Read the passage.The War of the Worlds Hoax"Martian cylinders are falling all over the country!" proclaimed a voice on the radio. It was Halloween night, 1938, and Orson Welles was in the midst of a performance of the H. G. Wells story The War of the Worlds. Most listeners were aware that it was fiction; after all, an explanatory announcement had been given at the program's beginning. However, listeners who tuned in late missed the program's introduction. In addition, Welles was a magnificent performer, interspersing his "report" with sound effects and eyewitness "interviews." Consequently, some audience members believed they were hearing a real news account. They listened in increasing terror as Welles described the "invading army from the planet Mars." Fearing for their lives, some took refuge in their basements or fled their homes. When Welles concluded the show with the admission that it had been a Halloween prank, reactions ranged from amusement to fury.What is the main, or central, idea of the passage?As a result of a news-style radio performance, some War of the Worlds listeners believed the broadcast to be true.Some early War of the Worlds listeners were so frightened that they hid in their basements or left their homes.Because of an earlier warning that they were about to hear a work of fiction, most War of the Worlds listeners knew that they were not listening to real news.Submit

A wave of mass hysteria seized thousands of radio listeners between 8:15 and 9:30 o'clock last night when a broadcast of a dramatization of H. G. Wells's fantasy, "The War of the Worlds," led thousands to believe that an interplanetary conflict had started with invading Martians spreading wide death and destruction in New Jersey and New York.New York Times, "Radio Listeners in Panic," October 31, 1938How does the New York Times article "Radio Listeners in Panic" give the audience the background knowledge needed to understand the story?A.By including a copy of H. G. Wells's classic novel with the newspaperB.By supplying the necessary information in the article's first sentenceC.By making fun of the way people acted during the broadcastD.By telling people they should have been listening to the broadcast

How did Welles use the medium of radio to change the original story of The War of the Worlds?A.He included information about the Martians' dying planet and why they had come to Earth.B.He mentioned that the people of Earth didn't believe they could be attacked by an alien race.C.He used a narrator to tell the audience about events that had taken place over six years ago.D.He added elements like news bulletins and musical breaks that grabbed the audience's attention.SUBMITarrow_backPREVIOUS

What reason does Orson Welles give at the press conference for his reaction to the panic caused by his radio broadcast of The War of the Worlds?A.The H. G. Wells novel is a classic and the story is well known.B.The broadcast included announcements that the events were not real.C.Listeners had already heard advertisements for his adaptation of The War of the Worlds.D.The police had informed the audience that nothing was happening.

Question 1 of 10Why did Welles react the way he did at the press conference after his radio broadcast of The War of the Worlds?A.He didn't realize audiences would automatically believe what they heard on the radio.B.He assumed listeners would recognize his voice from his previous radio broadcasts.C.He included several announcements within the broadcast stating the story was not real.D.He thought the H. G. Wells novel was so well known that people would recognize it.SUBMITarrow_backPREVIOUS

Orson Welles concludes the radio broadcast War of the Worlds in which way?A.By warning the listeners that they need to be more prepared.B.By telling the listeners to "stay tuned" for more information.C.By telling the listeners that the story was not real and offering them a moral.D.By revealing that the entire broadcast was an April Fool's joke.SUBMITarrow_backPREVIOUS