Gujarat Board GSEB Class 9 English Textbook Solutions Beehive Chapter 1 The Fun They Had Textbook Exercise Important Questions and Answers, Notes Pdf.
Gujarat Board Textbook Solutions Class 9 English Beehive Chapter 1 The Fun They Had
GSEB Class 9 English The Fun They Had Text Book Questions and Answers
Thinking about the Text
Activity
Calculate how many years and months ahead from now Margie’s diary entry is.
Answer:
Calculating from February 1, 2019, they are 138 years, 3 months and 16 days.
I. Answer these questions in a few words or a couple of sentences each:
Question 1.
How old are Margie and Tommy ?
Answer:
Margie was eleven and Tommy was thirteen.
Question 2.
What did Margie write in her diary ?
Answer:
Margie wrote, “Today Tommy found a real book!”
Question 3.
Had Margie ever seen a book before ?
Answer:
No, she had never seen a book before.
Question 4.
What things about the book did she find strange ?
Answer:
The words in the book stood still. When they turned pages, the pages showed the same words on them they had when they read them the first time.
Question 5.
What do you think a telebook is ?
Answer:
A telebook is a book that can be read on the television screen.
Question 6.
Where was Margie’s school ? Did she have any classmates ?
Answer:
Margie’s school was right next to her ‘ bedroom. Margie didn’t have any classmates, ;i since the school was in her own house.
Question 7.
What subject did Margie and Tommy learn ?
Answer:
Margie and Tommy learnt geography, s history and arithmetic.
II. Answer the following with reference to the story:
Question 1.
“I wouldn’t throw it away.”
(1) Who says these words ?
(2) What does ‘it’ refer to ?
(3) What is it being compared with by the speaker ?
Answer:
(1) Tommy says these words, “I wouldn’t throw it away.”
(2) ‘It’ refers to the television screen.
(3) The speaker compares ‘it’ with a real book.
Question 2.
“Sure they had a teacher, but it wasn’t a regular teacher. It was a man.”
(1) Who does ‘they’ refer to ?
(2) What does ‘regular’ mean here ?
(3) What is it contrasted with ?
Answer:
(1) ‘They’ refers to the people of many centuries ago.
(2) Here ‘regular’ means something of a lasting nature.
(3) It is contrasted with a human teacher.
III. Answer each of these questions in a short paragraph (about 30 words):
Question 1.
What kind of teachers did Margie and Tommy have ?
Answer:
Margie and Tommy didn’t have any human beings as their teachers. Their teachers were a kind of machine attached to their television screen. They called them mechanical teachers.
Question 2.
Why did Margie’s mother send for the County Inspector ?
Answer:
Margie was not doing well in her s geography test. She was doing worse and worse c in each test. Her mother was greatly upset with such performance of hers. So she sent for the County Inspector.
Question 3.
What did he do ?
Answer:
The County Inspector smiled at Margie s and gave her an apple. Then he took the mechanical teacher apart. He found out that the geography sector was geared a little too quick. He slowed it up to an average ten-year level.
Question 4.
Why was Margie doing badly in geography ? What did the County Inspector s do to help her ?
Answer:
It was not Margie’s fault that she s was doing badly in geography. Actually, the mechanical teacher was geared a little too quick for her. The County Inspector slowed it up to an average ten-year level for Margie.
Question 5.
What had once happened to Tommy’s teacher ?
Answer:
Once Tommy’s mechanical teacher had blanked out completely. To set it right, it had to be taken away for nearly a month.
Question 6.
Did Margie have regular days and hours for school ? If so, why ?
Answer:
Yes, Margie had regular days and hours for school. Her mother thought that little girls learnt better if they learned at regular hours.
Question 7.
How does Tommy describe the old kind of school ?
Answer:
Tommy says that centuries ago there used to be a special kind of school with a separate building. Students went to that building for studies. Human teachers taught the students.
Question 8.
How does Tommy describe the old kind of teachers ?
Answer:
Tommy says that the old kind of teachers were men. They didn’t live in the child’s house. They had a special building. All kids went there and learnt from them.
IV. Answer each of these questions in two or three paragraphs (100-150 words):
Question 1.
What are the main features of the mechanical teachers and the schoolrooms that Margie and Tommy have in the story ?
Answer:
The mechanical teachers are very different from the teachers we have today. They are not human beings. They are a sort of gadgets. They are attached to television screen. Their speed can be geared according to the age or mental level of the child. These teachers don’t have to go to school to teach. They are kept at the child’s home. They flash their lessons on the television screen and the child learns from them. They also give the child homework to do. They check the child’s progress by giving them tests.
The schoolrooms in the story are also very different. They are not like the rooms in our schools. They are the rooms in the houses of different children. Each child has his own classroom in his house. The child has a mechanical teacher in his room and learns- from it.
Question 2.
Why did Margie hate school ? Why did she think the old kind of school must have been fun ?
Answer:
Margie found nothing in school to enjoy. So she hated it. But now she began hating school more than ever. Her mechanical teacher gave her test after test, but Margie couldn’t do well in those tests. She went on doing worse and worse in each test. Her mother was very unhappy with her, so Margie hated school.
But when she knew about old schools from Tommy, she thought they were great fun. Children from the whole neighbourhood went there together. They played, laughed and shouted in the school yard. They sat together in the schoolroom. They learnt the same things at school. At the end of the day, they went home together. She thought that they must have been places of great fun.
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:
Of course, Margie is right since she finds no joy having school in a room of her house. There the teacher is mechanical. It is merely a gadget who has nothing to do with the mood of the child. It keeps on taking test after test least caring for the child’s level or ability. It simply flashes lessons on the television screen. The child is all alone in his / her classroom. He / She has nobody to help him / her out when confused.
While old schools had special buildings. The children in the whole neighbourhood went there and learnt together. They sat together in the schoolroom and learnt the same things at school. They laughed and shouted in the schoolyard. At the end of the day, they went home together. Thus, schools today have more fun than the school in the story.
Thinking about Language
I. Adverbs:
Read this sentence taken from the story:
They had once taken Tommy’s teacher away for nearly a month because the history sector had blanked out completely.
The word complete is an adjective. When you addely to it, it becomes an adverb.
Question 1.
Find the sentences in the lesson which have the adverbs given in the box below:
Answer:
- It was awfully funny to read words that stood still instead of moving.
- She had been doing worse and worse until her mother had shaken her head sorrowfully and sent for the County Inspector.
- The history sector had blanked out completely.
- He added loftily pronouncing the word carefully.
- Each kid has to be taught differently.
- “I didn’t say I didn’t like it”,Margie said quickly.
- “May be,” he said nonchalantly.
Question 2.
Now use these adverbs to fill in the blanks in the sentences below:
1. The report must be read …………….. so that performance can be improved.
Answer:
carefully
2. At the interview, Sameer answered our questions ……………. shrugging his shoulders.
Answer:
loftily
3. We all behave ……………… when we are tired or hungry.
Answer:
differently
4. The teacher shook her head …………….. when Ravi lied to her.
Answer:
sorrowfully
5. I ………………….. forgot about it.
Answer:
completely
6. When I complimented Revathi on her success, she just smiled ………….. and turned away.
Answer:
nonchalantly
7. The President of the Company is ……………. busy and will not be able to meet you.
Answer:
awfully
8 I finished my work ……………… so that I could go out to play.
Answer:
quickly
Question 3.
Make adverbs from these adjectives :
Answer:
- angry – angrily
- happy – happily
- merry – merrily
- sleepy – sleepily
- easy – easily
- noisy – noisily
- tidy – tidily
- gloomy – gloomily
II. If Not and Unless:
- Imagine that Margie’s mother told her, “You’ll feel awful if you don’t finish your history lesson.”
- She could also say : “You’ll feel awful unless you finish your history lesson.”
Unless means if… not. Sentences with unless or if… not are negative conditional sentences.
Note that these sentences have two parts. The part that begins with if… not or unless tells us the condition. This part has a verb in the present tense (look at the verbs don’t finish, finish in the sentences above).
The other part of the sentence tells us about a possible result. It tells us what will happen (if something else doesn’t happen). The verb in this part of the sentence is in the future tense (you’ll feel/you will feel).
Notice these two tenses again in the following examples
Complete the following conditional sentences. Use the correct form of the verb:
(1) If I don’t go to Anu’s party tonight, She will be greatly upset.
(2) If you don’t telephone the hotel to order food, You will not be served the food of your choice.
(3) Unless you promise to write back, I will never write to you.
(4) If she doesn’t play any games, She may not keep herself fit.
(5) Unless that little bird flies away quickly, the cat will kill it.
Writing
A new revised volume of Isaac Asimov’s short stories has just been released. Order one set. Write a letter to the publisher, Mind fame Private Limited, 1632, Asaf Ali Road, New Delhi, requesting that a set be sent to you by Value Payable Post (VPP), and giving your address. Your letter will have the following parts :
Addresses of the sender and receiver-The salutation – The body of the letter-The closing phrases and signature
Remember that the language of a formal letter is different from the colloquial style of personal letters. For example, contracted forms such as T’ve’ or ‘can’t’ are not used.
Your letter might look like this:
Answer:
Your address
37, Springfield Bungalows,
Judges’ Bungalows Road, Bodakdev,
Ahmedabad – 380 054.
Date: 4-2-2019 (DD/MM/YY)
The addressee’s address
The Publisher
Mindfame Private Limited,
1632, Asaf Ali Road,
New Delhi.
Dear Sir / Madam,
I am in need of one set of your new revised volume of Isaac Asimov’s short stories. Kindly arrange to send me one set of the same by VPP at the given address.
Yours sincerely,
Chiranjeev Shukla
Your signature
GSEB Class 9 English The Fun They Had Additional Important Questions and Answers
Reading Comprehension
Read the following passages and select the most appropriate answers for the questions given below them:
Question 1.
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.
‘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.”
Questions:
1. The pages of the book were …………….
A. funny.
B. crinkly.
C. old.
D. torn.
Answer:
B. crinkly.
2. The pages of the book ……………….. on a screen.
A. stood still
B. moved away
C. looked very old
D. were illegible
Answer:
A. stood still
3. What was strange about the book they had found ?
A. Its pages were yellow and crinkly.
B. It stood still on a screen.
C. The pages of the book had the same words on them when they were opened again.
D. All of these three
Answer:
C. The pages of the book had the same words on them when they were opened again.
4. ‘Gee’ is an exclamation of ………………
A. surprise.
B. enthusiasm.
C. sympathy.
D. All of these three
Answer:
D. All of these three
Question 2.
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 overall 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.
Questions:
1. What was wrong with the mechanical teacher ?
A. Margie had done some mistake in handling it.
B. The geography sector was geared a little too quick.
C. He was finished and could not work further.
D. None of these three.
Answer:
B. The geography sector was geared a little too quick.
2. The inspector repaired the mechanical teacher by ……………..
A. slowing it up to an average ten-year level.
B. making the running of it quite slow.
C. gearing it to a higher level.
D. removing the geography sector from it.
Answer:
A. slowing it up to an average ten-year level.
3. The inspector found Margie’s progress ……………..
A. weak.
B. satisfactory.
C. too fast.
D. average.
Answer:
B. satisfactory.
4. The reason of Margie’s disappointment was ………………..
A. she could not do well in geography sector.
B. the mechanical teacher had gone out of order.
C. the mechanical teacher was not taken away for repairing.
D. the history sector had blanked out completely.
Answer:
C. the mechanical teacher was not taken away for repairing.
Question 3.
Margie did so with a sigh. She was thinking about the old schools they had when her grandfather’s grandfather was a little boy. All the kids from the whole neighbourhood came, laughing and shouting in the schoolyard, sitting together in the schoolroom, going home together at the end of the day. They learned the same things, so they could help one another with the homework and talk about it.
And the teachers were people ……………
The mechanical teacher was flashing on the screen:“When we add fractions 1/2 and 1/4…………” Margie was thinking about how the kids must have loved it in the old days. She was thinking about the fun they had.
Questions:
1. In old schools, students ……………
A. were very naughty.
B. sat together in a schoolroom to learn.
C. came to school and left for home together.
D. Both ‘B’ and ‘C’
Answer:
D. Both ‘B’ and ‘C’
2. Students in old schools ……………….
A. learnt the same things.
B. could help one another with the homework.
C. could exchange their views.
D. All of these three
Answer:
D. All of these three
3. Margie was ……………….. with her mechanical teacher.
A. in the schoolyard.
B. in her studyroom.
C. in the schoolroom
D. None of these three
Answer:
B. in her studyroom.
4. Margie feels that studying in old-days-schools was ………………..
A. very tough.
B. quite pleasant.
C. unrewarding.
D. quite helpful.
Answer:
B. quite pleasant.
Answer the following questions in three to four sentences each:
Question 1.
Depict the character sketch of Margie.
Answer:
Margie is a little girl of 11 years, is living in 22nd century and has a habit of writing diary entry. She has a friend named Tommy who brings a book which is very old. She is taught by a mechanical teacher at her home. She hates school and her mechanical teacher. She is willing to know about old day’s schools and their teachers from Tommy.
Question 2.
Depict the character sketch of Tommy.
Answer:
Tommy is about 13 years old. He is older than Margie. He finds a book in the attic of his house. He brings it to Margie and tells her about old schools. He comes across as smarter than Margie because he has seen more textbooks and because he has more knowledge about how ‘schools’ and ‘teachers’ were centuries ago.
Question 3.
Depict the character sketch of ‘Mechanical Teacher’.
Answer:
Margie’s mechanical teacher is a robot set in a room beside her bedroom. It starts at the exact time. He has black and ugly look. All the lessons are shown and the questions are asked on its big screen. It has a slot in which Margie has to put her homework and test papers in a punching code. The mechanical teacher calculates the marks in no time.
Question 4.
Write in brief about the County Inspector.
Answer:
The County Inspector was a round little man with a red face and a whole box of tools with dials and wires. He is very compassionate and loving. He gives apple to Margie and talks with her very nicely. The geography sector of Margie’s mechanical teacher is geared a little too quickly for Margie to cope up with it, so the County Inspector slows it down to Margie’s learning level.
Answer the question in five to six sentences:
Write about the theme and message of ‘The Fun They Had’ by Isaac Asimov.
Answer:
The main theme in the short story ‘The Fun They Had’ by Isaac Asimov is that of education. More specifically, the narrative deals with the future education which will become increasingly computerised and estranged from social interactions. The author’s message is one of warning against the dangers of computerised homeschooling which deprives children of the benefits of the personal interactions between students and teachers, which help them develop social skills.
Vocabulary And Grammar
Vocabulary
Fill in the blanks choosing the correct words given in the brackets:
1. (instead of, which, supposed to, awfully)
They turned the pages, ………..a………. were yellow and crinkly, and it was ………..b………… funny to read words that stood still …………c…………. moving the way they were …………….d………….. – on a screen, you know.
Answer:
a. which
b. awfully
c. instead of
d. supposed to
2. (ever, worse, giving, now)
Margie always hated school, but …………a………. she hated it more than ………..b……….. . The mechanical teacher had been ………..c……….. her test, after test in geography and she had been doing ………..d………. .
Answer:
a. now
b. ever
c. giving
d. worse
Grammar
Rectify the errors in the passage:
(1)
Answer:
Margie was disappointing. She had been hoped they should take the teacher away alltogether. They had once taken Tommy teacher away since nearly a month.
| Errors | Corrections |
| (a) disappointing | disappointed |
| (b) hoped | hoping |
| (c)should | would |
| (d) alltogether | altogether |
| (e) Tommy | Tommy’s |
| (f) since | for |
(2)
Answer:
The screen was light up, and it said:
“Today arithmetic lesson is on the
addition of proper fraction. Please
input yesterday’s homework in the
proper slot.” Margie did such with
a sigh. She was thought about the old
schools they had.
| Errors | Corrections |
| (a) light | lit |
| (b) Today | Today’s |
| (c) fraction | fractions |
| (d) input | insert |
| (e) such | so |
| (f) thought | thinking |
(3)
Answer:
Margie went in the schoolroom. It was rite next to her bedroom. and the mechanical teacher was off
at the same time everyday expect Saturday and Sunday, but her mother said little girls learned worse if they learned at regular hours.
Errors-Corrections
| Errors | Corrections |
| (a) in | into |
| (b) rite | right |
| (c) off | on |
| (d) expect | except |
| (e) but | because |
| (f) worse | better |
Fill in the blanks using article(s), conjunctions(s) and preposition(s) at the correct places:
1. He was …………a………… round little man with a red face ………….b……… a whole box ……….c………… tools …………d………….. dials and wires. He smiled …………e…………. Margie and gave her …………..f……….. apple.
Answer:
a. a
b. and
c. of
d. with
e. at
f. an
2. The inspector had smiled …………a………….. he was finished ……….b………… patted Margie’s head. He said …………..c……….. her mother, “It’s not …………..d………… little girl’s fault, Mrs Jones. I think ……………e………….. geography sector was geared a little ………….f…………. quick.
Answer:
a. after
b. and
c. to
d. the
e. the
f. too
Punctuate the following passage:
She said where did you find it
In my house he pointed without looking because he was busy reading in the attic
Answer:
She said, “Where did you find it ?”
“In my house.” He pointed without looking, because he was busy reading. “In the attic.”
Convert the following into Indirect Speech:
“A man isn’t smart enough,” Tommy said. “Sure he is. My father knows as much as my teacher.” Margie said.
“He knows almost as much, I betcha.”
Answer:
Tommy argued that a man isn’t smart enough. Margie replied confidently that he is surely smart enough. Then she added that her father knew as much as her teacher. She was ready to bet for the knowledge of a man.
Rewrite as directed:
(1) It was a very old book. (Turn into Exclamatory.)
(2) They turned the pages, which were yellow : and crinkly. (Turn into Simple.)
(3) What a waste ! (Turn into Assertive.)
(4) It’s not the little girl’s fault. (Turn into Affirmative.)
( 5) He pointed without looking, because he was busy reading. (Use ‘since’.)
(6) She was thinking about their fun. (Turn into Complex.)
(7) Please insert yesterday’s homework in the proper slot. (Use ‘would’.)
Answer:
(1) What an old book it was !
(2) They turned the yellow and crinkly pages.
(3) It was a great waste.
(4) The little girl is faultless.
OR
It is the fault of someone else but of the little girl.
(5) Since he was busy reading, he pointed without looking.
(6) She was thinking about the fun that they had.
(7) Would you please insert yesterday’s homework in the proper slot ?
The Fun They Had Summary in English
The Fun They Had Introduction:
Isaac Asimov (January 2, 1920 to April 6, 1992) was an American writer and professor of Biochemistry at Boston University. He was known for his works of scientific fiction and popular science. He was a prolific writer who wrote or edited more than 500 books and an estimated 90,000 letters and postcards. His most famous work is the Foundation Series.
The Fun They Had Summary:
The short story ‘The Fun They Had’ written by Isaac Asimov deals with a boy and a girl, Tommy and Margie. On 17th May 2157, Tommy, a thirteen-year-old boy, finds a ‘real book’ which has been printed on paper. The book is really old and pages are yellow and crinkly. In the year 2157, this kind of books doesn’t exist anymore. In this time, words are moving on a television screen. The television contains over a million of books. That is the reason, why Tommy thinks that they are much better. Tommy says that the book is about school.
Margie hates school and cannot understand why someone would write about it. She was having problems with learning geography from her ‘mechanical teacher’. It was black, large and had a screen on it. It teaches her, gives her exercises and asks her questions, all in a special room in their own house. It can also calculate the marks in no time. Margie hates the slot where she has to insert her homework or test papers. Once the geography sector of her mechanical teacher was geared too quick so that her performance got worse and worse.
The County Inspector regeared it slow. He was really nice to Margie. She had hoped that her mechanical teacher would be away for a long time. But it was set right soon. Tommy says that the book in which he has read about the school, is not about their type of school, it is about school centuries ago. They found out that students then had a man as a teacher who taught the girls and boys, gave them homework and asked them questions. They had a special building, where the children went for studies, and they learned the same thing, if they were the same age.
At first, Margie does not understand how a person could be a teacher and how the students were taught the same thing because her mother says that education must fit each child’s mind, but nevertheless, in her opinion, these schools are funny and she wants to read more about it. Then it is time for Margie and Tommy for their school. Margie goes to the schoolroom in her house, where the mechanical teacher stands. It is already on because the lessons are always at regular hours. She was thinking about the old school system and how much fun the children must have, learning and spending time together.