ENGLISH NOTES

LESSION 1
THE FUN THEY HAD
Answer these questions in a few words or
a couple of sentences each.
1. How old are Margie and Tommy?
2. What did Margie write in her diary?
3. Had Margie ever seen a book before?
4. What things about the book did she find
strange?
5. What do you think a telebook is?
6. Where was Margie’s school? Did she have
any classmates?
7. What subjects did Margie and Tommy learn?

Answer

1. Margie is eleven and Tommy is thirteen-year-

old.
2. Margie wrote, “Today Tommy found a real
book!”.
3. No, Margie had never seen a book before.
4. Margie found it strange that the words
printed on a book stood still instead of moving
the way they did on a screen. She also found it
odd that the words on a page always remained
the same as the first time they were read.
Besides, the idea that someone would write a
book about schools was itself strange for
Margie.
5. A book that can be displayed on a screen is
called telebook.
6. Margie’s school was in her home itself, right
next to her bedroom. No, she did not have any
classmates.
7. 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?
(ii) What does ‘it’ refer to?
(iii) What is it being compared with by the
speaker?

Answer

(i) Tommy said these words.

(ii) 'It' refers to the television screen, on
which you could read over a million books
(iii) Tommy is comparing the television
screen to the real books in earlier times in
which words were printed on paper. He
thought that after reading such books, one
would have to throw them away. However,
he would never have to throw away his
telebooks.

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 students who studied in

the old kind of schools centuries before the
time the story is set in.
(ii) Here, 'regular' refers to the mechanical
teachers that Tommy and Margie had.
(iii) The mechanical teacher is contrasted
with the teacher of the earlier times, who
was a human being.
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.

They were large and black and ugly and had
large black screens on which all the lessons
were shown and questions were asked. These
mechanical teachers had a slot in which the
students had to put their homework and test
papers. They had to write their answers in a
punch code and the mechanical teacher
calculated the marks immediately.

2. Why did Margie’s mother send for the

County Inspector?

Answer

Margie had been given many tests in

geography by the mechanical teacher, but
there was no improvement in her
performance. It only kept getting worse. It is
for this reason that Margie’s mother sent for
the County Inspector to find out why this was
happening.

3. What did he do?

Answer

The County Inspector gave Margie an apple

and started working on the mechanical
teacher. He took it apart and then checked it.
Margie had hoped that the Inspector would
not know how to put the mechanical teacher
together again, but he managed to
reassemble it. He slowed down the geography
sector of the teacher because it was geared a
little too quick for an average ten-year-old.

4. Why was Margie doing badly in geography?

What did the County Inspector do to help her?

Answer

Margie was doing badly in geography because

the geography sector of the mechanical
teacher had been geared a little too quick.
The County Inspector rightly told her that she
could not be blamed for her poor
performance.
The County Inspector slowed down the
geography sector of the mechanical teacher
to an average ten-year level. He also told Mrs.
Jones that Margie's overall progress pattern
was satisfactory.

5. What had once happened to Tommy’s

teacher?

Answer

Once, The history sector of Tommy’s teacher

had once blanked out completely.

6. Did Margie have regular days and hours for

school? If so, why?

Answer

yes; Margie had regular days and hours for

school. This was because her mother believed
that learning at regular hours helped little
girls learn better. Her mechanical teacher was
also on at the same time every day except
Saturday and Sunday.

7. How does Tommy describe the old kind of

school?

Answer
 Tommy described old kind of school as a
special building where all kids studied
together. There were hundreds of students
studying and playing together. They used to
shout and laugh together in an open yard.

8. How does he describe the old kind of

teachers?

Answer

Tommy said that the old kind of teachers was

men, who taught the students inside a special
building. The teachers taught the children in
groups and gave them homework and asked
them questions.

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
Margie and Tommy had mechanical teachers.
They had large black screens on which all the
lessons were shown and questions were asked.
They had a slot in which students had to put
their homework and test papers. They had to
write their answers in a punch code and the
mechanical teacher calculated the marks
immediately. Their schools were in their homes
itself. They did not have any classmates. They
learned geography, history and arithmetic. They
had regular days and hours for school. Margie's
school was right next to her bedroom. The
mechanical teacher always turned on at the
same time every day except Saturdays and
Sundays because her mother said that little
girls learned better when they learned at
regular hours.

2. Why did Margie hate school? Why did she

think the old kind of school must have been
fun?

Answer

Margie hated school because it was not fun. A

mechanical teacher used to teach her every day
at a fixed time. Recently, she had been doing
badly in the geography tests that her
mechanical teacher had been giving her. Her
mother was not happy with the performance
and sends for the County Inspector; she hopes
that the inspector would take the mechanical
teacher away. She is disappointed when the
County Inspector manages to assemble all the
parts of the mechanical teacher. The part that
she hated the most was inserting the homework
and test papers in the slot on the mechanical
teacher. She did not like the fact that she had
to write her answers in a punch code. She
thought that the old kind of school must have
been fun as she imagined all the kids from the
entire neighborhood coming together, laughing
and shouting in the schoolyard. She imagined
that they would sit together in the classroom
and go home together at the end of the day.
They would learn the same things and could
help one another with the homework and talk
about it. Also, the teachers were people. All
these aspects made her believe that the old
kind of school must have been fun.

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 agree schools today are more fun than

the school in the story. In the story, there is no
interaction among students regarding studies.
Studying and answering questions seems to be
a boring idea. Doing homework without
anybody's help and writing them in a punch
code would also be draining. Moreover,
children develop a better understanding about
each other and of their surroundings when they
go to a school and interact with each other. It is
a healthier way of learning.
Listening to teachers explaining lessons is
always more interesting than reading the entire
lesson on a mechanical computer. Also, if any
student faces any problem with the subject or in
homework, he can discuss it with the teacher
and other kids. It is impossible to discuss
problems and situations with a mechanical
teacher that is only programmed to teach in a
particular manner.

The excitement of waiting to know the marks

scored in exams is greater when one is sitting in
a classroom with other students. It does not
have the same effect when the marks are
calculated immediately after a test has been
taken.
Finally, the friends that you make at school are
most probably the best friends that you will
ever make in your entire life. The various
qualities that you learn in school like obedience,
respect, kindness for others, sharing, taking
part in school games, sports, and other
activities are all a part of school education
today. Therefore, schools today are more fun
than the school in the story as they are more
interactive. They promote a healthy
environment for the students to study and
learn.