This is a worksheet, and a quiz (two versions) that helps students practice paraphrasing. The quotes are all from Einstein (with sources in case you want to practice citations) There's also an answer key for both versions of the quiz. If you plan on using this for your class ENJOY! If you plan on sharing or altering it for your blog or a publication, please get in touch with me. You can see a related blog post here: http://eslcarissa.blogspot.com/2014/03/paraphrasing-with-einstein.html If you like this like https://www.facebook.com/mELTingIdeas to stay in the loop on new ides and activities.

1. Name: _________________________ Einstein Paraphrasing
Practice taking these quotes by Albert Einstein and paraphrasing them
(i.e. putting them in your own words!) Be sure to change the sentence
structure and the words used WITHOUT changing the meaning.
1. “Peace cannot be kept by force. It can only be achieved by
understanding.” Page 67 Albert Einstein Cosmic Religion, with Other
Opinions and Aphorisms. New York: Covici-Friede, 1931
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2. “Nothing will end war unless the people themselves refuse to go
to war.” Oxford Treasury of Sayings and Quotations pg 334 Susan
Ratcliffe Oxford University Press, USA; 4 edition (November 10, 2011)
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3. “Only a life lived for others is a life worthwhile.” New York Times, June 20, 1932, pg 17
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4. “All of science is nothing more than the refinement of everyday thinking.” Albert Einstein
"Physics and Reality" in the Journal of the Franklin Institute Vol. 221, Issue 3 (March 1936)
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5. “Everyone likes me, yet nobody understands me.” M. Alex Johnson April 18th
2005
www.nbcnews.com/id/7406337/#.UyEOwYVPLfQ “The culture of Einstein”
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6. “A new type of thinking is essential if mankind is to survive and move toward higher
levels.” "The Real Problem is in the Hearts of Man" by Michael Amrine, from the New
York Times Magazine (23 June 1946
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2. Quick Quiz Paraphrasing Name: _________________________ Test A
It is Einstein’s birthday March 14th
! Take a look at some of his quotes (in
bold) and select the best paraphrase. (Assume that the proper citations
are included)
1. “I have no special talent. I am only passionately curious.”
A) Albert Einstein’s curiosity held incredible passion, but he didn’t
possess any special talent.
B) Albert Einstein believed he was a very curious person. Otherwise,
he didn’t think he had possessed any special skills.
C) Albert Einstein had no unique abilities; he was very interested in
the things around him.
D) Albert Einstein was only good at investigating things; he was
pretty useless.
2. “Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new.”
A) People who never make mistakes are the only people who have never tried something
new.
B) Those making mistakes are those trying new things.
C) Making mistakes is part of the learning process.
D) People who are unwilling to commit errors will probably avoid new experiences.
3. “The only thing that interferes with my learning is my education.”
A) The one item that gets in the way of my brain is my training.
B) Education interferes with my learning. It is the only thing.
C) School makes me stupid.
D) Instruction is the one thing that affects my pursuit of knowledge.
4. “It is the supreme art of the teacher to awaken joy in creative expression and
knowledge.”
A) The best talent of a professor is to stimulate ecstasy in creative manifestation and
awareness.
B) Awakening joy in students’ creative expression and expression is the supreme art of the
teacher.
C) Helping students find pleasure in the pursuit of ingenuity and
understanding is the finest talent a teacher has.
D) Teachers make everyone happy because they make them feel great joy.
5. “Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere.”
A) Everywhere will imagination take you, but from A to B will logic take you.
B) Reason has its limits, but thinking outside the box is limitless.
C) Logic is useless because having an imagination will take you further.
D) Reason can take you from one place to another, but creativity will take
you to the other places

3. Quick Quiz Paraphrasing Name: _________________________ Test B
It is Einstein’s birthday March 14th
! Take a look at some of his quotes (in bold)
and select the best paraphrase. (Assume that the proper citations are included)
1. “Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new.”
A) People who are unwilling to commit errors will probably avoid new
experiences.
B) Those making mistakes are those trying new things.
C) People who never make mistakes are the only people who have never
tried something new.
D) Making mistakes is part of the learning process.
2. “The only thing that interferes with my learning is my education.”
A) The one item that gets in the way of my brain is my training.
B) Education interferes with my learning. It is the only thing.
C) School makes me stupid.
D) Instruction is the one thing that affects my pursuit of knowledge.
3. “It is the supreme art of the teacher to awaken joy in creative expression and
knowledge.”
A) Awakening joy in students’ creative expression and expression is the supreme art of the
teacher.
B) Helping students find pleasure in the pursuit of ingenuity and understanding is the finest
talent a teacher has.
C) The best talent of a professor is to stimulate ecstasy in creative manifestation and
awareness.
D) Teachers make everyone happy because they make them feel great joy.
4. “I have no special talent. I am only passionately curious.”
A) Albert Einstein had no unique abilities; he was very interested in the things around him.
B) Albert Einstein was only good at investigating things; he was pretty useless.
C) Albert Einstein’s curiosity held incredible passion, but he didn’t possess any special talent.
D) Albert Einstein believed he was a very curious person. Otherwise, he
didn’t think he had possessed any special skills.
5. “Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you
everywhere.”
A) Reason has its limits, but thinking outside the box is limitless.
B) Everywhere will imagination take you, but from A to B will logic take
you.
C) Logic is useless because having an imagination will take you further.
D) Reason can take you from one place to another, but creativity will take
you to the other places.

4. You can see more on this lesson here: http://eslcarissa.blogspot.com/2014/03/paraphrasing-
with-einstein.html
For the practice I included the source for two reasons. 1. To remind students not to trust
random quotes they find online 2. If you have studied citations students can include in text or
parenthetical citations (or you can have them make a works cited page as a follow up activity).
Since your specifications for the practice may vary and there are multiple correct answers I did
not provide an answer key.
To help you make sure students understood there are also two “quick” quizzes. I like using two
different types so students aren’t tempted to copy and paste. The answer keys for each test
follows:
TEST A Answer Key
1. “I have no special talent. I am only passionately curious.”
A) Albert Einstein’s curiosity held incredible passion, but he didn’t possess any special talent.
(The words are the same, but in a different order)
B) Albert Einstein believed he was a very curious person. Otherwise, he didn’t think he had
possessed any special skills. (CORRECT)
C) Albert Einstein had no unique abilities; he was very interested in the things around him.
(This structure does not change)
D) Albert Einstein was only good at investigating things; he was pretty useless. (This changes
the meaning).
2. “Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new.”
A) People who never make mistakes are the only people who have never tried something
new. (Very similar structure & slightly different meaning)
B) Those making mistakes are those trying new things. (Same words)
C) Making mistakes is part of the learning process. (CORRECT)
D) People who are unwilling to commit errors will probably avoid new experiences. (Very
similar structure & slightly different meaning)
3. “The only thing that interferes with my learning is my education.”
A) The one item that gets in the way of my brain is my training. (Same Structure)
B) Education interferes with my learning. It is the only thing. (Same words)
C) School makes me stupid. (Changed meaning)
D) Instruction is the one thing that affects my pursuit of knowledge. (CORRECT)
4. “It is the supreme art of the teacher to awaken joy in creative expression and
knowledge.”
A) The best talent of a professor is to stimulate ecstasy in creative manifestation and
awareness. (Same Structure)
B) Awakening joy in students’ creative expression and expression is the supreme art of the
teacher. (Same Words)

5. C) Helping students find pleasure in the pursuit of ingenuity and understanding is the finest
talent a teacher has. (CORRECT)
D) Teachers make everyone happy because they make them feel great joy. (Changed
Meaning)
5. “Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere.”
A) Everywhere will imagination take you, but from A to B will logic take you. (Awkward, and
same words)
B) Reason has its limits, but thinking outside the box is limitless. (CORRECT)
C) Logic is useless because having an imagination will take you further. (Very similar words,
Adds opinion)
D) Reason can take you from one place to another, but creativity will take you to the other
places (Same structure)
Answer Key Test B
1. “Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new.”
A) People who are unwilling to commit errors will probably avoid new experiences. (Very
similar structure & slightly different meaning)
B) Those making mistakes are those trying new things. (Same words)
C) People who never make mistakes are the only people who have never tried something
new. (Very similar structure & slightly different meaning)
D) Making mistakes is part of the learning process. (CORRECT)
2. “The only thing that interferes with my learning is my education.”
A) The one item that gets in the way of my brain is my training. (Same Structure)
B) Education interferes with my learning. It is the only thing. (Same words)
C) School makes me stupid. (Changed meaning)
D) Instruction is the one thing that affects my pursuit of knowledge. (CORRECT)
3. “It is the supreme art of the teacher to awaken joy in creative expression and
knowledge.”
A) Awakening joy in students’ creative expression and expression is the supreme art of the
teacher. (Same Words)
B) Helping students find pleasure in the pursuit of ingenuity and understanding is the finest
talent a teacher has. (CORRECT)
C) The best talent of a professor is to stimulate ecstasy in creative manifestation and
awareness. (Same Structure)
D) Teachers make everyone happy because they make them feel great joy. (Changed
Meaning)
4. “I have no special talent. I am only passionately curious.”
A) Albert Einstein had no unique abilities; he was very interested in the things around him.
(This structure does not change)

6. B) Albert Einstein was only good at investigating things; he was pretty useless. (This changes
the meaning).
C) Albert Einstein’s curiosity held incredible passion, but he didn’t possess any special talent.
(The words are the same, but in a different order)
D) Albert Einstein believed he was a very curious person. Otherwise, he didn’t think he had
possessed any special skills. (CORRECT)
5. “Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere.”
A) Reason has its limits, but thinking outside the box is limitless. (CORRECT)
B) Everywhere will imagination take you, but from A to B will logic take you. (Awkward, and
same words)
C) Logic is useless because having an imagination will take you further. (Very similar words,
Adds opinion)
D) Reason can take you from one place to another, but creativity will take you to the other
places (Same structure)
All Einstein graphics were found http://www.wpclipart.com/