The Fun They Had

Answer: Margie is eleven years old and Tommy is thirteen years old.

Answer: Margie wrote in her diary: "Today Tommy found a real book!"

Answer: No, Margie had never seen a real book before. She had only seen telebooks on screens.

Answer: She found it strange that the words stood still instead of moving on a screen, and that the pages were yellow and crinkly. She also thought it was odd that once you finished reading it, you just threw it away.

Answer: A telebook is a book displayed on a television or computer screen that can be read electronically.

Answer: Margie's school was in her own house, right next to her bedroom. No, she did not have any classmates; she was taught alone by a mechanical teacher.

Answer: Margie and Tommy learned subjects like geography, history, and arithmetic.

Answer: (i) Tommy says these words. (ii) 'It' refers to the old printed book he found. (iii) He compares it to the television screen, saying their screen must have had a million books on it and it's good for plenty more, so he wouldn't throw away the book.

Answer: (i) 'They' refers to the children in the olden days. (ii) 'Regular' here means normal or usual. (iii) It is contrasted with the mechanical teacher that Margie and Tommy had.

Answer: Margie and Tommy had mechanical teachers. These were large, black, ugly machines with big screens on which lessons were shown and questions were asked. They were adjusted to fit the mind of each child and taught them individually in their own homes.

Answer: Margie's mother sent for the County Inspector because Margie had been doing worse and worse in her geography tests. Her mother was worried about her progress.

Answer: The County Inspector took the mechanical teacher apart, checked it, and found that the geography sector had been geared a little too quick. He slowed it up to an average ten-year level and put it back together.

Answer: Margie was doing badly because the geography sector of her mechanical teacher was geared too quick for her. The County Inspector slowed it up to an average ten-year level to help her.

Answer: Tommy's mechanical teacher had once been taken away for nearly a month because its history sector had blanked out completely.

Answer: Yes, Margie had regular days and hours for school. She studied at the same time every day except Saturday and Sunday because her mother believed that little girls learned better if they learned at regular hours.

Answer: Tommy describes the old kind of school as a special building where all the kids went together. They had a human teacher who taught them, and all the kids of the same age learned the same thing.

Answer: Tommy describes the old kind of teachers as real people, not mechanical. They taught children in groups and lived in the school building, not in the children's homes.

Answer: The mechanical teachers were large, black machines with a big screen on which lessons were shown and questions were asked. They were adjusted to fit each child's individual learning level. The schoolroom was in the child's own home, right next to the bedroom. Children studied alone at regular hours every day except weekends. They had to insert homework into a slot for marking. The teachers could be taken apart and repaired when something went wrong.

Answer: Margie hated school because she had a mechanical teacher that gave her test after test, and she was doing badly. She disliked being alone and the monotony of it. She thought the old kind of school must have been fun because children from the whole neighborhood came together, laughed and shouted in the schoolyard, sat together in the schoolroom, and went home together at the end of the day. They could help one another with homework and talk about it. The teachers were real people, not machines.

Answer: Yes, I agree with Margie. Today's schools are more fun because we have classmates, friends, and human teachers. We can interact, play, and study together. We have sports, extracurricular activities, and group projects. The school in the story was lonely and mechanical, with a machine teaching a single child in isolation. Human connection, shared experiences, and collaborative learning make school enjoyable.

Answer:

• awfully: "He added loftily, pronouncing the word carefully, 'Centuries ago.'"
• sorrowfully: "...until her mother had shaken her head sorrowfully..."
• completely: "...the history sector had blanked out completely."
• loftily: "He added loftily, pronouncing the word carefully, 'Centuries ago.'"
• carefully: "...pronouncing the word carefully, 'Centuries ago.'"
• differently: "...each kid has to be taught differently."
• quickly: "'I didn't say I didn't like it,' Margie said quickly."
• nonchalantly: "'May be,' he said nonchalantly."

Answer:

• (i) The report must be read carefully so that performance can be improved.
• (ii) At the interview, Sameer answered our questions nonchalantly 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 loftily 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.