full transcript
From the Ted Talk by Larry Lagerstrom: Einstein's miracle year
Unscramble the Blue Letters
As 1905 dawned, the soon-to-be 26-year-old arbelt Einstein faced life as a faleid aaeimcdc. Most physicists of the time would have scoffed at the idea that this minor civil servant could have much to contribute to science. Yet within the following year, Einstein would publish not one, not two, not three, but four extraordinary papers, each on a different topic, that were dtsneeid to radically transform our understanding of the uisevrne.
The myth that Einstein had failed math is just that. He had mastered calculus on his own by the age of 15 and done well at both his Munich secondary school and at the Swiss Polytechnic, where he studied for a math and physics teaching diploma. But snikpipg classes to sepnd more time in the lab and neglecting to show proper deference to his pofsorerss had dreeiald his intended career path. Passed over even for a lab assistant position, he had to settle for a job at the Swiss patent ocfife, obtained with the help of a friend's father.
Open Cloze
As 1905 dawned, the soon-to-be 26-year-old ______ Einstein faced life as a ______ ________. Most physicists of the time would have scoffed at the idea that this minor civil servant could have much to contribute to science. Yet within the following year, Einstein would publish not one, not two, not three, but four extraordinary papers, each on a different topic, that were ________ to radically transform our understanding of the ________.
The myth that Einstein had failed math is just that. He had mastered calculus on his own by the age of 15 and done well at both his Munich secondary school and at the Swiss Polytechnic, where he studied for a math and physics teaching diploma. But ________ classes to _____ more time in the lab and neglecting to show proper deference to his __________ had ________ his intended career path. Passed over even for a lab assistant position, he had to settle for a job at the Swiss patent ______, obtained with the help of a friend's father.
Solution
- destined
- failed
- professors
- office
- derailed
- spend
- albert
- academic
- universe
- skipping
Original Text
As 1905 dawned, the soon-to-be 26-year-old Albert Einstein faced life as a failed academic. Most physicists of the time would have scoffed at the idea that this minor civil servant could have much to contribute to science. Yet within the following year, Einstein would publish not one, not two, not three, but four extraordinary papers, each on a different topic, that were destined to radically transform our understanding of the universe.
The myth that Einstein had failed math is just that. He had mastered calculus on his own by the age of 15 and done well at both his Munich secondary school and at the Swiss Polytechnic, where he studied for a math and physics teaching diploma. But skipping classes to spend more time in the lab and neglecting to show proper deference to his professors had derailed his intended career path. Passed over even for a lab assistant position, he had to settle for a job at the Swiss patent office, obtained with the help of a friend's father.
Frequently Occurring Word Combinations
ngrams of length 2
| collocation |
frequency |
| absolute motion |
2 |
| special relativity |
2 |
Important Words
- academic
- age
- albert
- assistant
- calculus
- career
- civil
- classes
- contribute
- dawned
- deference
- derailed
- destined
- diploma
- einstein
- extraordinary
- faced
- failed
- father
- idea
- intended
- job
- lab
- life
- mastered
- math
- minor
- munich
- myth
- neglecting
- obtained
- office
- papers
- passed
- patent
- path
- physicists
- physics
- polytechnic
- position
- professors
- proper
- publish
- radically
- school
- science
- scoffed
- secondary
- servant
- settle
- show
- skipping
- spend
- studied
- swiss
- teaching
- time
- topic
- transform
- understanding
- universe
- year