NCERT Solutions
Class 9 English Beehive
Chapter 1 - The Fun They Had
NCERT Class 9 Beehive Page No. 10
I. 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. 1. Margie
is eleven year old and Tommy is thirteen year old.
2. 2. Margie
wrote, “Today Tommy found a real book!”.
3. 3. No,
Margie had never seen a book before.
4. 4. Margie
found it strange that the book had yellow and wrinkled pages. Words in the book
were still and did not move the way they were supposed to on a screen.
5. 5. A book
that can be displayed on a screen is called a telebook.
6. 6. Margie’s
school was in her home itself, right next to her bedroom. No, she did not have
any classmates.
7. 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 says these words.
(ii) 'It' refers to the television screen.
(iii) Tommy is comparing the television screen with the printed books of
earlier times. He thought that after reading such books, one would have to
throw them away. However, he would never throw away his telebook.
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 with 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 didn’t have a
living human being as a teacher who would teach the students in a classroom.
OR
Question 1. What kind of teachers did Margie and Tommy have?
Answer: Margie and Tommy had
mechanical teachers. The mechanical teachers had big screens on which all the
lessons were shown and questions were asked. The children were taught through
computer and television screens. They did not have humans as teachers.
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. Margie had been given many tests in geography by the
teacher, but there was no improvement in her performance. So, Margie’s mother
wanted to find out the reason behind it.
OR
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 of Margie was not functioning
properly. It kept giving Margie Geography tests and Margie was performing worse
every time. Margie’s mother was concerned and thus sent for the County
Inspector.
3. What did he do?
Answer: Margie was doing badly in
geography because the geography sector of the mechanical teacher had been
adjusted at a higher level. In order to help her, the County Inspector slowed
down the geography sector to an average ten-year level.
OR
Question 3. What did he do?
Answer: The County Inspector
smiled at Margie and gave her an apple. He took the mechanical teacher apart
from her. Then he fixed the mechanical teacher. He told Margie’s mother that
the geography sector of the mechanical teacher was geared a little too quick
and that he has slowed it up to an average ten-year level.
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
adjusted at a higher level. In order to help her, the County Inspector slowed
down the geography sector of the mechanical teacher to an average ten-year
level.
OR
Question 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 questions that were displayed on the screen of the
mechanical teacher were too quick for her age.
The County Inspector
slowed its speed to an average ten-year level so that Margie would be able to
perform satisfactorily.
5. What had once happened to Tommy’s teacher?
Answer: Once, Tommy’s teacher was
taken away for nearly a month because its history sector had blanked out
completely.
OR
Question 5. What
had once happened to Tommy’s teacher?
Answer: Tommy’s teacher had
to be taken away altogether for a month as the history sector had 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
because her mother believed that learning at regular hours helped little girls
learn better. So, her mechanical teacher always turned on at the same time
every day except on Saturdays and Sundays.
OR
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 Margie’s mother believed that little girls
learned better if they learned at regular hours.
7. How does Tommy describe the old kind of school?
Answer: Tommy says that the old
kind of school had a special building and all the kids went there. They had a
teacher, who was a man. They all studied together and learned the same thing.
OR
Question 7. How does Tommy describe the old kind of school?
Answer: Tommy says that the old
kind of school had special buildings. All the kids went to that building for
studying.
8. How does he describe the old kind of teachers?
Answer: Tommy describes the old
kind of teachers as living human beings who did not live in the house. Instead,
they taught the students in a special building. They taught the children in
groups and gave them homework.
OR
Question 8. How does he describe the old kind of teachers?
Answer: He tells Margie that the
old kind of teachers were humans instead of machines. The human teacher would
educate the boys and girls and give them homework and ask 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. These teachers were adjusted according to the
age and potential of the student concerned. 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 had
regular days and hours for school. The mechanical teacher always turned on at
the same time every day except Saturdays and Sundays. They learned geography,
history and arithmetic.
OR
Question 1: What are the main features of the mechanical teachers and the schoolrooms that Margie and Tommy have in the story?
Answer: The main features of the
mechanical teachers that Margie and Tommy have are:
The mechanical teachers
have big black screens on which lessons are displayed and questions are asked.
The students need to put their homework and test papers in a slot that is
present in the mechanical teacher. The students write answers in punch code and
the mechanical teacher calculates the results right away.
The main features of the
schoolrooms that Margie and Tommy have are:
In the story, the schools
are there in the homes. For instance, Margie’s school was right next to her
bedroom.
The students do not have
classmates. They study subjects like arithmetic, history, geography, etc. The
mechanical teacher would turn on at the same time every day except on the
weekends.
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. She had a mechanical teacher who used to teach her every day at
a fixed time in her house. She hated the part when she had to insert 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. Her disliking
for the mechanical teacher was increased even more when she was failing to
perform well in the geography tests.
She thought that the old kind of school must have been
fun as she imagined all the kids from the entire neighbourhood 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. Also,
the teachers were human beings that would make the learning process more
interactive. All these aspects made her believe that the old kind of school
must have been fun.
OR
Question
2: Why did Margie hate school? Why did she think the old kind of school
must have been fun?
Answer: Margie hated school
because she felt it boring. The mechanical teacher started the class at the
same time regularly. Margie’s mechanical teacher was giving her test after test
on Geography and she was performing badly.
Margie also did not like
inserting homework and test papers in the slot on the mechanical teacher.
She thought that the old
kind of school must have been fun because it would have had kids from various
places of the neighbourhood. It would have been so interesting to sit together
in the classroom and leave the school together at the end of the day. All the
kids learned the same things so they could help each other in studies and
homework.
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 strongly agree with
Margie that schools today are more fun than the school in the story. In the
story, teaching is done mechanically inside a learner's house itself. Studying
and answering questions in the absence of classmates seems to be a boring idea.
Writing homework in punch codes and that too without anybody’s help would be
really exhausting.
A mechanical teacher has no emotions and sentiments. It
does not have the ability to understand the psychology of a student rather it
teaches him/her according to its adjusted modes. But in today’s schools, there
are teachers who are the real human beings. They are more understanding and
accommodating than mechanical ones. They work for the overall development of a
child. Moreover, children develop a better understanding about each other and
of their surroundings when accompanied by the students of their age.
Another major advantage of today’s schools is that if any student faces any
problem with the subject or in homework then he/she can discuss it with the
teacher and other kids in the class. It is impossible to do such discussions
with a mechanical teacher. In today’s schools, kids learn various qualities
like sharing, respect, obedience, kindness, etc. They are encouraged to take
part in games, sports, and other activities which are necessary for the overall
development of a student. Thus, all these factors prove that schools today are
more fun than the school in the story.
OR
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: Yes, I agree with Margie
that schools today are more fun than the school in the story. In the story, the
schools are in the students’ homes. This gives no space for interaction between
students. Studying from screen and taking up tests sounds boring. Inserting
homework and test papers in a slot on a mechanical teachers every day is
monotonous. Writing answers in punch codes is even more draining.
Learning together in a
class gives students a wider view of the people. Students also get familiar
with others and learn how to interact and socialize. Getting taught by human
teachers is way more dynamic than being taught by a machine. If there is any
issue with any lesson or concept, the student can ask the human teacher then
and there. But, mechanical teachers are programmed with a certain lesson and
concept for a particular day. During the time when the student solves homework,
he/she can get help from classmates. That’s how the schools today are more fun
than the school in the story.
The content of this web page
is from different sources - Jagaranjosh
& Byjus
very nice… :) thanks for sharing this information.
ReplyDelete…. Read More