"Othello" written by William Shakespeare play explores themes of jealousy, manipulation, betrayal

Class 9 English Beehive

Chapter 1 - The Fun They Had

NCERT Class 9 Beehive Page No. 10

Thinking About Text

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. Margie is eleven year old and Tommy is thirteen year old.
2. Margie wrote, “Today Tommy found a real book!”.
3. No, Margie had never seen a book before.
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. A book that can be displayed on a screen is called a telebook.
6. Margie’s school was in her home itself, right next to her bedroom. No, she did not have any classmates.
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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

NCERT Class 9 Beehive Page No. 1

Thinking about Language

1. Find the sentences in the lesson which have the adverbs given in the box below.

Awfully   sorrowfully   completely   loftily Carefully   differently   quickly   nonchalantly

Answer:

• Awfully: 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.
• Sorrowfully: 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.
• Completely: They had once taken Tommy’s teacher away for nearly a month because the history sector had blanked out completely.
• Loftily: He added loftily, pronouncing the word carefully, “Centuries ago.”
• Differently: “But my mother says a teacher has to be adjusted to fit the mind of each boy and girl it teaches and that each kid has to be taught differently.”
• Quickly: “I didn’t say I didn’t like it,” Margie said quickly.
• Nonchalantly: “May be,” he said nonchalantly.

Download Class 9 English NCERT Book in PDF

2. Now use these adverbs to fill in the blanks in the sentences below.

(i) The report must be read _____________ so that performance can be improved.

(ii) At the interview, Sameer answered our questions _____________ , shrugging his shoulders.

(iii) We all behave ________________  when we are tired or hungry.

(iv) The teacher shook her head ____________ when Ravi lied to her.

(v) I __________ forgot about it.

(vi) When I complimented Revathi on her success, she just smiled ___________ and turned away.

(vii) The President of the Company is _____________ busy and will not be able to meet you.

(viii) I finished my work __________________ so that I could go out to play.

Answer:

(i) carefully

(ii)  loftily

(iii) differently

(iv) sorrowfully

(v) completely

(vi) nonchalantly

(vii) awfully

(viii) quickly

NCERT Class 9 Beehive Page No. 12

3. Make adverbs from these adjectives.

(i) angry ___________

(ii) happy __________

(iii) merry___________

(iv) sleepy __________

(v) easy ____________

(vi) noisy ___________

(vii) tidy ___________

(viii) gloomy ________

Answer:

Required adverbs are as follows:

(i) Angrily

(ii) Happily

(iii) Merrily

(iv) Sleepily

(v) Easily

(vi) Noisily

(vii) Tidily

(viii) Gloomily

II. Complete the following conditional sentences. Use the correct form of the verb.

1. If I don’t go to Anu’s party tonight, __________

2. If you don’t telephone the hotel to order food, __________

3. Unless you promise to write back, I __________

4. If she doesn’t play any games, ___________

5. Unless that little bird flies away quickly, the cat ___________

Answer:

1. If I don’t go to Anu’s party tonight, she will be angry.

2. If you don’t telephone the hotel to order food, you will miss your evening meal.

3. Unless you promise to write back, I will not write to you.

4. If she doesn’t play any games, she will become lazy and unfit.

5. Unless that little bird flies away quickly, the cat will pounce on it.