Get here the summary, questions, answers, textbook solutions, extras, pdf of the story The Fun They Had by Issac Asimov of SEBA Class 9 English textbook (Beehive). However, the given notes/solutions should only be used for references and should be modified/changed according to needs.
- I. Answer these questions in a few words or a couple of sentences each.
- II. Answer the following with reference to the story.
- III. Answer each of these questions in a short paragraph (about 30 words).
- IV. Answer each of these questions in two or three paragraphs.
- Extra/additional questions and answers/solutions
Summary: “The Fun They Had” is a science fiction story written by Issac Asimov, a well-known author in this genre. The narrative, set in the year 2157, depicts a future in which human teachers have been replaced by mechanical, robotic ones. It tells the story of two children who discover a paper book from the past and are fascinated to learn that books back then were made of real paper rather than digitalized paper. Tommy, the older of the two children, then begins to tell Margie, the younger girl, about how schools and books used to be. As she listens to him, Margie is astounded to learn that, unlike them, children in the past gathered at a building called the school,’ and they were lectured by an actual human teacher, rather than a mechanical one. Her teacher was a robot whom she despised because he assigned her difficult tests.
Margie, who dislikes going to school, thinks of the “old schools” when her mother sends her and Tommy to their respective “study rooms.” Margie realises that it would have been more fun if she, like the children of the past, could have studied in a school with all of her friends. She realises she could have had a lot more playmates and that she could have had friends to help her with her homework.
Video tutorial
I. Answer these questions in a few words or a couple of sentences each.
1. How old are Margie and Tommy?
Answer: Tommy was thirteen years old, while Margie was eleven.
2. What did Margie write in her diary?
Answer: Margie wrote in her diary that Tommy had discovered a real book that day.
3. Had Margie ever seen a book before?
Answer: No, Margie had never seen a real book before.
4. What things about the book did she find strange?
Answer: Margie noticed two oddities in the book. First, the words remained stationary on the pages rather than moving as they would on a screen; and second, when they returned to the previous page, it always had the same words on it as the first time they read it.
5. What do you think a telebook is?
Answer: A telebook is a book that has been digitally transformed and can be read on a television or computer screen.
6. Where was Margie’s school? Did she have any classmates?
Answer: Margie’s home and school were both in the same neighbourhood. Her school was a homeschooling classroom, and her teacher was a mechanical robot. Margie did not have any classmates.
7. What subjects did Margie and Tommy learn?
Answer: Margie and Tommy studied a variety of subjects, including arithmetic, geography, history, and English.
II. Answer the following with reference to the story.
1. “I wouldn’t throw it away.”
(i) Who says these words?
Answer: Tommy is the person who said the above-quoted line.
(ii) What does ‘it’ refer to?
Answer: Tommy’s television screen is referred to as ‘It.’
(iii) What is it being compared with by the speaker?
Answer: Tommy compares the television screen, which contains millions of e-books, to the paper book he once held in his hand.
2. “Sure they had a teacher, but it wasn’t a regular teacher. It was a man.”
(i) Who does “they’ refer to?
Answer: “They” are today’s children who attend schools and are educated by human teachers.
(ii) What does ‘regular’ mean here?
Answer: “Regular” refers to the common mechanical teacher who the children, Tommy and Margie, were very familiar with, having seen and been taught by them on a regular basis.
(iii) What is it contrasted with?
Answer: ‘It,’ i.e. today’s human teacher, is contrasted with Tommy and Margie’s time in 2157, when mechanical robotic teachers are the norm.
III. Answer each of these questions in a short paragraph (about 30 words).
1. What kind of teachers did Margie and Tommy have?
Answer: Tommy and Margie were taught by mechanical teachers who were programmed specifically for their mental abilities. They had screens that showed lessons and questions, as well as slots where students could enter their homework.
2. Why did Margie’s mother send for the County Inspector?
Answer: Margie’s mechanical teacher had been giving her geography test after geography test, and she had been failing them all. This prompted Margie’s mother to summon the County Inspector to investigate the matter.
3. What did he do?
Answer: The County Inspector smiled and handed Margie an apple. Then, using his toolbox, he disassembled Margie’s teacher, adjusted the settings for the geography sector, and reassembled him.
4. Why was Margie doing badly in geography? What did the County Inspector do to help her?
Answer: Margie’s teacher’s geography sector was programmed faster and to more advanced settings than she could understand. As a result, he continued to subject her to gruelling tests. Thus, she fell behind and performed poorly in geography.
The County Inspector changed the programming and sped up the geography section to make it more appropriate for Margie’s age.
5. What had once happened to Tommy’s teacher?
Answer: Tommy’s teacher had once experienced a possible programming error, resulting in the entire history section blanking out. As a result, the mechanical teacher was removed from the classroom for a month while repairs were made to him.
6. Did Margie have regular days and hours for school? If so, why?
Answer: Yes, Margie had regular school days and hours because her mother believed that little girls like Margie learned better when they studied at set times.
7. How does Tommy describe the old kind of school?
Answer: Tommy describes the old school as one that existed centuries ago, where children from various houses gathered in a building called ‘school’ to be taught by a man who assigned homework and asked questions. This was unusual for Margie and Tommy.
8. How does he describe the old kind of teachers?
Answer: Tommy describes the old type of teachers as “mechanical robots” because a regular teacher was a mechanical robot to him. As a result, he finds it strange that the old teachers were human. He informs Margie that they were men who taught the boys and girls, asked questions, and assigned homework.
IV. Answer each of these questions in two or three paragraphs.
1. What are the main features of the mechanical teachers and the schoolrooms that Margie and Tommy have in the story The Fun They Had?
Answer: The main characteristics of Margie and Tommy’s mechanical teachers and schoolrooms in the story The Fun They Had are as follows: To begin with, schoolrooms were not actual schools, but rather a room in the home designated solely for study. Second, each child studied independently at home, with his or her own personal teacher. Third, the teachers were not humans, but rather robots that had been programmed to meet the child’s intellectual needs. Finally, mechanical teachers both taught and analysed the performance of their students.
2. Why did Margie hate school? Why did she think the old kind of school must have been fun?
Answer: Margie despised school because, like most children, she thought it was pointless and that studying was pointless. She disliked having to study or do homework on a regular basis. Furthermore, her teacher had recently been testing her geography knowledge on a daily basis, and she had received very low grades. This made Margie despise school even more. Margie thought that the schools of the past were enjoyable because being taught by a man seemed more enjoyable than being taught by her own mechanical teacher. Furthermore, Tommy had told her that in the old type of school, children from various houses gathered in a building called the ‘school’ to study. This seemed like an intriguing idea to her, especially the possibility of playing with those other children, sitting in the same classroom, learning the same things together, and, more importantly, having someone to share the burden of homework with. The prospect of spending the entire day with other children made Margie consider how much fun the old school must have been.
3. Do you agree with Margie that schools today are more fun than the school in the story? Give reasons for your answer,
Answer: Yes, I completely agree with Margie. Schools today are more enjoyable than the school in the story The Fun They Had because, unlike Margie, who studies in a room in her own house, we get to travel to school every day. In addition, unlike the schools in the story The Fun They Had, our current schools allow us to participate in a variety of extracurricular activities and do different things. We get to play games, go to the library, compete, and act in various school plays, among other things. Furthermore, we get to meet other kids and make a lot of new friends. Specifically, I believe that a mechanical teacher will never be able to replace a human one because it will lack the love, understanding, compassion, and overall humane touch that our teachers of the past demonstrated.
Extra/additional questions and answers/solutions
1. How did Tommy’s discovery differ from his own books?
Answer: Tommy discovered an old, genuine book that belonged to his grandfather’s grandfather. It had crinkly yellow pages, whereas Tommy’s books were telebooks produced by mechanical teachers and computers.
14. Do you believe that mechanical teachers or computer instructors can replace humans as teachers in the context of the lesson “The Fun They Had?”
Answer: A teacher must not only teach and explain things to students but also comprehend their mindset. A computer instructor can only deliver the lesson; he or she will not be able to comprehend the students’ issues. A human teacher empathises with students in order to make them feel at ease, whereas a mechanical teacher does not. Teaching is best done by a person because only they will be able to teach the students the correct values and lessons.
Ron’e Dutta is a journalist, teacher, aspiring novelist, and blogger who manages Online Free Notes. An avid reader of Victorian literature, his favourite book is Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë. He dreams of travelling the world. You can connect with him on social media. He does personal writing on ronism.
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