The Fun they Had Important Questions Class 9 Beehive English
Very Short Answer Type Questions
Question 1. What is the name of Margie’s mother?
Answer
Her name is Mrs Jones.
Question 2. How old was Margie?
Answer
She was eleven years old.
Question 3. What did the teacher teach Margie when she went to her school?
Answer
When Margie went to school the mechanical teacher taught an arithmetic lesson on the addition of proper fractions. It taught her how to add the fractions 1/2 and 1/4.
Question 4. What did Margie write in her diary?
Answer
On 17 May 2157 Margie recorded in her diary the discovery of a real book by Tommy. It was a very old paper book with yellow and crinkly pages.
Question 5. What was wrong with the geography sector of Margie’s mechanical teacher?
Answer
The geography sector of Margie’s mechanical teacher was geared a little too quick.
Question 6. What subjects did Tommy and Margie learn?
Answer
Tommy and Margie learned a lot of subjects like History, Geography, and Mathematics.
Question 7. What was the County Inspector trained to do?
Answer
The County Inspector worked as a technical expert. He was trained to identify and rectify errors in the functioning of the system installed in the mechanical teachers.
Question 8. What do you mean by a regular teacher?
Answer
It means the mechanical teacher that appears on the television screen at the fixed time.
Question 9. Why did Margie hate slot most?
Answer
Margie hated slot most because she had to put homework and test papers in it.
Question 10. Who was the Country Inspector? What was his work?
Answer
The country Inspector was the man who repaired the mechanical teacher. He adjusted the level of the teacher as per the child’s requirements and intelligence.
Question 11. What did Tommy find?
Answer
He found a real book.
Question 12. Did Margie have regular days and hours for school? If so, why?
Answer
Yes, Margie had regular days and hours for school because her mother said little girls learned better if they learned at regular hours.
Question 13. Why did Margie’s mother send for the County Inspector?
Answer
She sent for the County Inspector because Margie had been doing worse and worse in her geography tests.
Question 14. Why did Tom5my pronounce the word ‘centuries ago’ carefully?
Answer
Tommy pronounced the word carefully because he wanted to lay stress on the fact that the school was very old and it was quite different from theirs.
Question 15. What had the mechanical teacher been giving to Margie?
Answer
The mechanical teacher had been giving test after test to Margie in geography.
Question 16. What had once happened to Tommy’s teacher?
Answer
Once Tommy’s teacher was taken away for about a month because the history sector had blanked out completely.
Short Answer Type Questions
Question 1. Describe the book that Tommy had found in the attic.
Answer
Tommy found a real book in the attic of his house. The pages had turned yellow and crinkly because it was at least two hundred years old. Moreover, it was all covered with dust as it had been lying in the attic for ages.
Question 2. Where had Tommy found the book? How was it different from the books Margie and Tommy were used to?
Answer
Tommy found a real book in the attic of his house. The book was at least two hundred years old so pages had turned yellow and crinkly. It was a different from the books Margie and Tommy were used to because they had telebooks to read from while the book Tommy found was printed on paper.
Question 3. Did Margie like the printed book? Why/Why not?
Answer
Margie was so excited to know that Tommy had found a ‘real’ book which was unlike the on-screen books the two were used to reading, that she recorded the discovery in her diary. As she turned the yellow and crinkly pages of the book with Tommy, she found it awfully funny to read it. While Tommy found it a waste, Margie was fascinated by it and liked it.
Question 4. Had Margie ever seen a real book before? Did she know about such books?
Answer
No, Margie had never seen a book before till she saw the one Tommy found in the attic of his house. She had only heard about books from her grandfather who himself had not seen any. He too had heard about a printed book from his own grandfather.
Question 5. How does Tommy find the telebooks of his own time to be better?
Answer
Tommy felt that his telebooks were better than the printed books of the ancient times because they could be stored on television and read again and again. They occupied very little space as compared to the printed books and need not be discarded once they had been read.
Question 6. What kind of teachers did Margie and Tommy have? How were they different from teachers in the book?
Answer
Margie and Tommy had mechanical teachers, which were large and black and ugly, with a big screen on which all the lessons were shown and the questions were asked. There was a slot where they had to put homework and test papers and the mechanical teacher calculated the marks in no time. Margie and Tommy’s teachers were different from the teachers in the book as the teachers in the book were men and not mechanical teachers.
Question 7. What idea do you form of the County Inspector as a person?
Answer
The County Inspector was certainly a kind-hearted man. Instead of finding fault with Margie, he gave her an apple and told her mother that if Margie was not performing well, it was not her fault, but the fault of the mechanical teacher. He aligned the speed of the geography sector keeping in mind the level of the girl. Before leaving, he patted Margie on the head and expressed satisfaction at her performance.
Question 8. Why had Margie started hating her school?
Answer
Margie never liked school. But lately she had come to hate it more than ever because of her poor performance in geography. The mechanical teacher had been giving her test after test in the subject and she had been doing worse and worse.
Question 9. How did the County Inspector disappoint Margie?
Answer
Margie was disappointed because she hated school and hoped that her mechanical teacher would be taken away for repairs as Tommy’s teacher was once taken away for a month. But when the County Inspector promptly repaired and reset it at her home itself, she was unhappy.
Question 10. Margie’s mother was very particular about her studies. Justify with evidence from the story.
Answer
Margie’s mother was very particular about her studies and made sure that Margie attended her tele-school regularly and at fixed times as she felt little girls learned better if they learned at regular hours. She took a keen interest in Margie’s performance and when she felt she was not doing too well in a particular subject, she called the County Inspector to have a look at the mechanical teacher.
Question 11. How does Tommy describe the old kind of teachers?
Answer
Tommy tells Margie that the teachers in olden times were not mechanical but real men. They taught various things to boys and girls, gave them homework and also asked them questions. The teachers went to a special building called the school where they taught the children in the classrooms.
Question 12. How will the e-books be different from the old books that existed centuries ago?
Answer
The very concept of ‘the books’ will change in the 22nd century. The e-books will replace old books. The books will not be printed on papers. The words will move on a TV/computer screen. The television screen may have more than a million books on it.
Question 13. Why was Margie not doing well in geography? What did the County Inspector do to help her?
Answer
Margie was not doing well in geography. In fact, her performance was getting worse day by day. Her mother sent for the County Inspector to look into the problem. He told Mrs Jones that the geography sector in Margie’s mechanical teacher was geared up a little too quickly for her and that he had slowed it up to the level of an average ten-year-old.
Question 14. Who interrupts Margie and Tommy’s conversation? Why?
Answer
Margie and Tommy were lost in unraveling the exciting mystery of the ‘real’ book that the latter had found in his attic, when Margie’s mother interrupted them saying “Margie! School!” and she even suggested to Tommy that it was time for him to attend school, too.
Question 15. What is the ‘slot’? Why does Margie hate it?
Answer
‘Slot’ was a space in the mechanical teacher where each student is to put his homework and test assignments for marking. Margie hates it the most because she has to work hard to punch code for answering homework.
Question 16. Why did Margie get disappointed after the geography sector of her teacher was set right?
Answer
Margie’s mechanical teacher had been giving her test after test in geography and her mother had asked the County Inspector to look into it. Margie had hoped that her mechanical teacher would be taken away for some time as Tommy’s had been when it had malfunctioned. But she was disappointed when the County Inspector set the mechanical teacher right there and then.
Question 17. What was Tommy’s opinion about the ‘real book’?
Answer
Tommy found the ‘real book’ a waste as once read you, just throw it away. It did not seem interesting and useful. The words were fixed on it and not any other thing can be printed on it.
Question 18. What was Margie’s reaction when Tommy told her that twentieth-century schools had human teachers?
Answer
When Margie heard Tommy mention that children were taught by human teachers in the times gone by, she could not believe the truth of Tommy’s statement. She believed that a human teacher could not match the mechanical teacher in intelligence and knowledge. This was because she had been taught by a mechanical teacher and had never seen any human teacher.
Question 19. Why was Margie doing worse in geography? What did the County Inspector do to help her?
Answer
Margie had been doing worse in geography because the mechanical teacher was very fast in displaying the questionnaire. The County Inspector adjusted its speed up to an average ten-year level. Thus, the mechanical teacher’s speed was controlled appropriately. The County Inspector assured that the overall pattern of Margie’s progress was quite satisfactory.
Long Answer Type Questions
Question 1. Suppose you are Margie. Write a diary entry dated 17th May 2157 about Tommy’s real book that he found in his attic.
Answer
Tuesday,
17th May 2157
10.00 p.m.
Dear Diary
It has been a wonderful day for me as I have seen a real, hard-bound printed paper book. In fact, Tommy found the book in the attic of his house when he was cleaning the cupboard of his grandfather. It consists of about 200 pages which have become yellow and crinkly with time. It is a strange experience to read the words fixed on its papers unlike the ones in my telebooks that keep moving as I scroll.
When I turn the page, I find the same words again. The book is about a school from olden times, about two centuries ago. Can you believe that in those times a school was not a room in one’s own house but a special building dedicated to the purpose of teaching and learning! The students of the same level studied the same things sitting together in the same classroom. It is really wonderful to think that the teachers were men and not machines. I really believe that it must have been great fun for children to go to such schools together, laughing, joking, playing, and teasing each other. How wonderful it must have been that the students helped each other with lessons as well! I wish I could travel back in time and study in one of those schools.
Question 2. “What a waste!” What is Tommy referring to as a ‘waste’? Is it really a waste? Why/Why not?
Answer
Tommy thought the paper book he found in his attic with words that were printed and did not move was a waste. Once a book had been read, it became useless and must be thrown away because it had the same content.
Yes: Printed books are a waste as telebooks are more accessible. They can be stored in a television and read again and again. They occupy very little space as compared to the printed books and need not be discarded once they have been read. In addition, paper books consume resources like trees from which paper is made and water that is consumed in the process of making paper.
No: Printed books are not a waste as they can be read by many people over and over again and can be preserved for future generations. Moreover, the data in a telebook can be lost or stolen, but in a printed book, the data printed on a page remains for ever.
Question 3. What kind of teachers did Margie and Tommy have? How were they different from teachers in the book?
Answer
Margie and Tommy had mechanical teachers, which were large and black and ugly, with a big screen on which all the lessons were shown and the questions were asked. There was a slot where they had to put homework and test papers and the mechanical teacher calculated the marks in no time. Margie and Tommy’s teachers were different from the teachers in the book as the teachers in the book were men and not mechanical teachers.
Question 4. The old schools are considered fun by the modern generation. Explain.
Answer
The ancient schools consisted of Gurukuls in which the students stayed in the building with the guru. Then with the change of time Gurukuls changed into schools. Hence the teacher and the student have a formal relationship. In these schools, teachers are human beings and books are real ones made of paper. Now with times, the modern generation’s school replaced by e-text and computers. The future generation would envy when they come to know about the old system of education in which all the kids went to school together. They studied together, played together. They could have better innovative minds as they got a chance to discuss things with each other. The old system of education in which ‘man’ as a teacher could influence his students by the charisma of his personality. Future generation would utter what fun the schools were long ago.
Question 5. Do you think Asimov is warning us about the dangers of too much computerisation?
Answer
In his short story “The Fun They Had” Isaac Asimov depicts the school system in 2157 which is based on technical advancement. Thirteen-year-old Tommy and eleven-year-old girl Margie both study with a computer teacher at home. While the individual teaching can train the personal talents and it is a perfect way to give every child knowledge and information baed on the child’s capacity, but there are some disadvantages, too.
Pupils do not learn like a computer. Learning has to be fun, otherwise the probability of forgetting is higher. Another disadvantage is that there are no social relationships like at school today. Learning with friends at school can be a motivation. Students improve their communication skills and their behaviour in a group. A mechanical teacher cannot give moral values to the children.
I think Asimov is trying to warn us that the school system which is being followed in 2157 is a good way of giving children knowledge and information for jobs, but it is not good at giving ability for interpersonal relationships. In my opinion the disadvantages are more serious than the advantages and I feel this is a warning given by Isaac Asimov that this kind of schooling may not, in fact, be an ideal option for students.
Question 6. Describe the old school as described in the book? How did it influence Margie?
Answer
The book which Tommy found was about school. However, it was not the kind of school Margie and Tommy were used to, but the old kind of schools that were there hundreds and hundreds of years ago. School was a special building and all the kids went there. Children went to these schools to study and were taught by a ‘regular’ teacher, a man who told the boys and girls things and gave them homework and asked them questions.
At school, all children of the same age studied together and carried out the same activities and tasks. Margie thought about the old kind of school. She was thinking about all the kids from the whole neighbourhood came, laughing and shouting in the schoolyard, sitting together in the schoolroom, going home together at the end of the day. They learned the same things, so they could help one another with the homework and talk about it. Margie thought about the old school system and how much fun the children must have had, learning and spending time together.
Question 7. Why did Margie think that children in olden days had fun while studying in school?
Answer
Margie attended a tele-school, which was just a machine in the room next to her bedroom and she studied alone unlike the students of the schools in the bygone times. She found her present school much too mechanical, boring, monotonous and demanding, and she hated it. She felt that learning was more fun in those days because hundreds of children had the opportunity of congregating and studying together with the help of human teachers and printed books. Schools were large buildings where students learned the same things, so they could help one another with the homework and talk about it.
Question 8. Can you imagine a school without teachers and books? Give your opinion on the basis of the lesson ‘The Fun They Had’.
Answer
No one can deny the role of modern technologies in our lives and in our studies. Nowadays education is changing but schools without teachers and without books are beyond imagination. Without teachers, teaching would not be good because no one would be there to explain and to teach as well. No student would like the environment, it would be like an office. Teachers are very important for education. Teachers not only teach us different subjects but they also teach us to live in discipline and to live together. Teachers resolve the student’s problem and doubt and if they aren’t in schools the students don’t study enough. As in the lesson Margie does not like her school, she finds it tedious as she does not have the opportunity to be with other students and to do every work together. Modern technologies can be taken as an aid to improve the standard of studies but the schools without books and teachers will never be preferred.
Question 9. Write a short note on the school system in “The Fun They Had”.
Answer
Margie and Tommy are young school going children in the year 2157. Schools and teachers in the twenty- second century are entirely different from the ones in present day. Margie and Tommy’s school is not in a separate special building but a room in their respective houses where the television or the mechanical teacher is placed. Each student has to sit and study alone with the help of mechanical teacher, a large and black and ugly machine, with a big screen on which all the lessons are shown and the questions are asked.
The ‘teacher’ assigns tests to the students and assesses their progress. The speed of the different subject sectors is fixed according to the age level of each student. There is a special slot in the tele-teacher where students have to insert their homework or tests. If the mechanical teacher develops any fault, there are engineers to repair it.
Sometimes the fault may be a major one and it takes long to repair it, as was the case when Tommy’s history teacher developed a snag and it took a month to repair it. Thus, the mechanical teachers and schoolrooms of Margie and Tommy are fully computerised and are completely different from the present day schools.