The Fun They Had : ncert solution- class 9

Thinking about the Text.

I. Answer these questions in a few words or a couple of sentences each.

1. How old are Margie and Tommy?

Ans: Margie and Tommy are eleven and thirteen years old respectively.

2. What did Margie write in her diary?

Ans: Margie wrote in her diary, “Today Tommy found a real book”.

3. Had Margie ever seen a book before?

Ans:  Margie had not seen a book ever before.

4. What things about the book did she find strange?

Ans: The things about the book she found strange were the words printed on the book and staying still. There was no movement in the words. She thought words should be moved automatically but they were quite different from the words of her modern books.

5. What do you think a telebook is?

Ans: A telebook consists of millions of different books. It displays the chapters according to the desires of the learners. The words of the books move in accordance with desirable speed. It does not have pages like today’s books. The content and the lesson with their words are displayed on the screen.

6. Where was Margie's school? Did she have any classmates?

Ans: Margie’s school was at her home. She did not have any classmates as we find in modern schools and educational institutes.

7. What subjects did Margie and Tommy learn?

Ans: Margie and Tommy learned 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?

Ans: Tommy says these words.

(ii) What does 'it' refer to?

Ans:  ‘It’ refers to the television screen or a telebook.

(iii) What is it being compared with by the speaker?

Ans: It is being compared with the real book by the speaker.

2. "Sure they had a teacher, but it was not a regular teacher. It was a man."

(i) Who does 'they' refer to?

Ans: ‘They’ refer to the students or the learners.

(ii) What does 'regular' mean here?

Ans:- ‘Regular’ means the mechanical teacher here, but not the teacher as a man.

(iii)What is it contrasted with?

Ans: The mechanical teacher is contrasted with the earlier or old kind of teacher who used to be a man.

III. Answer each of these questions in a short paragraph (about 30 words).

1. What kind of teachers did Margie and Tommy have?

Ans: Margie and Tommy had mechanical teachers. The teacher had a special screen to display the text and the words. The words of the books are used to move in accordance with the desired speed of the learners. Sometimes the words used to be moving very fast which was not convenient for the students. They used to be fixed on a particular place set for them.

2. Why did Margie's mother send for the County Inspector?

Ans: Margie’s mother sent for the County Inspector because Margie’s mechanical teacher had been giving her test after test in geography and she had been performing unsatisfactorily. Its geography sector was geared up a little more. The County Inspector was able to slow it down so that Margie would be comfortable and convenient with her teacher.

3. What did he do?

Ans:  He slowed down the geography sector of the mechanical teacher. The Inspector was pleased after he did his work and patted Margie’s head. He said that he had set to an average ten-year level.

4. Why was Margie doing badly in geography? What did the County Inspector do to help her?

Ans: Margie was doing badly in geography because her mechanical teacher was geared up a little fast. It had been giving her test after test which she was not able to compete. The County Inspector slowed it down to an average ten-year level.

5. What had once happened to Tommy's teacher?

Ans: The history sector of Tommy’s teacher was once blacked out completely.

 6. Did Margie have regular days and hours for school? If so why?

Ans: Yes, Margie had regular days and hours for school. She had to attend school at a certain time every day except Saturday and Sunday. This is because her mother said that little girls learn better if they learn at regular hours.

7. How does Tommy describe the old kind of school?

Ans: Tommy said that the old kind of school was centuries ago. They had teachers as men. They did not live in the houses but they had special buildings where the learners used to go.

8. How does he describe the old kind of teachers?

Ans: Tommy said the old kind of teachers were men. They did not live in the house but in the special building where kids used to go. The teachers were not required to be adjusted.

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?

Ans: Margie and Tommy had mechanical teachers which were quite different from the real teachers. As we know teachers are men and women but their teachers were machines. They were fixed on a particular place at their homes where they had to go regularly except Saturday and Sunday. Their teachers used to display words of the books on the screen which were moving in accordance with their desirable pace.

They did not have classmates with them during their studies. It was a monotonous schoolroom. They did not have any opportunities to interact with their classmates. Sometimes their mechanical teachers were very fast and so they performed badly. They calculate in no time. A student is not allowed to keep pace with the lesson. When it was adjusted and readjusted it worked conveniently.

2. Why did Margie hate school? Why did she think the old kind of school must have been fun?

Ans: Margi hated school because her school did not have fun which could please her. She was not in any way satisfied by the working procedures of her mechanical teacher. Her teacher sometimes used to give her test after test so fast that she could not work out properly. Her mother had to call the County Inspector to slow down the speed of the teacher. She did not have classmates to make fun with them. She was to sit in front of her teacher and she did not have any opportunities to talk to the teacher or with her classmates.

The old kind of school was far better than her modern school. The schools were situated in a particular place and made for a large number of students where they used to go and study sitting together. The teacher used to go there or stay there to teach the kids. The kids used to make fun with their classmates and get opportunities to interact with them. She thought that the old kind of school must have fun.

3. Do you agree with Margie that schools today are more fun than the school in the story? Give reasons for your answer.

Ans: I must agree with Margie that schools today are more fun than the school in the story. The schools today have some special teachers for each and every subject. Teachers are specialists in their subjects. They stay in the school where kids or students go to study. They teach and facilitate the children and the learners by talking and demonstrating properly. A large number of students go there and study their subjects. Whenever they need to interact, they can do this. But this is not the case with Margie’s mechanical teacher.

 Margie’s teacher can give her lesson very fast which sometimes becomes almost impossible for the students to deal with. In schools, today children are provided special time to think properly in case they face any problem in understanding or thinking. Schools today are more fun because kids go and study their subjects sitting together in the same classroom. They leave school at the same time. They get ample opportunities to talk and clear their concepts regarding any topic they learn in the classroom.

Thinking about Language

1. Adverbs

Read this sentence taken from the story:

They had once taken Tommy's teacher away for nearly a month because the history sector had blanked out completely.

The word complete is an adjective. When you add - ly to it, it becomes an adverb.

1. Find the sentences in the lesson which have the adverbs given in the box below.

awfully   sorrowfully   completely   loftily

carefully   differently   quickly   nonchalantly

Ans: 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 there were supposed to --- on a screen, you know. the mechanical teacher had been giving her test after test in geography and she had been doing worse and worse until her mother shook her head sorrowfully and sent for the County Inspector. They had once taken Tommy's teacher away for nearly a month because the history sector had blanked out completely.

 He added loftily, pronouncing the word carefully, "Centuries ago."

 He added loftily, pronouncing the word carefully, "Centuries ago."

"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 as to be taught differently."

"I didn't say I didn't like it," Margie said quickly.

"Maybe," he said nonchalantly.

2. Now use these adverbs to fill in the blanks in the sentences below.

(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  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 what Margie’s mother told her. “You will feel awful if you don’t finish your history lesson.”

She could also say: “You will 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).

Now 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, she will get angry.

2.       If you don’t telephone the hotel to order food, you will not have your meal today.

3.       Unless you promise to write back, I will never write to you.

4.       If she doesn’t play any games, she will remain unhealthy.

5.       Unless that little bird flies away quickly, the cat will catch it.