The Martian: a book review

The Martian: a book review

Read a review of the book 'The Martian' to practise and improve your reading skills.

Do the preparation task first. Then read the text and do the exercises.

Preparation

Reading text

Read the review of the book The Martian below.

Then do the exercises.

Review: The Martian

The Martian tells the story of Mark Watney, an astronaut on the Ares 3 mission to Mars. After a terrible storm almost destroys the ship and the base, the crew of his ship believe he is dead. 1) _____. Alone on the red planet, he has to survive until the next mission to Mars arrives.

While this novel is fiction, in some ways it feels like non-fiction. It is very scientific and packed with details about survival on Mars. Watney is a botanist and engineer, and he begins to grow food and produce water in his artificial camp. How does he do this? 2) _____.

The author is Andy Weir, and this is his first published book. In it he has created a realistic character. There is a lot of humour in the story, and the reader can identify with the emotions (although no one can really imagine what it's like to be on Mars). Watney admits at the beginning that he is in deep trouble, but he never gives up. 3) _____. Instead, what The Martian gives us is a realistic look at an intelligent person alone on a planet and trying to survive.

The majority of the plot takes place on Mars and is written in the form of Watney's journal entries. 4) _____. Unfortunately, the other characters in the book (his fellow crew members, the scientists at NASA on Earth) do not get much development and so they often feel one-dimensional.

I should also mention that the book is thrilling to read. You will be on the edge of your seat until the very end. 5) _____. It's good not only for space travel fans and scientists but for anyone who is looking for a unique and exciting story. The Martian was so popular that it was made into a film starring Matt Damon in 2015, but I recommend reading the book first.

Discussion

Download
Worksheet69.36 KB

Language level

Average: 4.3 (23 votes)

Submitted by Miss zahra on Sat, 08/04/2023 - 11:41

Permalink

I recommend the most famous book from Daren Hardey which is called The Compound Effect. It is kind of inspiring book that packed with alot of useful information about creating new good habits and replace them by the old bad ones. I suggest that at first time just read it carefully and try to write bullet points the second time. then try to actualize them in your real life. I promise that can be change your life in a good way. I recommend reading this book to every one who is looking forward a fulfilment in family and work life.

Submitted by jmajo on Tue, 28/03/2023 - 13:52

Permalink

I would recommend a book I read a long time ago but I stil remember very well and I think it’s a really interesting book, the title is “Siddhartha” an the author was Herman Hesse if I’m not wrong. It tells the story of a very young and religiuos man who passes trhough different styles of life and paths along the years trying to find his own truth and meaning of life.

Thanks for the lesson.
Great site!!

Submitted by KathCatalina on Mon, 06/02/2023 - 01:53

Permalink

Hi everyone! I highly recommend the book "El espía del inca" "The inca´s spy" because it tells the story about the Atahualpa´s capture by the Spanish conquerors. The plot is about the many actions that Atahualpa's believers do to free him.

If you like peruvian story about the incas, you have to read this book. Before the autor published his book, he did a special and deeper investigation about the incas. For that reason the book has many details about the story of incas and also show the value of "El quipu". It was an ancient Inca device that were used for communication and mathematics.

Submitted by Eman Samir on Sat, 03/12/2022 - 20:21

Permalink

I'd recommend the book "Discover Your Destiny" for Robin Sharma.It helps you to know a lot about your self.

Submitted by Annie Amarant on Tue, 13/09/2022 - 15:01

Permalink

I want to recommend a novel "Intermezzo" by ukrainian painter Mykhaylo Kotsybynskiy. It is really interesting and charming story))

Submitted by Nandar Su Hlaing on Sun, 04/09/2022 - 05:05

Permalink

What book would you recommend?
Although I read book sometime, I don't know which book should I mention. I am not a bit reader.

Submitted by younes01 on Wed, 20/04/2022 - 21:49

Permalink

Hi friends i just want to talk about a life-changing book i read recentely that is created by james clear its name is "Atomic Habits"
I think that everyone should read this book because of its deep information about habits and how can it makes your life change 100% from changing and adding some tiny things to your daily life.
In the book the author talk first about what is a habit and its benefits
after he talks about how to make a good habit that make you success in life and how to get rid of bad habit.
all of this stands of a habit and its component wich they are cue: this what make you think of the habit or remember to do it the.
craving: wich make you want to get the reward of the habit.
response: the act of doing the habit.
and reward: what you get when you do the habit.
I believe it is a good book that everyone should read carefully and extract all off the information from it and apply it to its life.

Submitted by Polad Samadli on Mon, 07/03/2022 - 21:39

Permalink

I recommend "A brief history of time" from Steven Hawking. It is pretty good for science and sci-fi lovers. Especially for space wondering guys. I think everyone can learn from this book, it is written in an understandable way.

This book is a masterpiece for two reasons:

1- It makes complex aspects of physics look so simple

2- It explains science with the linguistic simplicity that is matchless

Late Mr. Hawking was, and continues to be a source of inspiration for all those who love space, and believe humans are born to travel farther than the most distant stars.

Being influenced by great minds like that of Mr. Hawking, I too finally dared to write a science fiction, They Loved in 2075. It explores how humans will experience love in 2075? This science fiction novel navigates through the possibility of men and women falling in love with machines, without knowing they are robots imitating human emotions. Will you still dare to fall in love in 2075 or will you strive to tell the difference between a human lover and a robotic lover?

Submitted by Polad Samadli on Mon, 07/03/2022 - 21:30

Permalink

I have watched this film before, so it was easy for me to complete. Nice film by the way. I love sci-fi