Exercise 1. Answer the questions
1) In The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Chapter 17 how does Eddie's respond to the
missile attack?
2) Why would Zaphod alter his own brain (chapter 20)?
3) What species could the author refer to as the most intelligent creatures on Earth? (ch.23)
4) How is Arthur Dent a foil to the absurdity of the galactic world in The Hitchhiker's Guide
to the Galaxy?
5) In The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, what assets help Ford Prefect cope with life as a
galactic hitchhiker?
6) What are three characteristics that help Arthur Dent cope with events in The Hitchhiker's
Guide to the Galaxy?
7) How does Arthur Dent demonstrate the ability to be a man capable of action in The
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy?
Exercise 2. Find the words in the text that mean the following
1) an object (such as a weapon) thrown or projected usually so as to strike something at a
distance (ch.17)
2) the external boundary or surface of a body (ch.18)
3) marked interest or regard usually arising through a personal tie or relationship (ch. 19)
4) a passage giving access usually by a ladder or stairs to an enclosed space (ch.19)
5) devoid of inhabitants and visitors (ch.20)
6) being soon to appear or take place (ch.23)
Exercise 3. Fill in the gaps in the following passage from the text, WITHOUT looking at the
original
It is an important 1) _____ popular fact that things 2)______ not always what they seem. 3)____
instance, on the 4)______ Earth, man 5)_______ always assumed that he 6)_______ more
intelligent than dolphins 7)__________ he had achieved so 8)_______ - the wheel, New York,
wars and so on - whilst all the dolphins had 9)________ done was muck about in the water
having a good time. But conversely, the dolphins had always believed that they were 10)______
more intelligent than man - for precisely the 11)________ reasons. Curiously enough, the
dolphins had long known 12)_______ the impending destruction of the planet Earth and had
13)_______ many attempts to alert mankind of 14)_______ danger; but most of their
communications were misinterpreted as amusing attempts to punch footballs 15)_______ whistle
for tidbits, so they eventually gave up and left the Earth by their own means shortly 16)_______
the Vogons arrived.
Exercise 4. Translate the passage
The old man paused, and with a sympathetic frown continued.
"They've been experimenting on you I'm afraid."
Arthur thought about this for a second, and then his face cleared. "Ah no," he said, "I see the source of
the misunderstanding now. No, look you see, what happened was that we used to do experiments on them.
They were often used in behavioural research, Pavlov and all that sort of stuff. So what happened was hat
the mice would be set all sorts of tests, learning to ring bells, run around mazes and things so that the
whole nature of the learning process could be examined. From our observations of their behaviour we
were able to learn all sorts of things about our own ..." Arthur's voice tailed off.
"Such subtlety ..." said Slartibartfast, "one has to admire it."
Exercise 5. Imagine that you can ask a single question to Deep Thought. What would it be? Give your
reasons and what answer you would expect.