Jharkhand Board Class 9TH English Notes | THE FUN THEY HAD
JAC Board Solution For Class 9TH English Prose Chapter 1
COMPREHENSION
■ Read the following passage and answer the questions that
follow :
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 when they read it the first time.
Q. (a) What did Margie write about in her diary?
(b) Why did Margie call it 'real book?
(c) How were the pages of the real book?
(d) What happened when they turned back to the previous
page in the real book?
Ans. (a) Margie wrote about a real book' in her diary.
(b) Margie calls it a real book' because it was printed on
the paper
(c) The pages of the real book' were yellow and crinkly.
(d) In the real page, when they turned back to the previous
page, it had the same words which were there when they
read it for the first time.
(e) Crinkly.
2. 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, than 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.
Q. (a) Who is referred to as 'he' here? What kind of a man is
he?
(b) Why did he take her mechanical teacher apart?
(c) What did Margie hope and why?
(d) Which part did Margie hate the most and why?
(e) Give the noun forms of the following verbs- (0) hated,
(ii) a small opening.
Ans.(a) 'He was the County Inspector. He was a round little man
with a red face and had a box of dials wires with him.
(b) He took her mechanical teacher apart to adjust its
geogrphy sector according to her a level of
understanding.
(c) Margie hoped that he would not know how to correct
the mechanical teacher as then she would not have to
study for at least some days.
(d) Margie hated the slot where she had to put homework
and test papers as she had te write them in a special
punch code and also because here her slow progress was
depicted through marks obtained by her.
(e) (i) hated - hatred (ii) a small opening - slot.
3. 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. 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.
Q. (a) How did the County Inspector try to comfort Margie?
(b) How did he correct Margie's mechanical teacher's
geography sector?
(e) How was Margie's progress?
(d) What did Margie wish?
(e) Give words which mean the same as-
(i) disappointed, (ii) tapped.
Ans.(a) The County Inspector tried to comfort Margie by smiling
to her and patting her head softly.
(b) He adjusted Margie's mechanical teacher's geography
sector to the level of an average ten years old. He slowed
it down.
(c) It was satisfactory.
(d) Margie hated her mechanical teacher. She wanted it to
be taken away as Tommy's had been taken away for
some period.
(e) (i) disppointed - despair (ii) tapped - patted
4. 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.
And the teachers were people...
The mechanical teacher was flashing on the screen: "When
we add fractions Y. and % .;"
Margie was thinking about how the kids must have loved it
in the old days. She was thinking about the fun they had.
Q. (a) How did the kids enjoy their stay in the school?
(b) How did the kids of the old school enjoy learning
things?
(c) What did Margie do with a sigh?
(d) What was Margic thinking about when her mechanical
teacher was flashing on the screen the equation?
(e) Find a word from the passage which means 'showing!
Ans.(a) They enjoyed it sitting together, laughing and shouting
in the schoolyard.
(b) The kids of the old school learnt same things, did
homework together, helped each other and thus enjoyed
learning things.
(c) She put her homework into the slot of her mechanical
teacher with a sigh.
(d) Margie was thinking about the fun. It was in their sitting,
laughing and shouting together.
(e) 'flashing:
Long Answer Type Quesions
Answer these questions in about 80-100 words each :–
Q.1. What are the main features of the mechanical teachers
and schoolrooms that Margie and Tommy have in the story?
Ans. Margie always hated not only school but also the
mechanical teacher. It had been giving her difficult tests. She fared
badly in them. The mechanical teacher was fitted into the TV. It
was to so say a software. Since Margie's geography sector was not
adjusted properly to her level, the Inspector took it out. He slowed
it up to an average ten year level. The teacher was not a man but a
machine. It was set in her study room. It was on at the same time
everyday except Saturday and Sunday. Margie had to put her
homework and test into it through a narrow opening. The teacher
marked it in no time. These were some of the features of the
mechanical teacher of Margie and Tommy in the 22nd century.
Q.2. Why did Margie hate school? Why did she think the
old kind of school must have been fun?
Ans. Margie was just an eleven years old girl. She hated
school which was in her study room. She hated it all the more
because, her mechanical teacher was giving her hard test in
geography. She scored very poor marks in those tests. She wanted
to get rid of her teacher for a few days. Her mother sent for the
Inspector to adjust the teacher. He opened up the TV and took out
the teaching part. He slowed it up. Margie wished that the Inspector
might not be able to put the parts together again. But she was
disappointed. She had hoped that the Inspector would take her
teacher away for repair. She knew well how Tommy's teacher had
been taken away once for a month.
Q. 3. Do you agree with Margie that schools today are
more fun than the school in the story? Give reasons for your
answer.
Ans. Margie hated her school and her mechanical teacher.
Her resentment was genuine. The geography teacher was not
adjusted to her mental level. But actually she found the system
dull and boring. She had to stay at home all the time for her
schooling. She had no company of classmates. Her teacher was
only a part of the machine. She listened to Tommy's account of old
type of schools, books, teachers hundreds of years ago. This system
appeared to her interesting. All the kids went to a special school
building and learned the same thing. They had time and company
to laugh, and shout, play and return home together. She rightly
thought that it was great fun.
Q. 4. What are the reactions of Margie and Tommy when
the latter finds a real book ?
Ans. Margie and Tommy are two kids. They have their school
housed in the home. The mechanical teacher is on at the fixed
time. Their education starts automatically. One day Tommy finds
a real book in the attic of his house. This surprises Margie. She
writes in her diary "Tommy found a real book."
All this amazes Margie. It was once that her grandfather had
told her about the book. It had yellow pages. The words were
printed on it. Tommy and Margie were amazed because they had
never seen a real book. It was a fun for them. Tommy called it a
sheer waste. Margie seemed to be somewhat enthusiastic about
the book. Tommy was reading it and decided not to throw it.
Margie had seen only telebooks. Both uttered that their television
can store a million books. So it was a waste and mere fun to have a
book.
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