Activity worksheets PENGUIN READERS
Teacher Support Programme
LEVEL 5
The War of the Worlds
While reading
Introduction, pages v–ix
1 Complete the following sentences by matching
(a–h) to (1–8).
a These creatures have weapons that …..
b Wells understood a great deal about …..
c Wells was given a free place at college …..
d While Wells recovered from an accident …..
e Wells’s first novel was …..
f Wells fell in love with Moura Budgerd, …..
g When Orson Wells made a radio broadcast of
The War of the Worlds …..
h Wells lived through …..
1) he had time to write.
2) The Time Machine.
3) human behaviour and the psychology of
terror.
4) his translator.
5) no human being has ever known.
6) to study science.
7) two world wars.
8) people thought it was real and they
panicked.
Chapters 1–2
2 Are these statements about Mars true (T) or
false (F) according to the book?
a Mars receives half the light and heat
from the sun that our world does.
c
b Mars is younger than our world.
c
c Life on Mars’s surface began a long time
before this Earth cooled down.
c
d Mars has air but no water.
c
e Mars is getting warmer all the time.
c
f The oceans of Mars cover two thirds
of its surface.
c
g The end of all life is an immediate
problem for the Martians.
c
h Martians’ mathematical knowledge
appears to be much more developed
than ours.
c
i a great light was seen in 1894, on the
surface of Mars.
c
3 Read this paragraph about Chapter 2. There
are 10 wrong words. Circle them and write
the correct words instead.
c Pearson Education Limited 2008
Photocopiable
(a) Ogilvy was the last person to see the Thing.
(b) He got up soon to find it. (c) When he
found the Thing he saw the top of the box
beginning to turn. (d) He thought that someone
was trying to hide and he wanted to help.
(e) The Thing was too dirty and he couldn’t get
his hands on it. (f ) He ran to Woking and told
some tourists but nobody believed him. (g) Then
he saw Henderson, the astronomer, and told
him the news. (h) He said that a meteorite had
landed. (i) But Henderson was deaf in both ears
and he couldn’t hear him. (j) After visiting the
Thing again, Henderson and Ogilvy went to the
post office to send a telegram to London.
Chapters 3–5
4 Read Chapter 3 carefully then close the book.
How much can you remember about the
Martians? What do they look like? How did
they arrive? Write as much as you can.
5 Choose the right answer.
a The newspaper reports of the Martian attacks
are frightening / unbelievable / inaccurate.
b The writer borrows a horse and cart so he can
escape / attack the Martians / go home.
c The writer hides from the tripods in the
common / his house / Woking station.
d Both the writer and the soldier are exhausted /
safe / burnt.
e I ran crying loudly / quietly / silently as a child
might do.
f A Martian would weigh three / five / eight
times more on Earth than on Mars.
6 What happened first? What happened next?
Write the numbers 1–7.
a c The invisible ray killed the group with the
white flag.
b c Everyone expected a man to come out.
c c The creature fell over the edge of the
cylinder and into the pit.
d c The end of the cylinder was being screwed
out from within.
e c Two men and a woman laughed at the
writer.
f c The writer and his wife left their house
and went to Maybury.
g c The writer returned to Horsell Common.
The War of the Worlds - Activity worksheets of 2
Activity worksheets PENGUIN READERS
Teacher Support Programme
LEVEL 5
The War of the Worlds
Chapters 6–7
7 Answer these questions.
a Where does the writer want to escape to?
b Why does the soldier want to go to London?
c How many tripods does the army hit?
d Where does the writer meet the curate?
e Where has the curate escaped from?
f How do the Martians react when one of them
is hit? What does this suggest? Does it make
you feel differently about them?
Chapters 8–9
8 Match the sentences (a–h) to the correct
endings (1–8).
a The Martians communicated to each other
by …..
b The Ripley gunners …..
c The fallen Martian used its voice, and
immediately …..
d One of its three legs …..
e Seven Martians spread out, at equal distances
between Weybridge and Ripley, each carrying
…..
f The writer crawled into some bushes …..
g The tubes were used to fire large cylinders
that, when they hit the ground …..
h The smoke was heavy and when it began to
sink down it …..
1) by the side of the road.
2) behaved like a liquid.
3) let out an enormous amount of thick
black smoke.
4) had never been in action before.
5) a thick black tube.
6) loud howls.
7) had been broken.
8) a second one answered it.
Chapters 10–12
9 Complete these sentences.
a The Martians moved backwards and forwards
over the hill spreading…………………….. .
b There were many ships on the Thames,
attracted by …………………… offered by
the refugees.
c Many ships became stuck together
…………………… and the sailors had to
fight against people who tried to get on from
the riverside.
c Pearson Education Limited 2008
Photocopiable
d The sixth cylinder fell in………………….. .
e The Thunder Child was a ………………… .
10 Write the words from the box in the right
places.
constant crawled destroyed increased
intended metallic refused
surrounded unconscious
a The writer and the curate are ………………
by Black Smoke for two days.
b Although the writer ……………… to travel
alone, the curate decided to come with him.
c The curate hid in a garden hut and
……………… to move.
d When the ceiling fell in, the writer was
knocked ……………… .
e As soon as the writer began eating, the curate
……………… towards him.
f With their ……………… weight on Earth,
the Martians found it difficult to move
without machines.
g The writer soon grows tired of the curate’s
……………… talking.
h The Martian’s tentacle made a ………………
sound on the kitchen floor.
i When the writer finally leaves the house,
he discovers that the local area has been
completely ……………… .
Chapters 13–15
11 The soldier has thought carefully about the
world’s future. Look at these sentences and
tick (3) the sentences he would agree with
and cross (7) the sentences he would disagree
with.
a All human beings are the same.
c
b The Martians have already built a flying
machine.
c
c Human beings will beat the Martians in
a few years.
c
d It’s better to live freely and in danger
than to live a comfortable life without
freedom.
c
e The bravest and strongest humans will
live underground and the weak ones
will live with the Martians.
c
f It will be important to look after the
weak humans as well as the strong in
a new underground world.
c
The War of the Worlds - Activity worksheets of 2
Progress test
PENGUIN READERS
Teacher Support Programme
LEVEL 5
The War of the Worlds
Photocopiable
Chapters 1– 4
Chapters 9–10
1 Are these statements true (T) or false (F)?
a The first thing that came out of the cylinder
was a man, a little like a person on Earth.
b Ogilvy, Stent, Henderson, and others went
to the pit waving a white flag.
c The writer’s wife didn’t believe what he told
her about the Martians.
d At night a light-ray swept around the
common and the Heat-Ray followed it.
e At about eleven, soldiers came, but they
didn’t take the situation very seriously.
f The milkman thought the Martians should
all be killed.
4 Choose names from the box to answer these
questions.
c
c
c
c
c
c
Chapters 5–8
2 Choose the words in the box to answer these
questions. Not all words in box will be used.
pub owner Death soldier white pink
thunder tripod curate captain
a What colour was the face of the writer’s wife when
he returned to Maybury? ……………
b What burst like a gun overhead? ……………
c What was stepping over trees? ……………
d Whose body did the writer find? ……………
e Who came into the writer’s garden? ……………
f Who did the writer say was coming to the old man?
……………
3 Circle the best answer in italics.
a The soldier suggested going towards London where
he could look for his family / hide from the Martians /
rejoin his company.
b In Byfleet the soldiers were telling people to
leave and helping them to pack their belongings /
load their carts / find food for the trip.
c Four Martian machines disappeared, far away over
the low trees towards Chertsey / burned house / river.
d When some shells were fired at the Martians and
missed, the fourth shell almost hit it / went past and
hit the river / exploded right in its face.
e The curate told the writer to come and hide in the
church / that the church was still standing / that the
church was destroyed by the Martians.
c Pearson Education Limited 2008
Mr Elphinstone writer’s brother Mrs Elphinstone
Miss Elphinstone the writer
a
b
c
d
e
Who is George? ……………………
Who is the doctor’s wife? ……………………
Who is the doctor’s sister? ……………………
Who steals a bicycle? ……………………
Who is the brother of the person who lives in
London? ……………………
Chapters 11–12
5 Identify the words in italics with the correct
number.
a ‘I think they are outside.’ …..
b ‘It’s hit this house and buried us under the ruins.’
…..
c I thought that it might not be long enough to reach
me. …..
d I thought that if I could attract it quietly, I might
be able to kill it and eat it. …..
e He fell forwards and lay flat on the floor. …..
f I tried threatening him, and then I hit him. …..
1) the writer
4) the Martians
2) the fifth cylinder
5) the dog
3) the tentacle
6) the curate
Chapters 13–15
6 Choose the right answers in italics.
a The writer and others did not understand what
would happen to the Martians because terror and
disaster / pride and prejudice / joy and wisdom had
blinded their minds.
b By spending / paying / lending with a million lives
human beings have bought their right to Earth.
c Human beings have not tried / been unable /
developed the ability to fight against germs.
d Earth is our home and would be even if the
Martians were ten times as strange / as strong /
as ugly as they are.
e When the writer realized that the Martians were
dead his heart grew very heavy / quite sad / light with
happiness.
The War of the Worlds - Progress test of 1