Ch: The Book That Saved The Earth
`Notebook work
Sample Questions
Short answer type:
1. Noodle avoids offending Think-Tank but at the same time he corrects his mistakes.
How does he manage to do that ?
Ans: Noodle manages to correct Think-Tank without offending him by humbly providing the
answers to the egoistic Think-Tank. He does not, in any way, show that he knows more than his
master. He displays the characteristic of an obedient employee, who accepts absolutely, his
master's undisputed authority. He keeps satisfying Think-Tank's ego by addressing him as "The
most powerful and intelligent creature", "Mighty Think-Tank"', "Great and Mighty Think-Tank"
etc.
2. Martians were never able to bring themselves to read the book 'Mother Goose'.
Discuss why the Historian said so?
Ans. 'Mother Goose' was a book of nursery rhymes with illustrations. And in the twentieth
century Martians came to the earth to invade it. While in a library, they came across this book
and tried to get some information. They saw the poem and the pictures related to Humpty
Dumpty that resembled Think-Tank. It was assumed that Earthlings were going to invade Mars.
Now, it is the twenty-fifth century but according to the Historian the Martians are still
apprehensive about reading this book.
LONG ANSWER TYPE
1. The Martians, under Commander Think-Tank, tried to invade the earth. What
guesses were made by Think-Tank about the books found on earth?
Ans: Think-Tank, initially guessed that they were sandwiches and ordered his crew to eat them.
When it failed, at Noodle's suggestion that they were a means of communication used by
earthlings, he guessed that they were devices used for ear communication. When this also did not
help, he decided that they were not for ear communication but were for eye communication and
were coded so he asked them to decipher the codes. When he could not understand the head or
tail of the dots and pictures, he asked them to transcribe them. When they read it, he guessed that
the earthlings grew precious stones and explosives in their gardens. The rhyme 'The cow jumped
over the moon' made his guess that the Earthlings were planning an interplanetary attack.
'Humpty Dumpty had a great fall' made him guess that the Earthlings were preparing to attack
Mars.
PRACTICE QUESTION:
The play suggests that the 20th century was the 'Era of the Book. With that reference, what
would you like to call the era of the 21st century? What role does that object/concept play in the
lives of human beings?
