Monsters on Maple Street: Class 8 English Question Answers Summary Meanings

Summary

‘The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street’ is episode 22 in the first season of the American television anthology series The Twilight Zone. The episode was written by Rod Serling, the creator-narrator of the series. It originally aired on March 4, 1960 on CBS. In 2009, TIME named it one of the ten best Twilight Zone episodes.

Maple Street is full of children playing and adults talking when a shadow passes over, accompanied by a roar and a flash of light. They originally assume that it is a meteor. The residents soon discover that their power went off, affecting stoves, lawn mowers, cars and phones. They gather in the street to discuss the situation. Steve Brand and Charlie, decide to go into town, but Tommy, a local boy, urges him not to leave the street. Tommy has read a story of an alien invasion causing similar issues, and says that the monsters do not want anyone to leave the street. Furthermore, in the story, the aliens are living as a family that appears to be humans. The power outage is meant to isolate the neighbourhood. The adults are incredulous, assuring him that the cause is natural, such as sunspots. Another resident, Les Goodman, tries unsuccessfully to start his car. He gets out and begins to walk back to the other residents when the car starts on its own. The bizarre behaviour of his car makes the neighbours suspect that Les may be an alien, as suggested by Tommy’s story. Charlie says Les had always been an oddball, and suggests they go over and investigate, while Steve asks them to be calm and not allow mob rule to take over. Les, defending himself as a resident of Maple Street for 5 years, claims to suffer from insomnia, admonishes his neighbours that they should take caution and to not allow panic or act rashly. As darkness descends, Charlie begins keeping watch over Les Goodman’s house. Steve suggests Charlie go home and go to bed. Another neighbour, Don, mention that Steve has built a ham radio, which Charlie then claims no one has ever seen. Steve and the other neighbours continue to argue, using each person’s idiosyncrasies as evidence that they are an alien. Steve warns that such behaviour, looking for a scapegoat, is the surest way for the entire neighbourhood to ‘eat each other alive’. The lights in Charlie’s house come on. The neighbours voice suspicions about him. Charlie makes a run for his house while the other residents chase him. A hurled stone hits Charlie in the head. Terrified, Charlie attempts to deflect suspicion onto Tommy. Several neighbours agree, as Tommy was the only one who knew about the aliens’ plans. Lights begin flashing on and off in houses throughout the neighbourhood; lawn mower and car engines start and stop for no apparent reason. The mob becomes hysterical, hurling accusations, smashing windows and taking up weapons as the situation devolves into an all-out riot. The scene cuts to a nearby hilltop, where it is revealed the shadow that flew overhead is, indeed, an alien spaceship. Its crew are watching the riot on Maple Street while using a device to manipulate the neighbourhood’s power. They comment on how simply fiddling with consistency leads people to descend into paranoia and panic, and that this is a pattern that can be exploited. They also discuss their intention to use this strategy to conquer Earth, one neighbourhood at a time.

Comprehension

A. Answer these questions.

1. What was the scene on Maple Street before things went wrong?
2. What is the effect of Tommy’s warning on the crowd?
3. How did people react to Les Goodman’s car starting on its own?
4. Why is Steve suspected?
5. How does Steve react to being suspected?
6. Who is Myra and what information does she share about Steve?
7. Why does suspicion fall upon Charlie?
8. Why is Tommy suspected?

Answers

1. It was a calm evening with children’s laughter, ice cream man ringing his bell.
2. They don’t believe him. There is confusion all over.
3. They suspect him of being an alien in human form.
4. His wife, Myra, has been talking about how he would work for hours at night at some kind of radio.
5. He is very angry and says that they could pick on any crazy trait of a person and suspect him/her and pass judgement on him/her.
6. She is his wife and she has been telling people about his odd work at nights on some form of a radio.
7. The light go up only in his house in the entire neighbourhood.
8. He is suspected because Charlie names him.

B. Answer these questions with reference to the context.

1. ‘We’ll get all this straightened out.’
   a. Who is the speaker?
   b. What has happened?
   c. What does the speaker intend to do here?
2. Sally: Tommy, stop that kind of talk!
   a. How are Tommy and Sally related?
   b. What does she mean by ‘that kind of talk’?
   c. What reason does Emily give for Tommy’s ‘that kind of talk’?

3. ‘Understand the procedure now?’
   a. Who says this to whom?
   b. What procedure is being referred to?
   c. What does the procedure say about human beings?

Answers

1. a. Steve says this.
   b. Suddenly all gadgets have stopped working – electricity, internet, cars.
   c. He has decided to go downtown and get things going.
2. a. Sally is Tommy’s mother
   b. She means talking about spaceships from outer space landing and aliens visiting the earth.
   c. She thinks he has been reading too many comic books and seeing too many comic books.
3. a. Two figures emerge from behind the spacecraft. One of them says this to the other.
   b. Denying people access to their machines.
   c. You do not need bombs to destroy each other. Thoughts, attitudes and prejudices can kill

C. Answer these questions.

1. How did different people on Maple Street react towards the power failure?
2. Why does Tommy stop Steve and Charlie from going downtown?
3. The people on Maple Street take Tommy’s story very seriously. Why?
4. Do things happen the way Tommy predicts or it only triggers emotions in the people? Give reasons.
5. Describe what happens to Les Goodman.
6. Why does Steve compare the people present to that in a kangaroo court?
7. Steve says, ‘the only thing that’s going to happen is that we’ll eat each other up alive…’ Was this prophetic? Give reasons.
8. Does Steve stand out to be different from the others? Why do you think he’s been portrayed like that? Give reasons.
9. The play is a commentary on human behaviour. Discuss.
10. The play exemplifies how easy it is to destroy the civility of human race. Comment.
11. Who is the most dangerous enemy of the people on Maple Street? Discuss.
12. At the end of the play, what opinion do the aliens form about humans?

Answers

1. Some thought it was a meteor, electricity failure, they are confused, irritated, and helpless and they want to report to the police.
2. He thinks whoever landed amidst them does not want the thing to be reported.
3. Because of strange things happening, car starting on its own, lights suddenly going up etc.
4. Emotions are triggered. The way ‘good’ neighbours get at each other on mere thoughts can be frightening.
5. During a time in the evening when everything was susceptible to being an alien, the entire focus was on Les Goodman. His car engine starts up all by itself. Hence, people think he is an alien and target him.
6. He does so because all the people present held a kind of an unofficial court and they wanted to try everyone susceptible, especially without good evidence, as guilty of a crime or misdemeanour.
7. It was prophetic. Good neighbours get at each other ready to destroy them.
8. He does. His seems to be the only sane voice. He seems to know about human nature. He is perhaps portrayed like that to show that even mobs, there are some sane voices.
9. The play is a commentary on human behaviour which is clearly visible from the way the neighbours attack other fellows. They start blaming and accusing one another for the troubles and weird happenings around them. It is then when they are neighbours and live in the same locality. Such behaviour is common to humans and the same is portrayed here in the play.
10. The play clearly exemplifies how fragile the civility of humans is! Even the aliens are aware of it and confident that humans are themselves enemies of one another. The civility calls for forbearance, forgiveness kindness among beings. The elements of human instincts like suspicion, prejudices and attitude are enough to criminalise and victimise others to destroy the human civility.
    This pattern of human behaviour is more or less same in patter everywhere in the world. See the lines, ‘For the record, prejudices can kill and suspicion can destroy, and a thoughtless, frightened search for a scapegoat has a fallout all of its own for the children…the children yet unborn.’
11. The most dangerous enemy is the man himself who is ready to harm and destroy fellow beings by arming himself with the readily available tenets of malice arising out of suspicion, ego, attitude, misunderstanding, prejudices and the likes. The play shows how the Maple Street people start blaming others for the weird failure of machines and electricity. They even make a mockery of the boy Tommy. Humans victimise humans. See the lines, ‘They pick the most dangerous enemy they can find…and it’s themselves.
12. You don’t need any weapons for people to kill each other. Throw them into a tricky situation and they will kill themselves because of their prejudices, jumping to conclusions etc.

Vocabulary

A. There are some formal expressions in the box. Against each sentence, write the formal expression that can be used. One has been done for you.

contact
assist

1. My brother was busy sorting out the problem with the computer. …….r..e..s..o..l..v.e……..
2. I could finally get in touch with my client. ……………………..
3. The officer is checking the documents. ……………………..
4. Please make sure that all the arrangements are made. ……………………..
5. The concert will begin in ten minutes. ……………………..
6. The boss told him to find the key for the office immediately. ……………………..
7. This is Dr Anju. She will help me in this surgery. ……………………..
8. The train from Chennai will come on platform number 2. ……………………..
9. When did you buy this new cricket kit? ……………………..
10. Now we will show you how to make water alkaline. ……………………..

Answers

1. resolve 2. contact 3. verifying 4. ensure 5. commence 6. locate 7. assist 8. arrive 9. purchase 10. demonstrate

B. Match the informal expressions on the left with the appropriate formal expressions on the right.

Answers

1. g 2. a 3. e 4. b 5. c 6. d 7. f

Grammar

Answers

1st stanza: yawns

2nd stanza: gets, stands, yawns

3rd stanza: turns up

B. Convert these sentences into passive voice in both ways.

1. They asked him several questions.
2. He offered a chair to his guest.
3. The grandmother told the children lots of stories.
4. My mother gave me a gold bangle.
5. She sent a message to her brother.

Answers

1. They asked him several questions.
   a. He was asked several questions by them.
   b. Several questions were asked by them.
2. He offered a chair to his guest.
   a. A chair was offered to the guest by him.
   b. His guest was offered a chair by him.
3. The grandmother told the children lots of stories.
   a. He was told lots of stories by his grandmother.
   b. Lots of stories were told to him by his grandmother.
4. My mother gave me a gold bangle.
   a. I was given a gold bangle by my mother.
   b. A gold bangle was given to me by my mother.
5. She sent a message to her brother.
   a. Her brother was sent a message by her.
   b. A message was sent her brother by her.

C. Convert the instructions of an experiment into passive voice.
Pluck a green leaf of a plant in the evening. Put it in boiling water for a minute to kill protoplasm and then place it in warm methylated spirit. It loses its colour. Rinse with water and then place it in iodine solution. The leaf turns blue-black showing presence of starch.

Answers

A green leaf should be plucked in the evening. It should be put in boiling water to kill protoplasm and then it should be placed in warm methylated spirit. Its colour would be lost it should be rinsed in water and then place in iodine solution. The presence of starch can be seen as the leaf turns blue-black.

D. Change these sentences into passive voice.

1. Strike matches away from the body.
2. Keep lighted match ready before turning on the burner knob.
3. Light fireworks from the side.
4. Light crackers when adults are around.
5. Light fireworks outside the house.
6. Pour water on the burns till the pain subsides.

Answers

1. Matches should be struck away from the body.
2. The lighted match should be kept ready before the burner knob is turned on.
3. Fireworks must be lit from the side.
4. Crackers must be lit when adults are around.
5. Firecrackers must be lit outside the house.
6. Water should be poured on the burns the pain subsides.

E. Rewrite these newspaper headlines as complete sentences in passive voice. Add necessary information wherever required.

1. 43 PEOPLE INJURED IN A TRAIN ACCIDENT
2. HUNGER STRIKER HOSPITALISED
3. PAY RISE FOR TEACHERS
4. THREE MORE COLLEGES THIS YEAR
5. ATHLETE BREAKS ALL PREVIOUS RECORDS

Answers

1. 43 People were injured in a train accident.
2. The hunger striker was hospitalised.
3. A pay rise for teachers has been announced.
4. Three more colleges are to be opened this year.
5. All the previous records have been broken by the athlete.

F. Change these sentences into active voice. Supply the agent wherever required.

1. Traffic regulation must be obeyed by all.
2. Income tax should be paid by the end of the month.
3. All proposals were discussed in the meeting.
4. The accounts were checked and verified.
5. The beach has been cleaned by the volunteers.

Answers

1. All must obey traffic regulations.
2. People should pay income tax by the end of the month.
3. They discussed all the proposals in the meeting.
4. They checked and verified the accounts.
5. The volunteers cleaned the beach.