Download Name Period Date Nobel Peace Prize Acceptance Speech, pages

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Nobel Peace Prize Acceptance Speech, pages 117-120
The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes created by the Swedish
industrialist, inventor, and armaments manufacturer Alfred Nobel, along with the
prizes in Chemistry, Physics, Physiology or Medicine, and Literature. Since December
1901, it has been awarded annually (with some exceptions) to those who have "done the
most or the best work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of
standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses." (Note: a peace
congress means gathering conflicting groups together to talk out their problems and
hopefully find a solution.)
Reading Comprehension Questions
1. According to Wiesel, who does this great honor belong to?
A. the Jewish people as a whole
B. Holocaust survivors
C. both A and B
D. neither A nor B
2. "A young Jewish boy discovered the Kingdom of Night." Who is the young Jewish boy?
A. Wiesel as a boy
B. Wiesel's father
C. Wiesel's son
D. we don't know
3. Wiesel's term "Kingdom of Night" refers to
A. the Holocaust
B. a place without electricity
C. the Nazi government
D. the Jewish people
4. Which of the following images does Wiesel use to evoke the horror of the Holocaust?
A. a gas chamber
B. a sealed cattle car
C. a Nazi officer
D. all of the above
5. In the third full paragraph on page 118, why is the boy so shocked?
A. He thinks such horrors could only occur in the past.
B. He thinks the Nazis were friends of the Jews.
C. He thinks they should not be forced to endure such atrocities.
D. He thought the allied forces would have rescued them.
6. On page 118, Wiesel states: "And now the boy is turning to me. 'Tell me,' he asks, 'what have
you done with my future, what have you done with your life?' This is an imagined conversation
between
A. Wiesel and his father
B. a boy Wiesel met recently
C. the Nobel Prize committee and Wiesel
D. the boy Wiesel and the adult Wiesel
7. "And then I explain to him how naive we were. . . " (118). In this sentence, we refers to
A. the Nobel Prize committee
B. the human race
C. the German people
D. none of the above
8. According to Wiesel's speech, why is it important to take a stand?
A. Because neutrality helps the oppressor
B. Because nothing will change if we remain silent
C. Because borders are irrelevant when lives are at stake
D. all of the above
9. Who does Wiesel mention as having made a difference in the struggle against oppression and
persecution?
A. Martin Luther King, Jr.
B. Raoul Wallenberg
C. Albert Schweitzer
D. all of the above
10. Which of the following words best describes the tone of Wiesel's speech?
A. vindictive (this means a desire for revenge)
B. uncertain
C. inspirational
D. confrontational
Answers:
1. C
2. A
3. A
4. B
5. A
6. D
7. B
8. D
9. D
10. C
Supplemental information:
Apartheid - racial segregation; specifically : a former policy of segregation and political
and economic discrimination against non-European groups in the Republic of South Africa
Andrei Sakharov - was a Russian nuclear physicist, Soviet dissident, an activist for
disarmament, peace and human rights.
Joseph Begun - a former Soviet refusenik, prisoner of conscience, human rights activist, author
and translator. Over the course of 17 years, Begun was imprisoned three times and spent over
eight years in prisons and labor camps as a political prisoner.[1] He was pardoned and freed in
1987 after political pressure from Jewish political organizations and the U.S. Government.
Ida Nudel - a Jewish political prisoner in Russia. She was known as the "Guardian Angel" for
her efforts to help the "Prisoners of Zion" in the Soviet Union.
Lech Walesa - is a retired Polish politician and labor activist. He co-founded and
headed Solidarity, the Soviet bloc's first independent trade union. While fighting for workers, he
was frequently harassed by the Soviet Union's government.
Nelson Mandela - was a South African anti-apartheid revolutionary, politician,
and philanthropist, who served as President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999. He was the
country's first black head of state and the first elected in a fully representative democratic
election. His government focused on dismantling the legacy of apartheid by tackling
institutionalized racism and fostering racial reconciliation.
Raoul Wallenberg - was a Swedish architect, businessman, diplomat and humanitarian. He is
widely celebrated for saving tens of thousands[1] of Jews in Nazi-occupied Hungary during the
Holocaust from German Nazis and Hungarian Fascists during the later stages of World War II.
While serving as Sweden's special envoy in Budapest between July and December 1944,
Wallenberg issued protective passports and sheltered Jews in buildings designated as Swedish
territory.
[1]
Albert Schweitzer
Martin Luther King, Jr.