(1) What is a speculation? Does it differ from profiteering? How can a speculation be active? Is there any difference between "technology" and "technique"? Or between "technological" and "technical"?
(2) How can "an avenue of escape" be paraphrased? Does "humdrum" here mean "monotony, "boredom" or something else? In what sense can the present be said to be "solid"? Does one need the rest of the text to understand the meaning of this word in the sentence?
(3) What derivatives of "to deter" can you recall? Is a premonition a pleasant feeling? How are the words "imagination" and "imaginative" used in modern English? In what way do they differ from 'fancy" and "fanciful"?
(4) Why is "reassurance" referred to as "naive"? What does "soporifically" mean? Has the word "cataclysmic" a positive or a negative connotation?
(5) In what sense is the time machine "cosy"? How can the phrase "can be depended upon to do smth." be paraphrased? What is the parlour fire? What idea is implied in mentioning "tea around the parlour fire"? Why is "the author" referred to as the traveller in the time machine?
(6) What does "the here-and-now" mean?
(7) What is the connotation of the word "airily"? Does it imply easiness or light-mindedness? Why is a scientific fact called "sober"?
(8) Why is the word "impossible" used here in inverted commas?
(9) What is "a signpost of civilization"? How can anything be dissolved "actively? When do we say that something is done Before our eyes"? What are mass media? What is the figurative meaning of "to soak"? What do mass media soak people with? Is it good or bad that our eyes are "media-soaked"?
(10) Does "to be impelled" mean "to be forced" or "to be inclined"? Is there any difference between "future" and "things to come"? Does "the shape of things to come" mean "what will future be like" or something else?