The War of the Worlds
by H. G. Wells [1898]
But who shall dwell in these worlds if they be
inhabited?…Are we or they Lords of the
World?…And how are all things made for man?—
KEPLER (quoted in The Anatomy of Melancholy)
BOOK ONE: THE COMING OF THE MARTIANS
CHAPTER ONE: THE EVE OF THE WAR, excerpt
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. 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.
Select three of these statements that best describe humans as they are depicted in paragraph one of this excerpt. Choose one answer from each group. Type the LETTER ONLY for each answer in the correct blank.
Type A, B, or C for Blank 1.
They consider themselves superior.
They are kind and generous.
They are known for working hard.
Type D, E, or F for Blank 2.
They know other beings exist in space.
They are preoccupied with things.
They love to feel helpful.
Type G, H, or I for Blank 3.
They usually earn others’ respect.
They are unaware of life on Mars.
They are jealous.
