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עמוד:46
The machine sat without moving . Suddenly it reached out its long hand , as if to move a piece on the chessboard . Then , with incredible speed , it hit Moxon on the head . Moxon tried to move away , but he was too late . The table overturned and the candle fell to the floor . I jumped to help my friend , but I had hardly taken a step in the dark when the whole room was filled with a blinding white light . Then everything was black and silent . Three days later , I woke up in a hospital . The memory of that horrible night slowly appeared . I looked up and I saw Moxon' s workman , Haley . I managed to say , weakly , "What happened ?" "You were carried from a burning house — Moxon ' s house . Nobody knows how you got there or how the fire began . I think the house was struck by lightning . " "And Moxon ? " I asked . "What happened to him ?" "Dead . Buried yesterday . " "And what happened to the machine that killed its master ?" "Destroyed in the fire . Do you really think it killed its master ?" "I do , " I replied , "I saw it happen . " That was many years ago . I was still in shock then . Now I wonder . Is it really possible that a machine could ever think ? Or was it just a terrible accident ? Thinking About What You Have Read 1 What do you think happened to Moxon ? 2 Moxon says , "I believe that a machine thinks about the work that it is doing . " Discuss what Moxon means . 3 Why do you think the title of the story is "Moxon ' s Master" ? What does it say about people and machines ? 4 Write a new title for the story . 10 . How does the loser react ? 11 . What happened to : the narrator ? Moxon ? the machine ? Moxon tried to move away , but he was too late .
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