What is Science Fiction? And Jules Verne

Which statement best defines science fiction according to the text?

• An imaginative story that deals with speculative science content and how new science might affect the future

• Any narrative that accurately reports current scientific discoveries

• A historical account of real past scientific events

• A genre limited to the discipline of physics only

Which of the following is highlighted as a common focus in science fiction stories?

• Detailed biographies of scientists

• Travel through space, time, or by futuristic machinery

• Strict adherence to present-day scientific facts

• Instructional manuals on laboratory procedures

Why is Jules Verne considered a founding father of science fiction?

• He created the first scientific theory of spaceflight

• He published novels and short stories that brought science fiction to the foreground in the 19th century

• He proved that time travel is possible

• He was the first astronaut to orbit the Earth

Which work by Jules Verne envisioned the effects of weightlessness and prefigured a spacecraft’s ocean splashdown?

• Journey to the Center of the Earth

• Around the World in Eighty Days

• Around the Moon

• Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea

According to the passage, how did Jules Verne’s approach help modern scientists and engineers?

• He provided exact blueprints that were directly used in modern rockets

• His carefully constructed answers to scientific questions were similar to modern solutions, inspiring pioneers such as Hermann Oberth and Konstantin Tsiolkovsky

• He trained many of the first astronauts personally

• He prioritized fantasy over scientific principles, discouraging technical accuracy

Which author is highlighted as providing some of the greatest public impact through a radio adaptation of his novel The War of the Worlds?

• Jules Verne

• H. G. Wells

• Ray Bradbury

• Isaac Asimov

• Kurt Vonnegut

According to the text, what factor made radio an effective medium for science fiction dramas in the 1930s?

• Short story popularity

• Low production cost

• Suitability of sound effects, music, and dramatic performances

• Government sponsorship

• Live studio audiences

What was the reported public reaction to the 1938 Mercury Theatre broadcast of The War of the Worlds?

• Indifference due to poor ratings

• A national panic sparked by the realistic news-bulletin style

• A surge in book sales only

• A boycott of radio dramas

Ken Sanes argues that Orson Welles heightened realism in the broadcast primarily by

• using only a single narrator

• avoiding any mention of Mars

• presenting the play as a breaking news broadcast with sound effects

• including interviews with real scientists

Which detail from the description of audience reactions best illustrates the panic caused by the broadcast?

• People applauded in theaters

• Listeners turned off their radios immediately

• People packed roads and hid in cellars with wet towels and loaded guns

• Newspapers praised the performance unanimously