The Machine Stops, II - The Mending Apparatus quiz

Questions and answers

1. 1

   Question 1. What has Kuno been threatened with when Vashti arrives?

   • Imprisonment in a lower-level room
   • Correct answer: Homelessness
   • Loss of his speaking-tube privileges
   • Reassignment to a different city

   Kuno reveals that he has been threatened with Homelessness, which is equivalent to a death sentence since the victim is exposed to the outer air.

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2. 2

   Question 2. How did Kuno reach the surface of the earth?

   • He summoned a respirator, obtained an Egression-permit and left by a vomitory
   • He took the lift past the topmost platform and stepped out onto the surface
   • Correct answer: He found a forgotten ventilation shaft and climbed a primeval metal ladder
   • He followed the railway-tunnel until it emerged into the outer atmosphere

   Kuno discovered a gap in the tiles of a railway tunnel leading to a ventilation shaft from the original construction era, then climbed a primeval metal ladder to reach a pneumatic stopper.

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3. 3

   Question 3. What does Kuno mean when he declares "Man is the measure"?

   • Correct answer: Human experience and the body, not technology, should be the standard for understanding the world
   • Distance is measured by how quickly the railway or air-ship arrives, since space is annihilated
   • Humanity must be adapted to its surroundings, and the Machine decides how each person develops
   • The Machine's apparatus should be designed according to human physical dimensions

   Kuno argues that concepts like "near" and "far" should be defined by what humans can reach on foot, and that the human body is the true measure for distance, ownership, and all that is valuable.

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4. 4

   Question 4. What happens to physically strong infants in this society?

   • They are raised in separate communities away from the Machine
   • They are transferred from the public nurseries to occupy the rooms of the deceased
   • They are exposed on Mount Taygetus, as the weakly were in the dawn of the world
   • Correct answer: They are examined at birth and destroyed if they show undue strength

   The text states that "each infant was examined at birth, and all who promised undue strength were destroyed," because muscular people would be unhappy in the Machine-dependent civilization.

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5. 5

   Question 5. Where does Kuno emerge when he reaches the surface?

   • The Andredswald forest
   • Correct answer: Wessex
   • Mount Taygetus
   • Cornwall

   Kuno says "I knew that I was in Wessex, for I had taken care to go to a lecture on the subject before starting." Wessex is a region in southern England.

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6. 6

   Question 6. What is Vashti's primary reaction to Kuno's story of reaching the surface?

   • Fear that she will also be threatened with Homelessness by the Committee
   • Admiration for the physical strength and determination that carried him to the surface
   • Curiosity about the hills of Wessex and the lecture he attended on them
   • Correct answer: Horror at the impropriety of acting outside the Machine's approved methods

   Vashti is horrified not by the danger Kuno faced but by his acting without authorization. She says he is "throwing civilization away" and feels ashamed at having borne such a son.

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7. 7

   Question 7. What form does the Mending Apparatus take when it captures Kuno on the surface?

   • Correct answer: Long white worm-like tendrils that emerge from the shaft
   • A roaring fountain of artificial air that pulls him underground
   • Attendants from the Central Committee climbing the ventilation shaft
   • A mechanical net lowered from one of the passing air-ships

   Kuno describes "a worm, a long white worm" that crawled out of the shaft, curled around his ankle, and dragged him back underground while more worms stripped the dell of vegetation.

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8. 8

   Question 8. Why was Kuno's request to become a father refused by the Committee?

   • He had been out on the surface without an Egression-permit
   • The Book says parental duties cease at the moment of birth
   • Correct answer: He was not a type that the Machine desired to hand on
   • Vashti had registered an objection to his request

   The text states that "his was not a type that the Machine desired to hand on," implying his physical strength and independent thinking made him genetically undesirable to the system.

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9. 9

   Question 9. Which of these events actually happened in this chapter?

   • Kuno obtained an official Egression-permit before traveling to the surface.

     Didn't happen

     Kuno explicitly states "I did not get an Egression-permit." He found his own unauthorized way to the surface through a ventilation shaft, which is what led to his being threatened with Homelessness.

   • A mysterious woman on the surface tried to help Kuno when the Mending Apparatus attacked him.

     Happened

     Kuno reveals that he saw a woman "in the twilight" who "came to my help when I called." She was entangled by the worms and killed when one pierced her throat, proving that humans survived outside the Machine.

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10. 10

    Question 10. In the sentence "Vashti stood irresolute," what does "irresolute" mean?

    • Determined and decisive, firmly resolved
    • Angry and defiant, openly rebellious
    • Correct answer: Uncertain and hesitant, unable to decide
    • Physically exhausted and too weak to stand

    Irresolute means unable to make a firm decision or resolve. Vashti is torn between her disgust at Kuno's blasphemies and her curiosity about the rest of his story.

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11. 11

    Question 11. When the text says "On atavism the Machine can have no mercy," what does "atavism" refer to?

    • A sudden malfunction in one component of a mechanical system
    • A type of infectious disease spread through physical contact
    • A refusal to believe in the existence of God or any higher power
    • Correct answer: The reappearance of ancestral traits that have been absent in recent generations

    Atavism means the reappearance of characteristics from a remote ancestor. Vashti sees Kuno's physical strength and facial hair as signs he is reverting to a primitive human type the Machine has bred out.

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12. 12

    Question 12. What does "nonchalance" mean as used in "the peace, the nonchalance, the sense of space"?

    • Correct answer: A casual lack of concern; calm indifference
    • Nervous, eager concern over every small detail
    • Overwhelming beauty that inspires awe
    • A feeling of deep sadness or melancholy

    Nonchalance means a casual lack of concern or calm indifference. Kuno uses it to describe the easy, unbothered quality of the natural world, which contrasts sharply with the Machine's anxious control.

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13. 13

    Question 13. What is the last thing Kuno sees before the stopper closes and he is dragged underground?

    • A pearl-coloured mist lying between the hills of Wessex
    • Correct answer: Certain stars, which make him feel a man of his sort lived in the sky
    • His respirator dancing above him in the escaping artificial air
    • The mysterious woman entangled and killed by one of the worms

    Kuno says "The last things that I saw, ere the stopper closed after us, were certain stars, and I felt that a man of my sort lived in the sky," connecting his rebellion to something cosmic and enduring.

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14. 14

    Question 14. How does the exchange between Vashti and Kuno end in Part II?

    • Vashti asks to see Wessex; Kuno offers to take her up the ventilation shaft
    • Vashti promises to remain beside Kuno; Kuno says they will escape to the surface
    • Kuno promises obedience to the Machine; Vashti agrees to defend him before the Committee
    • Correct answer: Kuno insists he has seen the Homeless; Vashti decides that he is mad and goes away

    Kuno insists that he has seen the Homeless; Vashti decides that he is mad and departs, and in the troubles that followed she never sees his face again. The "mercy of God" exchange comes earlier in their talk, not at its end.

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