Chapter – 1

The Fun They Had

In this post, we have given the Important Questions of chapter 1 “The Fun They Had”. It is the 1st chapter of the prose of Class 9th English.

Board	CBSE Board, UP Board, JAC Board, HBSE Board, UBSE Board, PSEB Board, RBSE Board
Textbook	NCERT
Class	Class 9
Subject	English Beehive
Chapter no.	Chapter 1
Chapter Name	The Fun They Had
Category	Class 9 English Important Questions
Medium	English

Chapter 1 The Fun They Had

Answer these questions in a few words.

Question 1. How old are Margie and Tommy?

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

Question 2. What did Margie write in her diary?

Answer: Margie wrote in her diary. “Today, 17 May, 2157, Tommy found a real book.”

Question 3. Had Margie ever seen a book before?

Answer: No, Margie had never seen a book before.

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

Answer: The book had yellow and wrinkled pages. The words of the book were still. They did not move as the words move on the computer screen. She found these things strange.

Question 5. What do you think a telebook is?

Answer: A telebook is displayed on the television screen and the text of a telebook is similar to a book.

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

Answer: Margie’s school was near her own bedroom. She did not have any classmate.

Question 7. What subjects did Margie and Tommy learn?

Answer: Margie learnt Geography and Mathematics. Tommy learnt History and Mathematics.

Answer the following with reference to the story.

Question 1. “I wouldn’t throw it away.”

(i) Who says these words?

(ii) What does ‘it’ refer to?

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

Answer:

• (i) Margie says these words.
• (ii) It refers to that real book that Tommy found.
• (iii) The speaker compares it with a telebook.

Question 2. “ Sure, they had a teacher, but it wasn’t a regular teacher. It was a man.”

(i) Who does ‘they’ refer to?

(ii) What does ‘regular’ mean here?

(iii) What is it contrasted with?

Answer:

• (i) ‘They’ refer to the people of the old times.
• (ii) Here, regular refers to the mechanical teacher then they had.
• (iii) It is contrasted with a normal teacher of earlier times, who was a living human being.

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

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

Answer: Margie and Tommy had mechanical teachers. They were taught on computers and television screens. They didn’t have a living person as a teacher who would teach the pupils in a classroom.

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

Answer: Margie’s mother sent for the County Inspector because the mechanical teacher was not functioning efficiently. It had been giving her test after test in geography and she had been doing worse and worse.

Question 3. What did he do?

Answer: He slowed down the mechanical teacher’s speed upto an average ten-year level. The mechanical teacher’s speed was controlled and adjusted according to the IQ level of Margie.

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

Answer: Margie had been doing badly in geography. This was because the mechanical teacher was very fast in displaying the questionnaire. The County Inspector adjusted its speed upto 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.

Question 5. What had once happened to Tommy’s teacher?

Answer: Tommy’s teacher was taken away for nearly a month because the history sector had blanked out completely. So, Tommy had nothing to do during that period. He only relaxed and enjoyed.

Question 6. 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 7. How does Tommy describe the old kind of school?

Answer: Tommy says that the old schools were different. They had a special building and all the kids went there to study. They laughed and shouted in the schoolyard. They enjoyed time together and learned lessons together in a classroom.

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

Answer: He says that the old teachers did not live in the house. They had a special building and all the kids went there. They gave homework to students. They were not mechanical teachers, but living human beings.

Answer each of these questions (100-150 words).

Question 1. What are the main features of the mechanical teachers and the schoolrooms that Margie and Tommy have in the story?

Answer: Margie and Tommy have mechanical teachers. They need not go to school for getting a formal education. The mechanical teacher is placed in one of the rooms of the house and they can get the knowledge of various subjects of individually from the mechanical teacher. They don’t have such classrooms where students sit together. They study from the telebooks. So they don’t require books and exercise books. The examination system is very different. They do homework in a different way. Margie has to write them out in a punch code. She leamt it when she was six years old. So the system of their education is technologically advanced and not based on printed books.

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

Answer: Margie hated her school because she had a mechanical teacher. It was in her house. She was supposed to sit in that room alone to complete her hometask or assignments. The part Margie hated most was the slot where she had to put homework and test papers. She thought that the old schools must have been fun because the students used to sit together in the classroom. They enjoyed, laughed and shouted in the schoolyard. Children needed company to enhance their skills. If they are isolated, they get depressed and dejected.

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

Answer: There is no doubt that today’s schools are more funny than the future school discussed in the story. This school has nothing but a mechanical teacher with no emotions and sentiments. It does not have the ability to understand the psychology of a child. Moreover, it guides a pupil according to its adjusted modes. But today’s schools work for the overall development of a child. They learn the same thing. The teaches are real human beings. They leam how to adapt themselves to the new surroundings and cope with the strangers. The students sit and leam together. These activities don’t give vent to the feelings of depression, alienation and segregation.

Short Answer Type Questions

Question 1: How was the book that Tommy found different from his own books ?

Answer: The book that Tommy found was an old, real book which belonged to his grandfather’s grandfather. It had crinkly, yellow pages whereas, Tommy’s books were telebooks by mechanical teachers, computers.

Question 2: What kind of book did Tommy show to Margie ?

Answer: The book that Tommy showed to Margie was an old, real book which belonged to his grandfather’s. It had crinkly yellow pages, where all the stories were printed on paper and the words stood still.

Question 3: Why did Margie hope that the County Inspector would take away her mechanical teacher ?

Answer: Margie hoped that the County Inspector would take away her mechanical teacher because she had performed poorly in all the geography tests and had developed a strong disliking for the school.

Question 4: Tommy thought the old books were funny and a big waste. Why ?

Answer: Tommy thought that the old books were a waste because the words stood still and did not run. He also thought that they were a big waste because they could not be reused like the screen of their mechanical teacher.

Question 5: What did County Inspector do to improve Margie’s performance ?

Answer: The County Inspector found that the geography sector had been geared too quick. He slowed it up to an average 10-years level. He found the overall pattern of Margie quite satisfactory.

Question 6: What kind of teachers did Margie and Tommy have ?

Answer: Margie and Tommy had mechanical teachers, computer, and telebooks. Their school had. no separate building. They had robotic teachers showing lessons and testing papers. Their teachers were always on and kept waiting for them.

Question 7: Why did Margie hate school ?

Answer: Margie hated school, which was a room in her house only, because her teacher was a mechanical one. It kept giving her test papers where answers had to be written as punch codes. The results were given instantaneously.

Question 8: What differences do you find in present school and the school described in the lesson ‘The Fun They Had’ ?

Answer: In present day schools, students study together in a separate building and teachers are human beings whereas, in the lesson the school was at home and the teacher was mechanical.

Question 9: How does Tommy describe the old kind of teachers ?

Answer: Earlier, the teachers were not mechanical teachers, they taught the children in a special building where all children went to learn. They asked questions and gave them home work.

Question 10: Why did Margie find the book strange ?

Answer: The book had yellow and crinkly pages and the words standing still unlike moving on a screen. When they turned back to the pages read before, there were the same words on it when they read it the first time. All these things were strange for Margie.

Question 11: Why did Margie’s mother send for the County Inspector ? What did he do ?

Answer: Margie was not performing well in her geography tests. The County Inspector took the teacher apart and put it together again as its geography sector was geared a little too quick.

Long Answer Type Questions

Question 1: In spite of all comforts and luxuries in today’s world, our grandparents still cherish their own time when life was quite tough. Give your own views regarding this in 80-100 words.

Answer: Our grand parents lived during the years of 1950s to 1970s. At that time life was very simple yet tough. They had time to explore the surroundings and the world. They had parks to play with less of pollution around them. Mechanical gadgets were there but were used only for necessary activities. There were rivers where they could go for picnics and treks without the fear of being getting any allergy. The school was more of a fun place where they met their friends. They studied but were not competing against each other. For them togetherness was important rather than competition.

In today’s world we are competiting against our friends. We have all the facilities of life but we do not have time for our family and friends. We like to play but on computers and play station rather than with our sibilings and friends.

Question 2: How was Margie’s school different from the schools that existed hundreds of years ago ?

Answer: Margie’s school was at home. She had a mechanical teacher, telebooks, no other students were there in the class and work was fed in by the mechanical teacher by punch codes. Whereas, the old schools had proper buildings, many students, human teachers who gave homework and asked questions. Everyone learned the same things and books were of paper. So, it is clearly visible that Margie’s school was totally different from the schools that existed hundreds of years ago.

Question 3: How is Margie’s school different from a normal school ?

Answer: Margie’s school had a room installed with a computer from which she used to learn the lessons. There were no teachers to teach die students. No homework was given to the students. The computers gave them tests and the results were given instantly. There was no one to do the corrections or solve their problems. There were no classmates even. So, Margie’s school was very different from a normal school.

Value Based Question

Question 1: ‘Machines can’t replace human beings.’ Explain this in 80-100 words with reference to the Lesson ‘The Fun They Had’.

OR

In context of the lesson ‘The Fun They Had’ do you think mechanical teachers or computer instructors cannot replace humans as teachers.

Answer: A teacher not only has to teach and explain things but also has to understand the mindset of the students. A computer instructor will only be able to deliver the lesson but will not be able to understand the problems of the students. A teacher (human) emotionally connects to the students to make the child comfortable but this is not the case with a mechanical teacher. Teaching can be best done by a person because then only will they be able to pass on the correct values and lessons to the students.

We hope that Class 9 English (Beehive) Chapter 1 The Fun They Had Important Questions helped you. If you have any queries about Class 9 English (Beehive) Chapter 1 The Fun They Had Important Questions or about any other notes of Class 9 English, so you can comment below. We will reach you as soon as possible…