"The Introduction"

Passage from "The Time Machine"

I pointed to the Time Machine and to myself. Then hesitating for a moment how to express time, I pointed to the sun. At once a quaintly pretty little figure in checkered purple and white followed my gesture, and then astonished me by imitating the sound of thunder.

For a moment I was staggered, though the import of his gesture was plain enough. The question had come into my mind abruptly: were these creatures fools?

You may hardly understand how it took me. You see I had always anticipated that the people of the year Eight Hundred and Two Thousand odd would be incredibly in front of us in knowledge, art, everything. Then one of them suddenly asked me a question that showed him to be on the intellectual level of one of our five-year-old children—asked me, in fact, if I had come from the sun in a thunderstorm! It let loose the judgment I had suspended upon their clothes, their frail light limbs, and fragile features. A flow of disappointment rushed across my mind. For a moment I felt that I had built the Time Machine in vain.

Reading Comprehension Questions

1) In the above passage, what is the tone of the narrator in the 3^rd paragraph?

a. boredom and indifference

b. surprise and joy

c. sympathy and compassion

d. shock and regret

2) In the above passage, the narrator uses his Time Machine to travel to which of the following?

a. far into the past

b. far into the future

c. a different dimension

d. a hidden part of the world

3) The above passage ends with the sentence: "For a moment I felt that I had built the Time Machine in vain." The narrator is suggesting that his efforts may have been which of these?

a. underestimated

b. useless

c. brilliant

d. secretive

4) In the 3^rd paragraph of the above passage, the narrator says, "It let loose the judgment I had suspended..." This phrase says what about the narrator?

a. he refused to change his mind about anything

b. he had concerns that someone was trying to trick him

c. he was trying not to form opinions too early

d. he was too confused to draw any conclusion

5) In the above passage, the narrator would have been most pleased if the "creatures" he met were which of the following?

a. smart & superior

b. bulky & aggressive

c. quiet & bashful

d. silly & childlike

6) The above passage is told from a 1^st person Point of View, which means which of the following is true?

a. the narrator knows everything about all of the characters

b. the narrator is the main character of the story

c. the narrator is a character watching the events from a distance

d. the narrator is not a character in the story

Answer Key

1) In the above passage, what is the tone of the narrator in the 3^rd paragraph?

a. boredom and indifference

b. surprise and joy

c. sympathy and compassion

d. shock and regret

2) In the above passage, the narrator uses his Time Machine to travel to which of the following?

a. far into the past

b. far into the future

c. a different dimension

d. a hidden part of the world

3) The above passage ends with the sentence: "For a moment I felt that I had built the Time Machine in vain." The narrator is suggesting that his efforts may have been which of these?

a. underestimated

b. useless

c. brilliant

d. secretive

4) In the 3^rd paragraph of the above passage, the narrator says, "It let loose the judgment I had suspended..." This phrase says what about the narrator?

a. he refused to change his mind about anything

b. he had concerns that someone was trying to trick him

c. he was trying not to form opinions too early

d. he was too confused to draw any conclusion

5) In the above passage, the narrator would have been most pleased if the "creatures" he met were which of the following?

a. smart & superior

b. bulky & aggressive

c. quiet & bashful

d. silly & childlike

6) The above passage is told from a 1^st person Point of View, which means which of the following is true?

a. the narrator knows everything about all of the characters

b. the narrator is the main character of the story

c. the narrator is a character watching the events from a distance

d. the narrator is not a character in the story