Reading. Alfred Nobel - a man of contrasts

ALFRED NOBEL - A MAN OF CONTRASTS

Alfred Nobel, the great Swedish inventor and industrialist, was a man of many

contrasts. He was the son of a bankrupt, but became a millionaire; a scientist with a

love of literature; an industrialist who managed to remain an idealist. He made a

fortune but lived a simple life, and although cheerful in company he was often sad in

private. A lover of mankind, he never had a wife or family to love him; a patriotic son

of his native land, he died alone on foreign soil. He invented a new explosive,

dynamite, to improve the peacetime industries of mining and road building, but saw it

used as a weapon of war to kill and injure his fellow men. During his useful life he

often felt he was useless: " Alfred Nobel, " he once wrote of himself, " ought to have

been put to death by a kind doctor as soon as, with a cry, he entered life." Worldfamous

for his work, he was never personally well-known, for throughout

his life he avoided publicity. " I do not see, " he once said, " that I have

deserved any fame and I have no taste for it." Since his death, however,

his name has brought fame and glory to others. His famous will, in

which he left money to provide prizes for outstanding work in Physics

Chemistry, Physiology, Medicine, Literature and Peace, is a

memorial to his interests and ideals. And so, the man who felt he

should have died at birth is remembered and respected long after

his death.

EXERCISE 1: Find words or phrases in the passage which mean the same as:

COLUMN A COLUMN B

a) noticeable differences when compared

b) enormous amount of money

c) with other people present

d) without anybody present

e) loving and being faithful to one's own country

f) general name for substance which causes

something, e.g. a bomb, to blow up

g) digging deep underground to get minerals such

as coal and diamonds

h) attention from the public

i) condition of being well-known

j) have a liking or preference for (phrase):

k) admiration and honour for an achievement

I) document written before death which says what

should happen to one's possessions after

death

m) impressive; remarkable

n) something by which it becomes possible to

remember a past event or person

58 • ELS

EXERCISE 2: Choose the correct answer according to the passage.

1. From the descriptions in the passage, we can conclude that Alfred Nobel

A) led a steady and luxurious life

B) never felt happy in his life

C) believed that life wasn't worth living

D) lived in affluence throughout his life

E) had a life full of contradictions

2. Since Alfred Nobel's death

A) there have been many outstanding people in the fields which he had supported during his life

B) work towards world peace has been sped up

C) his inventions in different fields have been awarded with several prizes

D) the people who do the best work in certain fields have been honoured through his will

E) the contrasts in his life haven't been explained satisfactorily

3. Alfred Nobel considered himself useless

A) because of the use of his invention, dynamite, in wars

B) because he couldn't help his father to overcome bankruptcy

C) although he did many good things throughout his life

D) as he had strong patriotic feelings yet still never succeeded in doing anything worthwhile for

his country

E) as he had never become outstanding in the fields in which he was interested

EXERCISE 3: Complete the sentences by selecting words from Column B in EXERCISE 1.

1. The author's new book has received a lot of favourable

2. His work this year has been It was much better than anyone had

expected.

3. The between the two sisters are quite incredible. You wouldn't believe

that they were related.

4. She always says that she doesn't approve of smoking, but I think she smokes

because she often smells of cigarettes:

5. I spent an absolute at the shops yesterday, far more than I'd intended!

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