CBSE Class 9 English Beehive The Fun They Had Worksheet Set A

About the Author- Isaac Asimov Isaac Asimov – Isaac Asimov was one of the 20th century’s most prolific writers, writing in many genres. He was known for hisworks like Foundation and I, Robot. Born on January 2, 1920, in Petrovichi, Russia, Isaac Asimov immigrated with his family to the United States and became a biochemistry professor while pursuing writing. He published his first novel, Pebble in the Sky, in 1950. An immensely prolific author who penned nearly 500 books, he published influential science fiction works like I, Robot and the Foundation trilogy, as well as books in a variety of other genres. Asimov died in New York City on April 6, 1992. The on The Fun They Had is one of the most popular fictional works written by him.

SUMMARY OF THE STORY

This story is set in future when books and schools as we have now perhaps will not exist. Two students of that period about 150 years advance from today find a printed book. They are surprised very much. They talk about the schools and books of the old period. They compare those schools with those of their own which are situated in their homes and have mechanical teachers to teach them. They find their own schools dull and boring. They think that it was a great fun to study in the schools of old times when all the kids of the area went there to learn the same thing by a man teacher. Plot of the story “The Fun They Had” by Isaac Asimov is about the year 2157 when every child has his own machine teacher and schools like today do not exist anymore. He wrote this story in 1951 for a syndicated newspaper page. Later “The Fun They Had” was published in “Fantasy and Science Fiction” magazine. In the year 2157 the thirteen-year-old Tommy finds an old book. He and Margie, who is eleven, find it strange that the words on paper do not move after having been read. Nowadays they only read stories on the computer screen. The book is about school centuries ago. Margie is very surprised that in the past pupils had a person as a teacher and that all children of the same age learnt the same thing and went to a school house with other children. Margie wants to read more of the book but first she has to learn with her machine teacher whose level is too advanced for her and she thinks school in those days was much better than today. Ultimately the theme is to understand the importance of the present time lively school atmosphere in which we keep on finding faults over nothing. Significance of the Title – The Fun They is absolutely an appropriate title as if there is no schooling system like the present time the future generation after listening about us must be thinking that the people living in past must be very happy. Schooling must have been a fun to them because it was lively and children must be having a lot of fun in meeting the others and interacting with one another making a lot of friends etc. The title also states the same. Message of the lesson – The author’s message is one of warnings against the dangers of computerized homeschooling which keeps away the children from the benefits of the personal interactions between students and teachers, which help them develop social skills as well as many more things. So without criticizing the present schooling we should understand the value of the present lively education system and enjoy it to the fullest.

LEARN AND WRITE THESE QUESTION ANSWERS IN YOUR COPY.

MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTIONS

1. The Fun They Had On which date did Margie make an entry in her diary about

Question. Who found a real book?
(A) Tommy
(B) Margie
(C) Tommy’s teacher
(D) The mechanical teacher
Answer : B

Question. What did Margie write about in her diary?
(A) a real school
(B) a real teacher
(C) a real book
(D)Tommy her grandfather
Answer : A

Question. Who told Margie once about real books?
(A) her father
(B) Tommy
(C) the mechanical teacher
(D)her grandfather
Answer : D

Question.Why were the pages of the book were yellow and crinkly
(A) it was a very old book
(B)Its colour was yellow
(C) they were yellow because
(D)none of these written in yellow ink .
Answer : A

Question.How were the words in the book?
(A) moving
(B) Steady
(C) getting unprinted after reading
(D) none of these options is right
Answer : B

Question.How old was Margie?
(A) ten years
(B) eleven years 3
(C) twelve years
(d) thirteen years
Answer : B

Question.How old was Tommy?
(A) ten years
(B) eleven years
(C) Twelve years
(D) thirteen years
Answer : D

Question.Where did Tommy found the book?
(A) in the attic
(B) in the school
(C) in a shop
(D) in a library
Answer : A

Question.What was Margie scornful about?
(A) the printed book
(B) the school
(C) Tommy
(D) e-mail books
Answer : B

Question.What do you mean by a mechanical teacher?
(A) television
(B) a teacher who teaches with instruments
(C) a real teacher
(D) all the options are correct
Answer : A

Question.What was Margie’s mechanical teacher giving her?
(A) tests in mathematics
(B) tests in geography
(C) a sound beating
(D) good marks
Answer : B

Question.Margie’s mother called the County Inspector to
(A) teach Margie
(B) give her good marks
(C) take her to other school
(D) set the mechanical teacher right
Answer : D

Question.Margie’s mother shaken her head sorrowfully :
(A) at Margie’s poor performance in tests
(B) at the old times of schools
(C) at the printed books
(D) at the mechanical teacher
Answer : A

Question.Who was a round little man?
(A) the County Inspector
(B) the mechanical teacher
(C) the real teacher
(D) Tommy
Answer : A

Question.Why had the inspector tools and wires with him?
(A) he was to set Margie right
(B) he was to set the mechanical teacher right
(C) he was to check Margie’s mother
(D) none of these options
Answer : B

Question.How long did it take the inspector to set the mechanical teacher right?
(A) one hour
(B) thirty minutes
(C) two hours
(D) one month
Answer : A

Question.Which part of the mechanical teacher did Margie hate most?
(A) screen
(B) whole box
(C) slot
(D) none of these
Answer : C

Question.How did Margie feed her homework in the mechanical teacher?
(A) in a punch code
(B) in written papers
(C) by speaking
(D) none of these options
Answer : A

Question.Margie was doing worse and worse in?
(A) Geography
(B) Maths
(C) Physics
(D) English
Answer : A

Question.What did Tommy and Margie mean by a regular teacher
(A) a male teacher
(B) a female teacher
(C) a good teacher
(D) a mechanical teacher
Answer : D

Extract Based / comprehension test Questions
Read the extracts and answer the questions that follow.
PASSAGE 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 had when they read it the first time.

Question. What did Margie write in her diary?
Answer : On page headed 17 May 2157, Margie wrote, ‘Today Tommy found a real book!’

Question Had Margie ever seen a book before?
Answer : No, Margie had never seen a book before.

Question. ‘They’ turned the pages. Who does ‘They’ refer to?
Answer : They are Margie and Tommy.

Question. What was funny about the book?
Answer : The words in the book stand still instead of moving.

Question. Why had the pages of the book turned yellow and crinkly?
Answer : The pages of the book had turned yellow and crinkly because it was very old.

PASSAGE 2 ‘Gee,’ said Tommy. ‘What a waste. When you’re through with the book. you just throw it away. I guess. Our television screen must have had a million books on it and it’s good for plenty more. I wouldn’t throw it away.’ ‘Same with mine,’ said Margie. She was eleven and hadn’t seen as many telebooks as Tommy had. He was thirteen. She said, ‘Where did you find it?’ ‘In my house.’ He pointed without looking, because he was busy reading. ‘In the attic.’ ‘What’s it about?’ ‘School.

Question. What is a waste for Tommy?
Answer : Printing books on paper is a waste for Tommy.

Question. What sort of books did Margie and Tommy have in their schools?
Answer : They have moving books on their television screen.

Question. How old were Margie and Tommy?
Answer : Margie was eleven and Tommy was thirteen years old

Question. Where did Tommy find the book?
Answer : Tommy found the book in his house in the attic.

Question. What was that book about?
Answer : It was about ‘School’.

WRITE THE ANSWERS OF GIVEN PASSAGES YOURSELF

PASSAGE 3

Margie was scornful. ‘School? What’s there to write about school? I hate school.’ Margie always hated school, but now she hated it more than ever. The mechanical teacher had been giving her test after test in geography and she had been doing worse and worse until her mother had shaken her head sorrowfully and sent for the County Inspector.

Questions : (i) Name the writer of the story ‘The Fun They Had’.
(ii) What was Margie’s opinion about school?
(iii) What had been doing her mechanical teacher?
(iv) What were Margie’s responses?
(v) Why was the County Inspector sent for?

PASSAGE 4

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, then 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 mark in no time.

Questions : (i)Who was a round little man?
(ii)What did he do to the teacher?
(iii)What had Margie hoped?
(iv)Which part of the mechanical teacher did she hate most and why?
(v) How did she write her test papers?

PASSAGE 5

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 over-all 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. So she said to Tommy, ‘Why would anyone write about school?’

Questions : (i) ‘The Inspector smiled after he was finished’. What was finished?
(ii) What was problem with the mechanical teacher?
(iii) At what level did the Inspector set it?
(iv) The mechanical teacher was set right but Margie was disappointed, why?
(v) What trouble had been there once with Tommy’s teacher?

Main Characters of the Story- The Fun They Had The most important character in the short story “The Fun They Had” by Isaac Asimov is Margie. She is the main character whose perspective has been followed by the narrator. Secondary characters are Tommy, Mrs. Jones and the County Inspector. Give a character sketch of Margie Jones from the chapter The Fun They Had Margie Jones is an eleven-yearold girl living in 2155. Except for this information, nothing much is revealed about the girl’s outer characterization. We also know that she is homeschooled by a mechanical teacher and that she has a friend named Tommy. Margie’s inner characterization is revealed through her actions and her attitude towards school in her time and the past. The fact that Margie has a diary in which she writes about finding a ‘real book’ indicates the event had a strong impact on her. From her conversation with Tommy about the book and school in the past, Margie comes across as naive, having little knowledge about the way school was in the past, and very mistrustful.

Very Short Answer Type Important Questions

Question. On what date did Margie make an entry in her diary about the real book?
Answer :  She did so on 17 May, 2157.

Question. What did Tommy find?
Answer : He found a real book.

Question. How old was Margie?
Answer : She was eleven years old.

Question. How old was Tommy?
Answer : He was thirteen years old.

Question. What was the real book, that Tommy found, about?
Answer : It was about ‘School’.

Question. What did Margie hate?
Answer : She hated school.

Question. What had the mechanical teacher been giving to Margie?
Answer : The mechanical teacher had been giving test atter test to Margie in geography.

Question. Why did Margie’s mother send for the County Inspector?
Answer : She sent for the County Inspector because Margie had been doing worse and worse in her geography tests.

Question. Why did Margie hate slot most?
Answer : Margie hated slot most because she had to put homework and test papers in it.

Question. What was wrong with the geography sector of Margie’s mechanical teacher?
Answer : The geography sector of Margie’s mechanical teacher was geared a little too quick.

Question. What do you mean by a regular teacher?
Answer : It means the mechanical teacher that appears on the television screen at fixed time.

Question. What is the name of Margie’s mother?
Answer : Her name is Mrs. Jones.

LONG QUESTION ANSWERS
Answer each of these questions in two or three paragraphs (100 − 150 words)

Question. 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. These teachers were basically large black screens on which 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 the students had to put their homework and test papers. The mechanical teacher immediately calculated the marks for the answers written in punch codes by the students. However, these teachers were prone to technical and mechanical failure and troubles.
Their schools were in their homes itself. In fact, Margie’s school was right next to her bedroom.
Students did not have 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.

Question. 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 hated the large black screen and the way she had to insert the homework and test papers in the slot on the mechanical teacher. She disliked fact that she had to write her answers in a punch code. Besides, her hatred for school was amplified by her failure to fare well in the geography tests given by her mechanical teacher.
Margie imagined the old kind of school with 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 people, making the learning process more interactive. All these aspects made her believe that the old kind of school must have been fun.

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