geniuses and world-changing people everywhere, there are. But I think in Jobs‘s case, in particular, path of career, this could only have happened in America.‖Steve Jobs‘s world-class salesmanship found a global audience in his famous Apple product presentations. He always had one more thing to announce.―Everyone thinks, w ow, that‘s so much. Wow, we‘ve got one more thing, and then he would give you the biggest thing at the end, because it‘ll tip it. It‘s good … eh … it‘s good showmanship, really.‖Tragically, that one more thing has now become one last thing. The news that Steve Jobs had finally logged out made headlines everywhere. This man really had changed the world.―When you grow up, you tend to get told that the world is the way it is, and your, your life is just ‗to live your life inside the world, try not to bash into the walls too much, er, try to have a nice family life, have fun, save a little money‘‖.In this exclusive never-before-seen interview, Steve Jobs gave a rare glimpse of his vision of the world.―That‘s a very limited life. Life can be much broader. Once you discover one simple fact, and that is everything around you that you call life was made up by people that were no smarter than you, and you can change it. You can influence it. You can, you can build your own things that other people can use. Er … once you learn that, you‘ll never be the same again.‖Word Bank1)prime:the period of greatest productivity 鼎盛时期e.g. The young singer tragically died in her prime.2)reverberate:have continuing and serious effects 回荡e.g. The statements by the professor reverberated through the auditorium.3)visionary:thinking about or planning the future with imagination or wisdom 有远见的e.g. The nation prospered under his visionary leadership.4)showmanship:The ability to present something in an attractive manner表现力，吸引观众的能力5)log out:exit a computer 退出电脑，登出，在视频中比喻Steve Jobs的逝世Exercise1)Steve Jobs died at the age of_________________.A) 56 B) 58C) 63 D) 662)What characterizes Jobs‘s salesmanship is that he always has ―___________‖.A)one big surprise B) one more thingB)one piece of good news D) one last wordKeyA, B2. Inspirational QuotesThe nice thing about being a celebrity is that when you bore people, they think it's their fault.—Henry KissingerDiscussionWhat kind of idol do you think a young college student should have, a famous scientist, a successful businessman, or a respected teacher? Why?II. Text I1. Pre-Reading QuestionsQuestions1.Suppose you are going to introduce a friend of yours to your classmates, what aspects of thisperson will you choose to include in your description?2.The name of Albert Einstein is known to every one of us. How much can you tell about himoff-hand? How much do you know about him as a great scientist and as a man?3.The author of this article is a friend and colleague of Einstein's. What do you expect him totell us about Einstein in this article?2. General ReadingQuestionsI. Decide which of the following best states the author's predominant purpose in writing.A. Reminiscing his personal contacts with Einstein.B. Illustrating with anecdotes some characteristic features of Einstein both as a man and as a scientist.C. Explaining the apparent contradiction of Einstein's theory of relativity and his quantum theory of light.Key: BII. Judge whether the following statements are true or false.1. Einstein had not earned himself a reputation by the time he proposed his theory of relativity and the quantum theory of light.2. Even when he was thinking hard on a difficult problem, Einstein would still appear to be calm and relaxed.3. To understand how the two apparently contradictory theories proposed by Einstein can coexist calls for a renewed concept of time.4. The Nobel Prize selection committee finally decided to award Einstein the prize though they had not yet fully recognized the revolutionary nature of his ideas.5. Together with some scientists in the United States, Einstein urged the American government to develop the atomic bomb to counter the threat posed by Germany.Key1. T2. T3.T4.T5. F3. Background Notes1.Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, N. J.Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, N. J. offers no degree programs or experimental facilities, and research is funded by endowments, grants and gifts — it does not support itself with tuition or fees. Research is never contracted or directed; it is left to each individualresearcher to pursue his or her own goals.It is not part of any educational institution; however, the proximity of Princeton University (less than three miles from its science departments to the Institute complex) means that informal ties are close and a large number of collaborations have arisen over the years.The Institute is divided into four Schools: Historical Studies, Mathematics, Natural Sciences, and Social Science, with a more recent program in systems biology.2.Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart(1756-1791), Austrian composer, one of the world's greatmusical geniuses, wrote masterpieces in every branch of music. During his short life, Mozart composed a great volume of music. His 789 compositions include operas, symphonies, concertos, quartets for the piano and for stringed instruments, and sonatas for both piano and violin. His music has delicate beauty and is always fresh and pleasing to the ear.3.Ludwig van Beethoven(1770-1827), German composer, was one of music's greatestgeniuses. His works have a rare originality, emotional depth, and expressive power. He was known for his nine symphonies, piano concertos and sonatas, and string quartets. Most of Beethoven's compositions were written in the classical forms established by his predecessors Mozart and Haydn, so he is sometimes considered the last great composer in the classical tradition. But he also remoulded and expanded the old forms and infused them with a highly personal intensity of emotion, so he is also referred to as the first of the Romantics.4.Theodore Roosevelt( /ˈroʊzəvɛlt/ October 27, 1858 - January 6, 1919) was the 26th Presidentof the United States of America (1901-1909). He is noted for his exuberant personality, range of interests and achievements, and his leadership of the Progressive Movement. Roosevelt was 42 years old when sworn in as President of the United States in 1901, making him the youngest president ever. Roosevelt was also one of only three sitting presidents to have won the Nobel Peace Prize.4. Text StudyTextMy Friend, Albert EinsteinBanesh Hoffmann1 He was one of the greatest scientists the world has ever known, yet if I had to convey the essence of Albert Einstein in a single word, I would choose simplicity. Perhaps an anecdote will help. Once, caught in a downpour, he took off his hat and held it under his coat. Asked why, he explained, with admirable logic, that the rain would damage the hat, but his hair would be none the worse for its wetting. This knack for going instinctively to the heart of a matter was the secretof his major scientific discoveries —this and his extraordinary feeling for beauty.2 I first met Albert Einstein in 1935, at the famous Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, N. J. He had been among the first to be invited to the Institute, and was offered carte blanche as to salary. To the director's dismay, Einstein asked for an impossible sum: it was far too small. The director had to plead with him to accept a larger salary.3 I was in awe of Einstein, and hesitated before approaching him about some ideas I had been working on. When I finally knocked on his door, a gentle voice said, "Come" —with a rising inflection that made the single word both a welcome and a question. I entered his office and found him seated at a table, calculating and smoking his pipe. Dressed in ill-fitting clothes, his hair characteristically awry, he smiled a warm welcome. His utter naturalness at once set me at ease.4 As I began to explain my ideas, he asked me to write the equations on the blackboard so he could see how they developed. Then came the staggering —and altogether endearing —request: "Please go slowly. I do not understand things quickly." This from Einstein! He said it gently, and I laughed. From then on, all vestiges of fear were gone.5 Einstein was born in 1879 in the German city of Ulm. He had been no infant prodigy; indeed, he was so late in learning to speak that his parents feared he was a dullard. In school, though his teachers saw no special talent in him, the signs were already there. He taught himself calculus, for example, and his teachers seemed a little afraid of him because he asked questions they could not answer. At the age of 16, he asked himself whether a light wave would seem stationary if one ran abreast of it. From that innocent question would arise, ten years later, his theory of relativity.6 Einstein failed his entrance examinations at the Swiss Federal Polytechnic School, in Zurich, but was admitted a year later. There he went beyond his regular work to study the masterworks of physics on his own. Rejected when he applied for academic positions, he ultimately found work, in 1902, as a patent examiner in Berne, and there in 1905 his genius burst into fabulous flower.7 Among the extraordinary things he produced in that memorable year were his theory of relativity, with its famous offshoot, E = mc2 (energy equals mass times the speed of light squared), and his quantum theory of light. These two theories were not only revolutionary, but seemingly contradictory: the former was intimately linked to the theory that light consists of waves, while the latter said it consists somehow of particles. Yet this unknown young man boldly proposed both at once — and he was right in both cases, though how he could have been is far too complex a story to tell here.8 Collaborating with Einstein was an unforgettable experience. In 1937, the Polish physicist Leopold Infeld and I asked if we could work with him. He was pleased with the proposal, since he had an idea about gravitation waiting to be worked out in detail. Thus we got to know not merely the man and the friend, but also the professional.9 The intensity and depth of his concentration were fantastic. When battling a recalcitrant problem, he worried it as an animal worries its prey. Often, when we found ourselves up against a seemingly insuperable difficulty, he would stand up, put his pipe on the table, and say in his quaint English, "I will a little tink" (he could not pronounce "th"). Then he would pace up and down, twirling a lock of his long, graying hair around his forefinger.10 A dreamy, faraway and yet inward look would come over his face. There was no appearance of concentration, no furrowing of the brow — only a placid inner communion. The minutes would pass, and then suddenly Einstein would stop pacing as his face relaxed into a gentle smile. He had found the solution to the problem. Sometimes it was so simple that Infeld andI could have kicked ourselves for not having thought of it. But the magic had been performed invisibly in the depths of Einstein's mind, by a process we could not fathom.11 When his wife died he was deeply shaken, but insisted that now more than ever was the time to be working hard. I remember going to his house to work with him during that sad time. His face was haggard and grief-lined, but he put forth a great effort to concentrate. To help him, I steered the discussion away from routine matters into more difficult theoretical problems, and Einstein gradually became absorbed in the discussion. We kept at it for some two hours, and at the end his eyes were no longer sad. As I left, he thanked me with moving sincerity. "It was a fun," he said. He had had a moment of surcease from grief, and then groping words expressed a deep emotion.12 Einstein was an accomplished amateur musician. We used to play duets, he on the violin, I at the piano. One day he surprised me by saying Mozart was the greatest composer of all. Beethoven "created" his music, but the music of Mozart was of such purity and beauty one felt he had merely "found" it — that it had always existed as part of the inner beauty of the Universe, waiting to be revealed.13 It was this very Mozartean simplicity that most characterized Einstein's methods. His 1905 theory of relativity, for example, was built on just two simple assumptions. One is the so-called principle of relativity, which means, roughly speaking, that we cannot tell whether we are at rest or moving smoothly. The other assumption is that the speed of light is the same no matter what the speed of the object that produces it. You can see how reasonable this is if you think of agitating a stick in a lake to create waves. Whether you wiggle the stick from a stationary pier, or from a rushing speedboat, the waves, once generated, are on their own, and their speed has nothing to do with that of the stick.14 Each of these assumptions, by itself, was so plausible as to seem primitively obvious. But together they were in such violent conflict that a lesser man would have dropped one or the other and fled in panic. Einstein daringly kept both — and by so doing he revolutionized physics. For he demonstrated they could, after all, exist peacefully side by side, provided we gave up cherished beliefs about the nature of time.15 Science is like a house of cards, with concepts like time and space at the lowest level. Tampering with time brought most of the house tumbling down, and it was this that made Einstein's work so important — and controversial. At a conference in Princeton in honor of his 70th birthday, one of the speakers, a Nobel Prize winner, tried to convey the magical quality of Einstein's achievement. Words failed him, and with a shrug of helplessness he pointed to his wristwatch, and said in tones of awed amazement, "It all came from this." His very ineloquence made this the most eloquent tribute I have heard to Einstein's genius. ...16 Einstein's work, performed quietly with pencil and paper, seemed remote from the turmoil of everyday life: But his ideas were so revolutionary they caused violent controversy and irrational anger. Indeed, in order to be able to award him a belated Nobel Prize, the selection committee had to avoid mentioning relativity, and pretend the prize was awarded primarily for his work on the quantum theory.17 Political events upset the serenity of his life even more. When the Nazis came to power in Germany, his theories were officially declared false because they had been formulated by a Jew. His property was confiscated, and it is said a price was put on his head.18 When scientists in the United States, fearful that the Nazis might develop an atomic bomb,sought to alert American authorities to the danger, they were scarcely heeded. In desperation, they drafted a letter which Einstein signed and sent directly to President Roosevelt. It was this act that led to the fateful decision to go all out on the production of an atomic bomb — an endeavor in which Einstein took no active part. When he heard of the agony and destruction that his E = mc2 had wrought, he was dismayed beyond measure, and from then on there was a look of ineffable sadness in his eyes.19 There was something elusively whimsical about Einstein. It is illustrated by my favorite anecdote about him. In his first year in Princeton, on Christmas Eve, so the story goes, some children sang carols outside his house. Having finished, they knocked on his door and explained they were collecting money to buy Christmas presents. Einstein listened, then said, "Wait a moment." He put on his scarf and overcoat, and took his violin from its case. Then, joining the children as they went from door to door, he accompanied their singing of "Silent Night" on his violin.20 How shall I sum up what it meant to have known Einstein and his works? Like the Nobel Prize winner who pointed helplessly at his watch, I can find no adequate words. It was akin to the revelation of great art that lets one see what was formerly hidden. And when, for example, I walk on the sand of a lonely beach, I am reminded of his ceaseless search for cosmic simplicity —and the scene takes on a deeper, sadder beauty.Words and Phrases:1. convey v.make known (ideas, views, feelings, etc.) to another persone.g. Mary asked me to convey her gratitude to you.His recent book conveys to us his outlook on life.It also means "carry sth. (from one place to another)".e.g. Pipes convey heat from the central heating system to every part of the building.A conveyor belt is a mechanical contrivance for carrying heavy articles of goods fromone place to another.2.none the worse for:not harmed by; not adversely affected bye.g. He got lost in the street for quite a while, but was none the worse for it.He failed in the national college entrance exam, but was none the worse for it: he wasadmitted by an overseas university.3.carte blanche: signed document (such as a blank check, contract, etc.) to which its holder canadd any amount, condition, date, etc.In this context, Einstein was offered a blank document to write down whatever amount as he would for his remuneration/salary.4.plead with:ask (sb.) very strongly in a begging waye.g. The girl pleaded with her parents to let her go to school by herself.The convicted murderer knelt on the floor and pleaded for mercy.Also note the use of plead guilty or plead not guilty in court of law.5.awe n. the feeling of respect and amazement when one is faced with something wonderful,frightening, or completely unknowne.g. He visited the exhibition and stood in awe of the fossils of prehistoric animals.The audience listened to the learned philosopher in awe.v. cause a feeling of amazement or feare.g. The magician's performance awed us all.awed adj. overwhelmed by respect and fearin tones of awed amazement: with voice qualities that showed amazement as well as respect and fear6.stagger v. cause shocked disbeliefe.g. His excessive conceit and self-confidence staggered all his colleagues.7.endearing adj. causing feelings of love and affectione.g. Mark's teacher answered his questions with an endearing smile.8.abreast adv. (of two people or moving objects) next to each other and facing the samedirectione.g. The two pals are cycling abreast on the quiet country road.Though retired from his position as a researcher, he is still trying to keep abreast with the latest development in his field.9.ultimately adv. in the end; after everything or everyone else has been taken into accounte.g. Many proposals to improve marketing have been put forward, but the decision willultimately be made by the Board of Directors.Despite all the efforts they had made, the salvage operation ultimately failed.10.offshoot n. a new stem or branch of a plant; (figuratively) a thing that is developed fromsomething elsee.g. Our recitation session is an offshoot of our Drama Society.11.quaint adj. attractively unusual or old-fashionede.g. Many quaint little cottages make the place a new tourist attraction.Grandma Rose is a quaint old lady.12.a placid inner communion: calm and untroubled streams of thoughts going on in his mind13.fathom v. come to understand; get the true meaning ofe.g. He explained the astronomical phenomenon in such a complicated way that we couldhardly fathom his meaning.It is difficult for us to fathom out his whims.14.grope v. try to find sth. by feeling with the hands in a place where one cannot see properlye.g. He groped in his pocket for the note from his roommate.There was a short circuit and the lights were all out. She had to grope her way to the bedroom.15.plausible adj. seeming to be reasonable or probablee.g. Your reasoning sounds plausible, but I rather doubt it.16.a lesser man: an average man as compared with people who are not as great in knowledge,expertise, skill, etc.17.tamper with: meddle with, interfere with; try to change sth. without permissione.g. It is wrong to tamper with other people's affairs.Don't tamper with the students' records. Put them back into the filing cabinet.18.fail v. leave sb. helpless at a difficult timee.g. He was eager to climb to the top of the high mountain, but his health failed him.He was a strict teacher and often failed his students.19.tribute n. sth. done, given, or said to show respect or admiration for someone; respecte.g. They paid tribute to John for his untiring efforts at carrying through the project.20.remote from the turmoil of everyday life: far away from the chaos and troubles of our dailyliferemote adj. distant in time and space, and in relationshipe.g. She is interested in the life of the people in this area living in the remote past.They used to live in a remote village hardly known to outsiders.Even some remote cousins turned up at her father's funeral.turmoil n. state of confusion, chaos, disordere.g. She liked to live in a remote village cut off from the turmoil of the bustling city.21.alert v. make sb. fully aware of (a situation); warn sb. of danger or troublee.g. It is necessary to intensify the campaign to alert people to the dangers of smoking.An anonymous call alerted the airport security to explosives on the plane.22.endeavor n. (British spelling: endeavour) effort, attempte.g. His honest endeavour brought him success.23.ineffable sadness: sadness that is too intense to be described―Ineffable‖ meaning "indescribable" is usually use d to describe something positive that is too wonderful to be describede.g. ineffable joy/happiness/beauty/delightNotes:1.Albert Einstein (1879-1955): German American physicist, was one of the few scientistswhose work had changed man's total view of the world. He was born in Ulm, Germany, ofJewish parents. For his work in theoretical physics, notably on the photoelectric effect, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1921. During the Second World War, at the request of a group of scientists, he wrote to U.S. President F. D. Roosevelt in 1939 to stress the urgency of investigating the possible use of atomic energy in bombs, although one of his chief interests was pacifism. More about Albert Einstein's life can be found in the essay.2. This from Einstein!: Incredible, this was said by Einstein, a science giant!3. From that innocent question would arise, ten years later, his theory of relativity.: It was a simple question, but this very simple question led eventually to his theory of relativity.theory of relativity: Einstein's theory of relativity introduced to science the concept of "relativity" — the notion that there is no absolute motion in the universe, only relative motion —thus superseding the 200-year-old theory of mechanics of Sir Isaac Newton, which holds that the laws of mechanics are the same for all uniformly moving systems. Einstein extended this concept to include the laws describing the motion of light and to regard space-time as a fourth dimension. In other words, space and time are relative, rather than absolute and independent entities.4.There he went beyond his regular work to study the masterworks of physics on his own.:At the Swiss Federal Polytechnic School, aside from his routine course work, he spent time studying independently the masterpieces of physics.study ... on his own: study without help; study by himselfdo sth. on one's own: do sth. by oneselfe.g. Tim solved the mathematical problem all on his own.be on one's own: be alonee.g. Sally lives in an apartment on her own.5. a patent examiner in Berne: Einstein was "Probationary Technical Expert, Third Class" atthe Swiss Patent Office at Berne from 1902 to 1909. His job there was to check the technical descriptions in the application for patents.6.his genius burst into fabulous flower: his great talent results in extraordinary success; hisgreat talent yielded an incredible result7.When battling a recalcitrant problem, he worried it as an animal worries its prey.: Whentackling a problem which was difficult to solve, he attacked it as an animal chases and frightens another animal it preys upon.Recalcitrant is often used to describe a person or an animal that is hard to keep under one's control.e.g. Try not to punish a recalcitrant child severely, it is better to reason with him.When an animal worries its prey, it shakes it, pulls at it, frightens it, or even eats it. In other words, the animal will not stop attacking its prey. Similarly, Einstein would not let go a problem unsolved, he would keep at it.8.I will a little tink: I will think a little/a while9.I steered the discussion away from routine matters.: I directed the course of our discussionaway from ordinary subjects.―Steer‖ generally means "make a boat or a car go in a particular direction." Figuratively, steer often means "direct," e.g., steer visitors to the park, steer a conversation away from unpleasant subjects.10.We kept at it for some two hours: We continued with our discussion for about two hours11.then groping words expressed a deep emotion: then he was searching for words to saysomething, and this unveiled his strong feeling deep in his heart at that moment12.but the music of Mozart was of such purity and beauty one felt he had merely "found" it— that it had always existed as part of the inner beauty of the Universe, waiting to be revealed: but the music of Mozart, one would tend to believe, was a true representation of purity and beauty that he had perceived as long existing in the Universe, ready to be displayed13.provided we gave up cherished beliefs about the nature of time: Time and space used to bebelieved as two absolute entities independent of each other, but Einstein claimed them as relative to each other.14.he pointed to his wristwatch, and said in tones of awed amazement, "It all came fromthis.": What the speaker meant here was, presumably, that Einstein's great achievement had all come from his inclusion of time in formulating his theory of relativity or resulted from his studies of "time".15.a price was put on his head: a reward was offered for the capture of or the finish of the lifeof Einstein16."Silent Night":These are the first two words of the song "Holy Night", which is sung byChristians on Christmas Eve commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ.Questions1.In Hoffmann's opinion "simplicity" is the best word to describe the essence of Einstein'scharacter. The abstract notion of simplicity is explained by a phrase in the first paragraph.Which is it?Key: "going instinctively to the heart of a matter"2.From the two anecdotes related in Paras. 2-4, what impression of Einstein have you got?Key: He was a very modest person, never thinking himself any superior to or more authoritative than others because of his fame and achievements as a great scientist of the time.3.What, according to the author, is Einstein's most outstanding trait as a scientist? (Para. 9)Key: Concentration. Refer to the first sentence of Para. 9.。