The fun they had
1. MARGIE even wrote about it that night in her diary. On the page headed 17 May 2157, she wrote, “Today Tommy found a real book!”
It was a very old book. Margie’s grandfather once said that when he was a little boy his grandfather told him that there was a time when all stories were printed on paper.
They turned the pages, which were yellow and crinkly, and it was awfully funny to read words that stood still instead of moving the way they were supposed to — on a screen, you know. And then when they turned back to the page before, it had the same words on it that it had had when they read it the first time.
crinkly: with many folds or lines
awfully: very badly or unpleasantly.
"we played awfully"
2. “Gee,” said Tommy, “what a waste. When you’re through with the book, you just throw it away, I guess. Our television screen must have had a million books on it and it’s good for plenty more. I wouldn’t throw it away.”
“Same with mine,” said Margie. She was eleven and hadn’t seen as many telebooks as Tommy had. He was thirteen.
She said, “Where did you find it?”
“In my house.” He pointed without looking, because he was busy reading. “In the attic.”
attic: a space just below the roof, used as a storeroom
“What’s it about?”
“School.”
3. Margie was scornful. “School? What’s there to write about school? I hate school.”
scornful: contemptuous; showing you think something is worthless
Margie always hated school, but now she hated it more than ever. The mechanical teacher had been giving her test after test in geography and she had been doing worse and worse until her mother had shaken her head sorrowfully and sent for the County Inspector.
sorrowfully: full of or feeling sorrow; grieved; sad
4. He was a round little man with a red face and a whole box of tools with dials and wires. He smiled at Margie and gave her an apple, then took the teacher apart. Margie had hoped he wouldn’t know how to put it together again, but he knew how all right, and, after an hour or so, there it was again, large and black and ugly, with a big screen on which all the lessons were shown and the questions were asked. That wasn’t so bad. The part Margie hated most was the slot where she had to put homework and test papers. She always had to write them out in a punch code they made her learn when she was six years old, and the mechanical teacher calculated the marks in no time.
slot: a given space, time or position
5. The Inspector had smiled after he was finished and patted Margie’s head. He said to her mother, “It’s not the little girl’s fault, Mrs Jones. I think the geography sector was geared a little too quick. Those things happen sometimes. I’ve slowed it up to an average ten-year level. Actually, the overall pattern of her progress is quite satisfactory.” And he patted Margie’s head again.
geared (to): adjusted to a particular standard or level
pat: touch quickly and gently with the flat of the hand.
past tense: patted; past participle: patted.
"he patted him consolingly on the shoulder"
Margie was disappointed. She had been hoping they would take the teacher away altogether. They had once taken Tommy’s teacher away for nearly a month because the history sector had blanked out completely.
So she said to Tommy, “Why would anyone write about school?”
6. Tommy looked at her with very superior eyes. “Because it’s not our kind of school, stupid. This is the old kind of school that they had hundreds and hundreds of years ago.” He added loftily, pronouncing the word carefully, “Centuries ago.”
loftily: in a superior way
Margie was hurt. “Well, I don’t know what kind of school they had all that time ago.” She read the book over his shoulder for a while, then said, “Anyway, they had a teacher.”
“Sure they had a teacher, but it wasn’t a regular teacher. It was a man.”
regular: here, normal; of the usual kind
“A
man? How could a man be a teacher?”
“Well, he just told the boys and girls things and gave them homework and asked them questions.”
7. “A man isn’t smart enough.”
“Sure he is. My father knows as much as my teacher.”
“He knows almost as much, I betcha.”
betcha (informal): (I) bet you (in fast speech): I’ m sure
Margie wasn’t prepared to dispute that. She said, “I wouldn’t want a strange man in my house to teach me.”
dispute:
disagree with
Tommy
screamed with laughter. “You don’t know much, Margie. The
teachers didn’t live in the house. They had a special building and
all the kids went there.”
“And all the kids learned the same thing?”
“Sure, if they were the same age.”
8. “But my mother says a teacher has to be adjusted to fit the mind of each boy and girl it teaches and that each kid has to be taught differently.”
“Just the same they didn’t do it that way then. If you don’t like it, you don’t have to read the book.”
“I didn’t say I didn’t like it,” Margie said quickly. She wanted to read about those funny schools.
They weren’t even half finished when Margie’s mother called, “Margie! School!”
Margie looked up. “Not yet, Mamma.”
“Now!” said Mrs Jones. “And it’s probably time for Tommy, too.”
Margie said to Tommy, “Can I read the book some more with you after school?”
9. “May be,” he said nonchalantly. He walked away whistling, the dusty old book tucked beneath his arm.
nonchalantly: not showing much interest or enthusiasm; carelessly
Margie went into the schoolroom. It was right next to her bedroom, and the mechanical teacher was on and waiting for her. It was always on at the same time every day except Saturday and Sunday, because her mother said little girls learned better if they learned at regular hours.
The screen was lit up, and it said: “Today’s arithmetic lesson is on the addition of proper fractions. Please insert yesterday’s homework in the proper slot.”
10. Margie did so with a sigh. She was thinking about the old schools they had when her grandfather’s grandfather was a little boy. All the kids from the whole neighborhood 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.
sigh: to breathe out slowly and noisily, expressing tiredness, sadness, pleasure, etc.
And the teachers were people…
The mechanical teacher was flashing on the screen: “When we add fractions ½ and ¼…”
Margie was thinking about how the kids must have loved it in the old days. She was thinking about the fun they had.
***
I. Answer these questions in a few words or a couple of sentences each.
1. How old are Margie and Tommy?
Answer: Margie is eleven years old, and Tommy is thirteen years old.
2. What did Margie write in her diary?
Answer: Margie wrote, “Today Tommy found a real book!”
3. Had Margie ever seen a book before?
Answer: No, Margie had never seen a book before.
4. What things about the book did she find strange?
Answer: She found it strange that the words stood still instead of moving like on a screen and that the pages were yellow and crinkly.
5. What do you think a telebook is?
Answer: A telebook is an electronic book that is read on a screen.
6. Where was Margie’s school? Did she have any classmates?
Answer: Margie’s school was in her home, right next to her bedroom. She did not have any classmates.
7. What subjects did Margie and Tommy learn?
Answer: Margie and Tommy learned subjects like geography, history, and arithmetic.
II. Answer the following with reference to the story.
1. “I wouldn’t throw it away.”
(i) Who says these words?
Answer: Tommy says these words.
(ii) What does ‘it’ refer to?
Answer: ‘It’ refers to the television screen that holds millions of books.
(iii) What is it being compared with by the speaker?
Answer: It is being compared with the old physical book that Margie and Tommy found.
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’ refers to the children who attended school hundreds of years ago.
(ii) What does ‘regular’ mean here?
Answer: ‘Regular’ means the mechanical teachers that Margie and Tommy are used to.
(iii) What is it contrasted with?
Answer: It is contrasted with the human teachers who taught children in the past.
III. Answer each of these questions in a short paragraph (about 30 words).
1. What kind of teachers did Margie and Tommy have?
Answer: Margie and Tommy had mechanical teachers with screens for lessons and slots for homework, programmed to provide individualized education tailored to each student's learning pace and needs.
2. Why did Margie’s mother send for the County Inspector?
Answer: Margie’s mother sent for the County Inspector because Margie was struggling with geography, and she was concerned about her consistently poor performance and declining test scores.
3. What did he do?
Answer: The County Inspector examined and adjusted the mechanical teacher, slowed down the geography lessons to a suitable level for Margie, and ensured the machine was working properly.
4. Why was Margie doing badly in geography? What did the County Inspector do to help her?
Answer: Margie struggled because the geography lessons were too advanced. The County Inspector slowed the lessons to a ten-year-old's level, making them easier for Margie to understand.
5. What had once happened to Tommy’s teacher?
Answer: Tommy's teacher had malfunctioned completely in the history sector, causing it to be taken away for repairs, resulting in Tommy having no lessons for nearly a month.
6. Did Margie have regular days and hours for school? If so, why?
Answer: Yes, Margie had regular school hours because her mother believed that maintaining a consistent schedule helped her learn more effectively and develop good study habits.
7. How does Tommy describe the old kind of school?
Answer: Tommy describes the old school as a place where all children went to a special building to learn together, unlike their isolated home-based learning environment.
8. How does he describe the old kind of teachers?
Answer: Tommy describes old teachers as humans who taught lessons, assigned homework, and asked questions, contrasting with their mechanical, screen-based teachers.
IV. Answer each of these questions in two or three paragraphs (100 –150 words).
1. What are the main features of the mechanical teachers and the schoolrooms that Margie and Tommy have in the story?
Answer: In the story, Margie and Tommy have mechanical teachers that are essentially robots programmed to deliver lessons and assess students' performance. These teachers have large screens displaying the lessons, questions, and instructions. They also have slots where students insert their homework and test papers, which are then evaluated by the machine. The lessons are personalized, with each student receiving material suited to their learning level and pace.
The schoolrooms are located within their homes, typically next to their bedrooms, making education a solitary activity. The mechanical teachers are always on at specific times each day, except on weekends, ensuring a strict and regular schedule. This setup eliminates the social aspect of traditional schooling, as there are no classmates or human interaction during the learning process. The impersonal and mechanical nature of this education system starkly contrasts with the communal and interactive schooling of the past.
2. Why did Margie hate school? Why did she think the old kind of school must have been fun?
Answer: Margie hated school primarily because of the impersonal and monotonous nature of her education. The mechanical teacher's rigid and unforgiving method of teaching made learning a joyless task for her. The constant stream of geography tests and the pressure to perform well despite the challenging material contributed to her frustration. The lack of human interaction and the isolating environment of her home schoolroom further intensified her dislike for school.
Margie thought the old kind of school must have been fun because it was a social environment where children learned together. She imagined students laughing and playing in the schoolyard, helping each other with homework, and enjoying the communal experience of learning. The idea of having human teachers who could interact with and understand the students made the old school seem more engaging and enjoyable. The contrast between her lonely, mechanical education and the lively, human-centered schooling of the past made her yearn for the latter, believing it would be a much more pleasant and fulfilling experience.
3. Do you agree with Margie that schools today are more fun than the school in the story? Give reasons for your answer.
Answer: Margie in the story thinks about how schools used to be long ago, where kids went to a real classroom with other kids and a human teacher. They learned together, helped each other with homework, and had fun playing and talking. In contrast, Margie's school is different—it's all done through a screen with a mechanical teacher. She finds this boring compared to the old-fashioned way.
Whether schools today are more fun than the old schools depends on what each student likes. Some might enjoy using technology and learning on screens, while others might miss the social interaction and hands-on learning from traditional classrooms. It's all about what works best for each person and what they enjoy most about learning.
I. Answer these questions in a few words or a couple of sentences each.
1. How old are Margie and Tommy?
Answer: Margie is eleven years old, and Tommy is thirteen years old.
2. What did Margie write in her diary?
Answer: Margie wrote, “Today Tommy found a real book!”
3. Had Margie ever seen a book before?
Answer: No, Margie had never seen a book before.
4. What things about the book did she find strange?
Answer: She found it strange that the words stood still instead of moving like on a screen and that the pages were yellow and crinkly.
5. What do you think a telebook is?
Answer: A telebook is an electronic book that is read on a screen.
6. Where was Margie’s school? Did she have any classmates?
Answer: Margie’s school was in her home, right next to her bedroom. She did not have any classmates.
7. What subjects did Margie and Tommy learn?
Answer: Margie and Tommy learned subjects like geography, history, and arithmetic.
II. Answer the following with reference to the story.
1. “I wouldn’t throw it away.”
(i) Who says these words?
Answer: Tommy says these words.
(ii) What does ‘it’ refer to?
Answer: ‘It’ refers to the television screen that holds millions of books.
(iii) What is it being compared with by the speaker?
Answer: It is being compared with the old physical book that Margie and Tommy found.
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’ refers to the children who attended school hundreds of years ago.
(ii) What does ‘regular’ mean here?
Answer: ‘Regular’ means the mechanical teachers that Margie and Tommy are used to.
(iii) What is it contrasted with?
Answer: It is contrasted with the human teachers who taught children in the past.
III. Answer each of these questions in a short paragraph (about 30 words).
1. What kind of teachers did Margie and Tommy have?
Answer: Margie and Tommy had mechanical teachers with screens for lessons and slots for homework, programmed to provide individualized education tailored to each student's learning pace and needs.
2. Why did Margie’s mother send for the County Inspector?
Answer: Margie’s mother sent for the County Inspector because Margie was struggling with geography, and she was concerned about her consistently poor performance and declining test scores.
3. What did he do?
Answer: The County Inspector examined and adjusted the mechanical teacher, slowed down the geography lessons to a suitable level for Margie, and ensured the machine was working properly.
4. Why was Margie doing badly in geography? What did the County Inspector do to help her?
Answer: Margie struggled because the geography lessons were too advanced. The County Inspector slowed the lessons to a ten-year-old's level, making them easier for Margie to understand.
5. What had once happened to Tommy’s teacher?
Answer: Tommy's teacher had malfunctioned completely in the history sector, causing it to be taken away for repairs, resulting in Tommy having no lessons for nearly a month.
6. Did Margie have regular days and hours for school? If so, why?
Answer: Yes, Margie had regular school hours because her mother believed that maintaining a consistent schedule helped her learn more effectively and develop good study habits.
7. How does Tommy describe the old kind of school?
Answer: Tommy describes the old school as a place where all children went to a special building to learn together, unlike their isolated home-based learning environment.
8. How does he describe the old kind of teachers?
Answer: Tommy describes old teachers as humans who taught lessons, assigned homework, and asked questions, contrasting with their mechanical, screen-based teachers.
IV. Answer each of these questions in two or three paragraphs (100 –150 words).
1. What are the main features of the mechanical teachers and the schoolrooms that Margie and Tommy have in the story?
Answer: In the story, Margie and Tommy have mechanical teachers that are essentially robots programmed to deliver lessons and assess students' performance. These teachers have large screens displaying the lessons, questions, and instructions. They also have slots where students insert their homework and test papers, which are then evaluated by the machine. The lessons are personalized, with each student receiving material suited to their learning level and pace.
The schoolrooms are located within their homes, typically next to their bedrooms, making education a solitary activity. The mechanical teachers are always on at specific times each day, except on weekends, ensuring a strict and regular schedule. This setup eliminates the social aspect of traditional schooling, as there are no classmates or human interaction during the learning process. The impersonal and mechanical nature of this education system starkly contrasts with the communal and interactive schooling of the past.
2. Why did Margie hate school? Why did she think the old kind of school must have been fun?
Answer: Margie hated school primarily because of the impersonal and monotonous nature of her education. The mechanical teacher's rigid and unforgiving method of teaching made learning a joyless task for her. The constant stream of geography tests and the pressure to perform well despite the challenging material contributed to her frustration. The lack of human interaction and the isolating environment of her home schoolroom further intensified her dislike for school.
Margie thought the old kind of school must have been fun because it was a social environment where children learned together. She imagined students laughing and playing in the schoolyard, helping each other with homework, and enjoying the communal experience of learning. The idea of having human teachers who could interact with and understand the students made the old school seem more engaging and enjoyable. The contrast between her lonely, mechanical education and the lively, human-centered schooling of the past made her yearn for the latter, believing it would be a much more pleasant and fulfilling experience.
1. Find the sentences in the lesson which have the adverbs given in the box below.
awfully, sorrowfully, completely, loftily, carefully, differently, quickly, nonchalantly
Answer:
awfully:
They turned the pages, which were yellow and crinkly, and it was awfully funny to read words that stood still instead of moving the way they were supposed to — on a screen, you know.
sorrowfully:
The mechanical teacher had been giving her test after test in geography and she had been doing worse and worse until her mother had shaken her head sorrowfully and sent for the County Inspector.
completely:
They had once taken Tommy’s teacher away for nearly a month because the history sector had blanked out completely.
loftily:
He added loftily, pronouncing the word carefully, “Centuries ago”.
carefully:
He added loftily, pronouncing the word carefully, “Centuries ago”.
differently:
“But my mother says a teacher has to be adjusted to fit the mind of each boy and girl it teaches and that each kid has to be taught differently.”
quickly:
“I didn’t say I didn’t like it,” Margie said quickly. She wanted to read about those funny schools.
nonchalantly:
“Maybe,” he said nonchalantly.
2. Now use these adverbs to fill in the blanks in the sentences below.
(i) The report must be read _________ so that performance can be improved.
(ii) At the interview, Sameer answered our questions _________ shrugging his shoulders.
(iii) We all behave _________ when we are tired or hungry.
(iv) The teacher shook her head ________ when Ravi lied to her.
(v) I ________ forgot about it.
(vi) When I complimented Revathi on her success, she just smiled ________ and turned away.
(vii) The President of the Company is ________ busy and will not be able to meet you.
(viii) I finished my work ________ so that I could go out to play.
Answers:
(i) The report must be read carefully so that performance can be improved.
(ii) At the interview, Sameer answered our questions loftily shrugging his shoulders.
(iii) We all behave differently when we are tired or hungry.
(iv) The teacher shook her head sorrowfully when Ravi lied to her.
(v) I completely forgot about it.
(vi) When I complimented Revathi on her success, she just smiled nonchalantly and turned away.
(vii) The President of the Company is awfully busy and will not be able to meet you.
(viii) I finished my work quickly so that I could go out to play.
3. Make adverbs from these adjectives.
(i) angry
(ii) happy
(iii) merry
(iv) sleepy
(v) easy
(vi) noisy
(vii) tidy
(viii) gloomy
Answer:
(i) Angry → Angrily
(ii) Happy → Happily
(iii) Merry → Merrily
(iv) Sleepy → Sleepily
(v) Easy → Easily
(vi) Noisy → Noisily
(vii) Tidy → Tidily
(viii) Gloomy → Gloomily
II. If Not and Unless
• Imagine that Margie’s mother told her, “You’ll feel awful if you don’t finish your history lesson.”
• She could also say: “You’ll feel awful unless you finish your history lesson.”
Unless means if not. Sentences with unless or if not are negative conditional sentences.
Notice that these sentences have two parts. The part that begins with if not or unless tells us the condition. This part has a verb in the present tense (look at the verbs don’t finish, finish in the sentences above).
The other part of the sentence tells us about a possible result. It tells us what will happen (if something else doesn’t happen). The verb in this part of the sentence is in the future tense ( you’ll feel/you will feel ).
Notice these two tenses again in the following examples.
Future Tense |
|
Present Tense |
• There won’t be any books left |
unless |
we preserve them. |
• You won’t learn your lessons |
if |
you don’t study regularly. |
• Tommy will have an accident |
unless |
he drives more slowly. |
Complete the following conditional sentences. Use the correct form of the verb.
1. If I don’t go to Anu’s party tonight, ________________
2. If you don’t telephone the hotel to order food, ________________
3. Unless you promise to write back, I ________________
4. If she doesn’t play any games, ________________
5. Unless that little bird flies away quickly, the cat ________________
Answer:
1. If I don’t go to Anu’s party tonight, I will miss out on all the fun.
2. If you don’t telephone the hotel to order food, you will stay hungry.
3. Unless you promise to write back, I will be very disappointed.
4. If she doesn’t play any games, she will get bored.
5. Unless that little bird flies away quickly, the cat will catch it.
Writing
A new revised volume of Issac Asimov’s short stories has just been released. Order one set. Write a letter to the publisher, Mindfame Private Limited, 1632 Asaf Ali Road, New Delhi, requesting that a set be sent to you by Value Payable Post (VPP), and giving your address. Your letter will have the following parts.
•Addresses of the sender and receiver
•The salutation
•The body of the letter
•The closing phrases and signature
Your letter might look like this:
Your address
____________________________________
____________________________________
____________________________________
Date _______________ (DD/MM/YY)
The addressee’s address
____________________________________
____________________________________
____________________________________
Dear Sir/Madam,
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________
Yours sincerely,
Your signature
Note: Remember that the language of a formal letter is different from the colloquial style of personal letters. For example, contracted forms such as ‘I’ve’ or ‘can’t’ are not used.
Answer:
My address
Bonda, Narengi
Guwahati, 781026
Assam, India
Date: 18/07/24
The addressee’s address
Mindfame Private Limited
1632 Asaf Ali Road
New Delhi, 110002
India
Dear Sir/Madam,
I am writing to request a set of the newly released revised volume of Isaac Asimov’s short stories. Kindly send one set to me by Value Payable Post (VPP) at your earliest convenience.
My address for delivery is as follows:
Bonda, Narengi
Guwahati, 781026
Assam, India
Please let me know the total cost including shipping and handling, so I can ensure I have the appropriate amount ready for the Value Payable Post.
Thank you for your attention to this matter. I look forward to receiving the set soon.
Yours sincerely,
Pinky Teron
[Signature]
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