Who Can Replace a Man?

Who Can Replace a Man?

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Reading: Ask Questions to Compare and Contrast

A comparison tells how two or more things are alike. A contrast tells how two or more things are different. Asking questions to compare and contrast helps you notice any similarities and differences in characters, settings, moods, and ideas.

Readers of “Who Can Replace a Man?” can tell right away that the character working in the field is not human. When the author refers to the character as “it,” readers begin to look for clues as to what this character is, asking questions such as these:

• What does it look like?

• How does it move?

• How does it think?

• Are there any others like it?

Open Ended

What do the machines look like?

A.How are they similar to humans in appearance?

B.How are they different?

Open Ended

How do the machines communicate with one another?

A.How is their communication similar to that of humans?

B.How is it different?

Open Ended

What kind of work do the machines do?

A.How is their work similar to the work of humans?

B.How is it different?

Literary Analysis: Setting

The setting is the time and place of a story’s action. A setting can create an emotional atmosphere, or mood. It also can give readers the sensation of living in a different time and place. As you read, notice details that make up the setting, including

• the customs and beliefs of the characters,

• the physical features of the land,

• the weather or season of the year, and

• the historical era in which the action takes place.

Multiple Choice

What does the man order the machines to do?

• to find food

• to carry him out

• to search for his friends

• to bring water from the stream

Multiple Choice

What news about men does the flying machine tell them before crashing?

• The cities have been destroyed

• A few men live in the mountains

• There is food stored in mountain caves

• Humans arrived from another planet

Multiple Choice

Why do the machines leave the stranded or broken ones behind?

• They no longer like the broken ones

• The servicer refuses to do his job

• They are unable to lift or repair them

• They do not notice that machines break

Multiple Choice

How are the Badlands a problem for the machines?

• The hills are hard for them to climb

• Grasses get caught in their low chassis

• They get caught in the dry crevices

• River water causes their parts to rust

Multiple Choice

Why is the radio operator able to think ahead?

• It went to school for many years

• It spent most of its time with humans

• It took a reasoning class in college

• It has a higher-level brain

Multiple Choice

How do the machines release the radio operator from its room?

• The city machines direct them

• They knock down the station wall

• They get the unlocker to unlock the door

• They bomb the building

Multiple Choice

Why have most of the humans died?

• They ran out of food

• They killed on another in a world war

• The water sources dried up

• The sun lost its warming power

Multiple Choice

What do the yard machines do when they do not receive orders?

• They play organized games

• They shout and disrupt things

• They ask the field-minder what to do

• They try to escape

Multiple Choice

How are the penner and the field-minder alike?

• Both are about the same size

• Both are eager to start a war

• Both have had some education

• Both have the same level brain

Multiple Choice

The seed distributor cannot go into the storage area. Why not?

• The unlocker has not arrived

• The seed-distributor has lost its keys

• The seed-distributor cannot follow orders

• Other machines damaged the area

Multiple Choice

Where is the field-minder working at the beginning of "Who Can Replace a Man?"

• on a green hill

• by the river

• in a gray field

• on a highway