At the start of "rip van winkle," why is rip popular with the children of the village? a. he teaches them how to read and write. b. he teaches them to fly kites and shoot marbles. c. he plays songs for them on his guitar. d. he gives them rides in his wagon.

Rip Van Winkle is popular with the children of the village at the beginning of the story because he plays with them in an almost peer-like fashion.  Rip Van Winkle, indeed, teaches the children to fly kites and shoot marbles in addition to making toys for them and telling them stories.

martians or other types of aliens represent a unique fear as opposed to zombies. vampires and other types of monsters.   in most sci-fi stories, aliens come from other worlds and have different or more advanced technology.   abductions and experimentation on human bodies that involve these technologies, or the use of these technologies against human beings and the use of unknown "powers", are a type of fear that's different from that of other types of monsters.  

one of the central themes of edward abbey's work has been his staunch opposition to the glen canyon dam on the colorado river that created lake powell, destroying stunning scenery and wildlife habitat, endangering many rare species of fish and animals, and also irreparably destroying many important archaeological sites which provided information about the early inhabitants of the united states.