The Nobel Prize
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The Nobel Prize - Text (PDF - 106 KB) - The Nobel Prize - Exercises (PDF - 108 KB)
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The Nobel Prizes are awards that are given each year for special things that people or groups of people have achieved. They are awarded in six areas: physics, chemistry, medicine, literature, peace and economics.
The prizes come from a fund that was created by the Swedish inventor Alfred Nobel. He wanted to use some of his money to help make the world a better place to live.
Many organizations, chosen by Alfred Nobel himself, determine who receives the prizes. Each award consists of a gold medal, a diploma and a lot of money. Prizes can only be given to individuals of all races, countries and religions. Only the Peace Prize can also be given to a group.
The first Nobel Prizes were handed out on December 10, 1901 - five years after Alfred Nobel’s death. Nobel was a chemist, engineer and inventor whose most famous invention , dynamite, made him a rich man. Although he gave the world such a deadly weapon, Nobel was always against wars and violence. He therefore left a lot of money that was to go to those who did a lot for mankind.
Officials at first handed out only five prizes a year. The prize for economics was first awarded in 1969. In some years prizes have not been awarded because there were no worthy candidates
All prizes are presented in Stockholm, Sweden, only the Peace Prize is awarded in Oslo, Norway.
Famous Nobel Prize Winners
Year |
Field |
Winner |
Country |
1901 |
Physics |
Wilhelm Röntgen |
Germany |
1921 |
Physics |
Germany |
|
1945 |
Medicine |
Sir Alexander Fleming |
Great Britain |
1954 |
Literature |
Ernest Hemingway |
USA |
1972 |
Literature |
Heinrich Böll |
Germany |
1973 |
Medicine |
Konrad Lorenz |
Austria |
1977 |
Peace |
Amnesty International |
----------- |
1993 |
Peace |
Nelson Mandela |
South Africa |
Words
- achieve = something special that a person has done
- although =while
- award = prize or money that you give to someone for something that they have done
- consist of =is made up of
- create = make
- deadly = something that is very dangerous and can kill people or animals
- determine = decide
- diploma = a document that shows that a person has done something successful
- economics =business; the way goods and products are bought an sold
- engineer = someone who makes or designs buildings, bridges , machines etc..
- hand out = give to someone
- individual = a single person, not a group
- invent = to make or design something new
- inventor = a person who invents things
- mankind = all the people together, as a group
- officials = someone who is in a high position in an organisation
- peace = a situation in which there is no fighting or war
- race =people that belong to a group with the same skin colour and other features
- receive = get
- violence =aggression
- weapon =something that you use to fight, like a gun or a knife
- worthy = good enough