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

Q1: How did the chance discovery of a paper book leave Margie and Tommy stunned?
Ans: 

• Margie and Tommy are neighborhood friends in the year 2157.
• It is an age of total automation, mechanization, digitalization, and computerization.
• Children do not go to a school building and they are not taught by a human teacher. Instead, their teacher is a telling teacher, a computer. It's like a machine that has millions of books. It can be customized according to the age, learning needs, and abilities of individual students.
• Reading is done on a screen that displays movable text.
• So, one day, when Tommy finds an old, dusty paper book in the attic of his house, he shares the exciting news with his friend Margie and together they are awestruck, for they had hitherto never seen or heard about a book that had no screen but only fixed text on pages that had to be flipped with fingers.

Mergie studying in her room

• As the duo kept reading the book further and further, their excitement kept growing. They were stunned to discover that ancient schools were huge buildings where hundreds of children studied together with the same syllabus and the same subjects and carried out the same activities and tasks.
• They were taught by real human teachers with the help of real books.
• Margie believes that students in those days must have had a lot of fun studying together.

Q2: What are the main features of the mechanical teachers and the schoolrooms that Margie and Tommy have in the story?
Ans. 

• In 2157, Margie and Tommy experience a highly advanced form of education.
• Their schoolrooms are located within their own homes and equipped with mechanical teachers.
• Unlike traditional schools, there's no separate building; their "school" is a room with a mechanical teacher.
• Students study individually in these rooms with the assistance of the mechanical teacher.
• The mechanical teacher assigns tests and monitors the student's progress.
• The pace of learning in different subjects is set based on the student's age.
• Homework is inserted into a slot in the teleteacher for assessment.
• If the mechanical teacher malfunctions, engineers are available to repair it.
• Sometimes, repairs can take time, as seen when Tommy's history teacher encountered a major problem.
• These mechanical teachers and school setups are a stark departure from conventional education systems.

Q3: Why did Margie hate school? Why did she think the old kind of school must have been fun?
Ans. 

• Margie hated school because it did not have any fun.
• Her schedule was too regimented and she had to study at a fixed time on all days of the week except Saturdays and Sundays.
• She did not have any classmates to study with or seek help from.
• Her mechanical teacher sometimes developed a snag and assigned tests that were quite difficult for her.
• Constant failure to perform well in such tests was disappointing for her.
• There were times when she wanted a break, but the technical advancement of 2157 did not give her a chance.
• The County Inspector took just a little while to set right the Geography sector of her teacher.
• She thought that the old kind of school must have been fun because, unlike her school, the ancient schools were in special buildings where the students from the whole neighborhood came laughing and playing.
• Students of the same level would be in the same room and were taught by human teachers.
• The students would sit together in the schoolroom, go home together, learn the same things, help one another with the homework, and talk about it.
• Hence, schools in the olden days did not restrain their students but gave them a chance to grow up together.

Q4: Suppose you are Margie. Write a diary entry dated 17th May 2157 about Tommy’s real book that he found in his attic.
Ans. 

Tuesday,
17th May 2157
10.00 p.m.
Dear Diary
It has been a wonderful day for me as I have seen a real, hard-bound printed paper book. In fact, Tommy found the book in the attic of his house when he was cleaning his grandfather's cupboard. It consists of about 200 pages, which have become yellow and crinkly with time. It is a strange experience to read the words fixed on its papers unlike the ones in my telebooks that keep moving as I scroll.
When I turn the page, I find the same words again. The book is about a school from olden times, about two centuries ago. Can you believe that in those times, a school was not a room in one’s own house but a special building dedicated to the purpose of teaching and learning? The students of the same level studied the same things sitting together in the same classroom. It is really wonderful to think that the teachers were men and not machines. I really believe that it must have been great fun for children to go to such schools together, laughing, joking, playing, and teasing each other. How wonderful it must have been that the students helped each other with lessons as well! I wish I could travel back in time and study in one of those schools.

Q5: Do you agree with Margie that schools today are more fun than the school in the story? Give reasons for your answer.
Ans. There is no doubt that today’s schools have more fun than the schools discussed in the story. The following are the reasons:

• Modern schools are definitely more fun than the schools in the story.
• In the story, the school has a mechanical teacher that doesn't show any emotions or understanding. This robot-like teacher can't understand how a child feels or what they need. It teaches based on set instructions without considering each child's unique psychology.
• On the other hand, today’s schools focus on the overall development of children. They offer training in areas like leadership, sports, politics, and science. Students learn to adjust, meet new people, and thrive in different settings.
• In classrooms today, students are brought together, regardless of their caste, color, or creed, promoting unity and inclusion. These activities help students feel like they belong and prevent them from feeling lonely or excluded.

Q6: Will the existing schools and teachers become totally irrelevant in future ‘schools’? Give a reasoned answer.
Ans. 

• Naturally, schools that existed centuries ago will not be the same in the coming centuries.
• The system of education will be highly computerized and mechanical.
• The 'school' will have no separate building.
• Nor will they be taught the same thing together.
• The mechanical teacher will be a big TV screen, good for a million books.
• The mechanical teacher will be adjusted according to the age and capacity of the student.
• But it will be an exaggeration to say that everything about the old schools will disappear.
• Even the future schools can't be completely devoid of the human angle.
• Perhaps the institution of the old schools and teachers will remain.
• Human involvement can't disappear altogether.

Q7: Describe the characteristics of old schools. How did they arouse so much interest in Margie and Tommy?
Ans. 

• The students from the past had a certain charm and excitement about them. Each school had its own buildings, and students from all over the town came there to study. 
• Everyone in the class learned the same subjects and had similar homework, so they could help each other easily. The teachers were real people, and the books were made of paper.
• There was a sense of excitement and adventure in the old schools, which caught Margie's interest. She learned about them from Tommy. Compared to her mechanical teacher and her own school, the old schools seemed magical to Margie. 
• She was fascinated by the idea of children attending school together and learning the same subjects, which made it easier for them to help one another.

Q8: What is the role of a teacher in the life of a student? How is a human teacher better than a mechanical teacher?
Ans.   

• Teachers play a very important role in the life of a student. They not only provide bookish knowledge but also inspire their students to live a meaningful and successful life. They burn themselves like a candle throughout their lives to remove the darkness and ignorance from their student's life. This can be done by a human teacher only.
• A mechanical teacher can provide ample knowledge on various subjects but he/she can not boost up their students to do something distinguished. There is a single mechanical teacher having various sectors geared up according to the level of the child. There is no companion, no playground, and no fun at all. The teaching is mechanical and monotonous. Thus, human teachers are better than mechanical teachers in many ways. They know the individual intellect of their students, which helps them to guide them individually according to the mental level of students.