Read this passage:And invisible to me because it was so remote and small, flying swiftly and steadily toward me across that incredible distance, drawing nearer every minute by so many thousands of miles, came the Thing they were sending us, the Thing that was to bring so much struggle and calamity and death to the earth.H. G. Wells, The War of the Worlds, 1898Which word in the passage helps create a sense of fear and anxiety?A.smallB.earthC.thousandsD.deathSUBMITarrow_backPREVIOUS

The immediate pressure of necessity has brightened their intellects, enlarged their powers, and hardened their hearts. And looking across space with instruments, and intelligences such as we have scarcely dreamed of, they see, at its nearest distance only 35,000,000 of miles sunward of them, a morning star of hope, our own warmer planet, green with vegetation and grey with water, with a cloudy atmosphere eloquent of fertility, with glimpses through its drifting cloud wisps of broad stretches of populous country and narrow, navy-crowded seas.H. G. Wells, The War of the Worlds, 1898What can you infer about the narrator from this passage in The War of the Worlds?A.That he doesn't care about the MartiansB.That he is angry that the Martians cameC.That he is shy and doesn't have friendsD.That he is intelligent and well educatedSUBMITarrow_backPREVIOUS

Read this excerpt from H. G. Wells's novel The War of the Worlds:No one would have believed in the last years of the nineteenth century that this world was being watched keenly and closely by intelligences greater than man's and yet as mortal as his own; that as men busied themselves about their various concerns they were scrutinised and studied, perhaps almost as narrowly as a man with a microscope might scrutinise the transient creatures that swarm and multiply in a drop of water. With infinite complacency men went to and fro over this globe about their little affairs, serene in their assurance of their empire over matter. It is possible that the infusoria under the microscope do the same. No one gave a thought to the older worlds of space as sources of human danger, or thought of them only to dismiss the idea of life upon them as impossible or improbable. It is curious to recall some of the mental habits of those departed days. At most terrestrial men fancied there might be other men upon Mars, perhaps inferior to themselves and ready to welcome a missionary enterprise. Yet across the gulf of space, minds that are to our minds as ours are to those of the beasts that perish, intellects vast and cool and unsympathetic, regarded this earth with envious eyes, and slowly and surely drew their plans against us. And early in the twentieth century came the great disillusionment.Which words best describe the tone of this passage?A.Excited and emotionalB.SatiricalC.Calm and matter-of-factD.Light-hearted

Read the following passage:And before we judge them too harshly we must remember what ruthless and utter destruction our own species has wrought, not only upon animals such as the vanquished bison and the dodo, but upon its own inferior races.H. G. Wells, The War of the WorldsThis passage is from a science fiction story about an alien invasion of Earth that was written in 1898. What historical theme might create a strong emotional response in readers during that time?A.The tendency of religions of the time to judge othersB.The brutality of the experience of colonialismC.The experience of world warsD.The beginning of cloning experiments with animalsSUBMITarrow_backPREVIOUS

When The War of the Worlds was written, England feared _____.A.attack from another countryB.economic collapseC.plagueD.alien invasion

How does Wells use the first four chapters of The War of the Worlds to warn England not to let its guard down against an attack?A.By having the townspeople show excitement that they were about to be visited by an alien raceB.By showing characters who were unaware of or unconcerned about the danger the Martians posedC.By having the narrator show interest in astronomy and figure out what was happening before anyone elseD.By having the Martians come to Earth in a giant cylinder that was often referred to as gun-likeSUBMITarrow_backPREVIOUS