Class 9 English Chapter 1 Important Question Answers - The Fun they had

Short Answer Type Questions 

Ques 1: How was the book that Tommy found different from his own books ?
Ans: 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.

Ques 2: What kind of book did Tommy show to Margie ?
Ans: 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.

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

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

Ques 5: What did County Inspector do to improve Margie’s performance ?
Ans: 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.

Ques 6: What kind of teachers did Margie and Tommy have ?
Ans: 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.

Ques 7: Why did Margie hate school ?
Ans: 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.

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

Ques 9: How does Tommy describe the old kind of teachers ?
Ans: 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.

Ques 10: Why did Margie find the book strange ?
Ans: 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.

Ques 11: Why did Margie’s mother sent for the County Inspector ? What did he do ?
Ans: 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

Ques 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.
Ans: Our grandparents lived during the years of the 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 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 competing 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 siblings and friends.

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

Ques 3: How is Margie’s school different from a normal school ?
Ans: 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.

Ques 4: ‘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.
Ans: 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.