74 pages • 2 hours read
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
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During Reading
Reading Questions & Paired Texts
Reading Check and Short Answer Questions on key points are designed for guided reading assignments, in-class review, formative assessment, quizzes, and more.
INTRODUCTION AND CHAPTERS 1-7
Reading Check
1. Why are the bulldozers in front of Arthur Dent’s house?
2. Where does Ford Prefect take Arthur?
3. How is Arthur able to understand the Vogon language?
Short Answer
Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.
1. How does Zaphod Beeblebrox command the attention of the media and public?
2. How do Arthur and Ford escape Earth?
3. Why do Arthur and Ford tell Prostetnic Vogon Jeltz that they liked his poetry?
Paired Resource
“What Is a Bureaucracy and How It Works, With Examples”
- This article from Investopedia introduces the workings of bureaucracy in the modern world and includes a discussion of its origins and characteristics.
- This resource connects to the themes of The Absurdity of Modern Bureaucracy and The Emptiness of Authority.
- What is bureaucracy? Why is it so tempting for writers and comedians to satirize this system of government?
CHAPTERS 8-14
Reading Check
1. Who are manning the Heart of Gold when Dent and Ford arrive in it?
2. How does Arthur know Zaphod?
3. What causes Trillian to become so upset?
Short Answer
Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.
1. Why is the android Marvin so sad?
2. Why is Ford upset that Zaphod was on Earth?
Paired Resource
“How Fast is the Universe Expanding?”
- This article takes a scientific and mathematical approach to an ongoing discussion about the universe’s rate of expansion.
- This resource connects to the theme of Meaning Versus Meaninglessness in Existence.
- How does the size of the universe put human existence into perspective? What bearing does it have on the question of the meaning of the existence?
CHAPTERS 15-21
Reading Check
1. Why is Zaphod convinced that Magrathea is safe?
2. How does the ship escape the guided missiles Magrathea launches at them?
3. Where do the Magratheans live?
4. Who does Arthur meet on his walk?
Short Answer
Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.
1. What is the planet Magrathea known for? How did it cause problems for the rest of the Galaxy?
2. Why does the narrator state that nobody will be killed in the ensuing events?
3. Why did Zaphod get his brain scanned?
CHAPTERS 22-28
Reading Check
1. What is the name of the old man whom Arthur meets?
2. Who tried to warn humans about the destruction of Earth, according to Slartibartfast?
3. Where does the old man take Arthur?
Short Answer
Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.
1. Why have the inhabitants of Magrathea been sleeping?
2. What does Arthur see inside Magrathea? What does this reveal about Earth?
3. Why is Deep Thought’s answer to the question of life, the universe, and everything unsatisfactory?
Paired Resource
- This video by The School of Life introduces different ways people have searched for the meaning of life.
- This resource connects to the theme of Meaning Versus Meaninglessness in Existence.
- Is the meaning of life the same for everyone? What factors influence people’s understanding of the answer?
“Timeline of Computer History”
- This historical timeline documents the history of computer technology.
- What are the functions of computers? Will computers ever be able to answer questions about the meaning of life?
CHAPTERS 29-35
Reading Check
1. Who are Benjy and Frankie?
2. Why are the cops chasing Zaphod?
3. What does the group use to escape Magrathea?
Short Answer
Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.
1. Why do the mice announce that they will no longer need to rebuild the Earth?
2. What do the mice decide to do when Arthur runs away from them?
3. Why does Arthur decide to study The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy?
Recommended Next Reads
The Restaurant at the End of the Universe by Douglas Adams
- In the second book of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy series, Arthur Dent and his comrades search the universe for a restaurant that travels into the future.
- Shared themes include The Absurdity of Modern Bureaucracy, The Emptiness of Authority, and Meaning Versus Meaninglessness in Existence.
- Shared topics include space travel, adventure, and friendship.
Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett
- This comedic novel satirizes the End of Days in Christian theology. It follows the story of Aziraphale, an angel, and Crowley, a demon, who must work together to stop the end of the world.
- Shared themes include The Absurdity of Authority and Meaning Versus Meaninglessness in Existence.
- Shared topics include adventure and friendship.
- Good Omens on SuperSummary
Reading Questions Answer Key
INTRODUCTION AND CHAPTERS 1-7
Reading Check
1. To raze the house to make way for a bypass (Chapter 1)
2. A pub (Chapters 1-2)
3. Ford puts a Babel Fish—a small yellow fish that acts as a universal translator—in his ear. (Chapter 5)
Short Answer
1. Beeblebrox, the President of the Imperial Galactic Government, is attractive and unusual, and his theatrics win the adoration of the media and public. (Chapter 4)
2. Arthur and Ford escape Earth by using Ford’s special equipment to hitchhike on a Vogon ship. (Chapter 5)
3. Arthur and Ford hope that if they flatter the Vogon, he will not eject them from the airlock of the ship on which they are hitchhiking. (Chapter 7)
CHAPTERS 8-14
Reading Check
1. Zaphod and Trillian (Chapter 11)
2. He met him at a party at Islington. (Chapter 13)
3. The destruction of Earth (Chapter 14)
Short Answer
1. Marvin was created by the Sirius Cybernetics Corporation, which gave all their robots personalities. He always expresses despair because his programmed Genuine People Personality is unpleasant and prone to despair. (Chapter 11)
2. Ford, who is Zaphod’s cousin, is upset to learn that Zaphod was recently on Earth because this means that he left him stranded there when he could have taken him with him. (Chapter 13)
CHAPTERS 15-21
Reading Check
1. Because it is a ghost planet (Chapter 17)
2. By turning on the Infinite Improbability Drive (Chapter 17)
3. Underground (Chapter 20)
4. An old man (Chapter 21)
Short Answer
1. Magrathea formerly specialized in creating designer planets for the wealthy. Magrathea grew so wealthy from this practice, however, that the rest of the Galaxy was plunged into poverty, so that nobody was able to afford their services anymore. (Chapter 15)
2. The narrator states that nobody will be killed in the ensuing events to spare readers from experiencing stress regarding the characters of the story. (Chapter 16)
3. Zaphod explains to Ford that he had his brain scanned in the hopes that what he found would shed light on his own obscure motivations. (Chapter 20)
CHAPTERS 22-28
Reading Check
1. Slartibartfast (Chapter 22)
2. The dolphins (Chapter 23)
3. To the depths of Magrathea (Chapter 24)
Short Answer
1. The inhabitants of Magrathea have been sleeping to wait for the economy of the Galaxy to rebound so that they could begin selling their expensive services again. (Chapter 22)
2. Inside Magrathea, Slartibartfast shows Arthur a copy of Earth that is being built. Slartibartfast reveals that Earth itself was created by the Magratheans as an organic computer commissioned by mice. (Chapter 24)
3. Deep Thought’s answer to the question of life, the universe, and everything is “42,” but the answer is meaningless; the computer can give only the answer to the question, but it is not designed to express the question. (Chapter 28)
CHAPTERS 29-35
Reading Check
1. Trillian’s mice (Chapter 31)
2. For stealing the Heart of Gold (Chapter 32)
3. Slartibartfast’s aircar (Chapter 33)
Short Answer
1. The mice explain that they will no longer need to rebuild the Earth because they have an Earthman who was on the planet in its last moments of existence, meaning that his brain contains the answer to the calculation the computer was designed to run. (Chapter 31)
2. When Arthur escapes them, the mice decide to “fake a question” of life, the universe, and everything, settling on the question, “How many roads must a man walk down?” (Chapter 32)
3. At the end of the novel, Arthur decides to carefully study The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy so that he can learn as much about the universe as possible, since he has to live in it regardless. (Chapter 35)
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