Analysis of Sci-Fi Stories: Meteor, Dumb Martian, Survival, and Body and Soul

Posted on Jan 5, 2025 in Medicine & Health

Page 107

Exercise 1

1c, 2a, 3c, 4d

Exercise 2

1. Fortans, 2. Humans, 3. Fortans, 4. Fortans, 5. Humans, 6. Humans, 7. Fortans

Exercise 3

  1. Duncan Weaver to the Company Agent: He was very surprised when he was told that he would have to marry the Martian girl.
  2. The Company Agent to Duncan: He doesn’t understand what Martians are like and how they live.
  3. A man to Duncan: About bringing a Martian wife with him, as Duncan was doing.
  4. Duncan to Lellie: About Lellie’s attempts.
  5. Lellie to Duncan: Trying to explain why she can’t smile like a human.
  6. Duncan to Alan Winter: About Alan explaining new ideas to Lellie.
  7. Alan Winter to Duncan: About Lellie’s ability to read.

Page 108

Exercise 4

  1. Yes, it is.
  2. Duncan teaches Lellie a lot of things.
  3. Lellie doesn’t say anything about Alan’s death.
  4. She takes her revenge: she has got a plan to cause Duncan’s death.

Exercise 5

  1. He thought she was the sort of woman who could show great determination if there was a need for it.
  2. That the crew could neither steer the spaceship nor land it.
  3. The captain managed to put it into orbit around Mars.
  4. Came to see him and asked if she could have Bowman’s share of the food.

Exercise 6

  1. Alice is pregnant.
  2. The next deaths are caused by shooting.
  3. The passengers begin to kill and eat each other.
  4. The spaceship finds only two survivors: Alice and her baby.

Page 110

Exercise 1

  1. She couldn’t cope with marrying a man in a wheelchair because he had turned into a different person.
  2. A well-organized, beautiful, and peaceful world.
  3. He slept under a sheet of metal, which probably transmitted sound waves to his brain.
  4. It was coming to an end because most of the children lacked the human soul, and their minds didn’t develop.
  5. Fourteen.
  6. As part of an experiment.
  7. Because the attachment of Terry’s soul to his body varied a great deal, and Hymorell could choose the weakest moment of attachment.
  8. Because neither wanted to be stuck in Terry’s body.

Exercise 2

1c, 2b

Exercise 3

It’s very important to note the letter at the beginning of the story, that the twist at the end is a three-way switch of bodies with a character called Stephen Tallboy. Either Terry or Hymorell could have thought of it, but in fact, it was Hymorell.

Page 111

Exercise 1

and, but, since, where, and, although, that, as, but, and, when, and, so, however, and, which, which

3, 8, 6, 11, 1, 9, 4, 10, 2, 7, 5

Page 112

Exercise 2

return, found, Martian, but, way, was, suspect, so, caused, evidence, suggest, action, not, accident, dome, happened, gone, nothing, late, wanted, rockets, door, been, something, while, hole, in, to, legs, called, help

Page 113

Exercise 4

  1. Yes, it is, Samine. I won’t be going back for any more pain.
  2. I hope that this time he won’t want to transfer himself back.
  3. I’ve given him two whole legs. He’ll find himself in a new body.
  4. A man called Stephen Tallboy. He’s a patient locked up in a psychology hospital.
  5. He’s probably dead. The transfer machine will give any body who touches it a fatal electric shock.
  6. Terry is a clever man. He’ll talk his way out of that hospital very quickly.

Page 114

Exercise 5

  1. Samine in Body and Soul. Hymorell has just returned from Terry’s world after six months of living in Terry’s body.
  2. Dr. Alan Winter in Dumb Martian. He has been on Jupiter IV for three months, and he has just had an argument with Duncan about teaching Lellie.
  3. A War Office expert in Meteor, after the Globe has been cut in half and examined.
  4. Carter, the pilot, in Survival. The Captain sent him to get the name bracelet from the dead body of Bowman.
  5. Iss in Meteor. He and his group have managed to get into the garden.
  6. Hymorell in Body and Soul. He has just been transferred into Terry’s legless body for the second time.
  7. Alice in Survival. She has just decided that she must tell the Captain about her pregnancy.
  8. Lellie in Dumb Martian. Duncan is outside the dome, and Lellie has just warned him over the radio not to do that.

Page 115

Exercise 6

Meteor: 3, 6, 13

Dumb Martian: 5, 9, 12

Survival: 2, 8

Body and Soul: 4, 11

Titles that could suit more than one story:

  • Escape to a New World: Meteor, Body and Soul
  • The Woman Wins: Dumb Martian, Survival
  • A Fatal Mistake: Meteor, Dumb Martian
  • The Use of Legs: Survival, Body and Soul

Exercise 7

3 I think that people must be forgiven if they eat other humans to survive. Is it better to die and be morally right? We as humans have a natural survival instinct, so we must do what is necessary to live.

5 I think that human nature will always be the same. There will always be many changes in the world, but our human nature won’t change. Our behavior will depend on the situations, and I believe that there will always be good and bad people, despite the changes in the future.

8 My favorite story is Meteor because I like meteor stories very much, despite its difficult vocabulary. In my opinion, this book has been very difficult to read for me, but Meteor is easier than other stories. I had to use a translator a lot of times, but I’m happy because I read all the book.