NCERT Solutions for The Fun they Had Class 9 Beehive English
Book SolutionsI
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?
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 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 words printed on a book stood still instead of moving the way they did on a screen. She also found it odd that the words on a page always remained the same as the first time they were read. Besides, the idea that someone would write a book about schools was itself strange for Margie.
5. A book that can be displayed on a screen is called 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.
Thinking About Text
II.1
Answer the following with reference to the story.
“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?
“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 said these words.(ii) 'It' refers to the television screen, on which you could read over a million books
(iii) Tommy is comparing the television screen to the real books in earlier times in which words were printed on paper. He thought that after reading such books, one would have to throw them away. However, he would never have to throw away his telebooks.
Thinking About Text
II.2
Answer the following with reference to the story.
“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?
“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.
Thinking About Text
III.1
What kind of teachers did Margie and Tommy have?
Answer
Margie and Tommy had mechanical teachers. They were large and black and ugly and had 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 had to write their answers in a punch code and the mechanical teacher calculated the marks immediately.
Thinking About Text
III.2
Why did Margie’s mother send for the County Inspector ?
Answer
Margie had been given many tests in geography by the mechanical teacher, but there was no improvement in her performance. It only kept getting worse. It is for this reason that Margie’s mother sent for the County Inspector to find out why this was happening.
Thinking About Text
III.3
What did he do?
Answer
The County Inspector gave Margie an apple and started working on the mechanical teacher. He took it apart and then checked it. Margie had hoped that the Inspector would not know how to put the mechanical teacher together again, but he managed to reassemble it. He slowed down the geography sector of the teacher because it was geared a little too quick for an average ten-year-old.
Thinking About Text
III.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 geared a little too quick. The County Inspector rightly told her that she could not be blamed for her poor performance.
Thinking About Text
III.5
What had once happened to Tommy’s teacher ?
Answer
Once, the history sector of Tommy’s teacher had once blanked out completely.
Thinking About Text
III.6
Did Margie have regular days and hours for school? If so, why ?
Answer
Yes, Margie had regular days and hours for school. This was because her mother believed that learning at regular hours helped little girls learn better. Her mechanical teacher was also on at the same time everyday except Saturday and Sunday.
Thinking About Text
III.7
How does Tommy describe the old kind of school ?
Answer
Tommy described old kind of school as a special building where all kids studied together. There were hundreds of students studying and playing together. They used to shout and laugh together in an open yard.
Thinking About Text
III.8
How does he describe the old kind of teachers ?
Answer
Tommy said that the old kind of teachers was men, who taught the students inside a special building. The teachers taught the children in groups and gave them homework and asked them questions.
Thinking About Text
IV.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. 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 learned geography, history and arithmetic. They had regular days and hours for school. Margie's school was right next to her bedroom. The mechanical teacher always turned on at the same time every day except Saturdays and Sundays because her mother said that little girls learned better when they learned at regular hours.
Thinking About Text
IV.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. A mechanical teacher used to teach her everyday at a fixed time. Recently, she had been doing badly in the geography tests that her mechanical teacher had been giving her. Her mother was not happy with the performance and sends for the County Inspector, she hopes that the inspector would take the mechanical teacher away. She is disappointed when the County Inspector manages to assemble all the parts of the mechanical teacher. The part that she hated the most was inserting 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. 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 and talk about it. Also, the teachers were people. All these aspects made her believe that the old kind of school must have been fun.
Thinking About Text
1
Find the sentences in the lesson which have the adverbs given in the box below.
Awfully, sorrowfully, completely, loftily, carefully, differently, quickly, nonchalantly
Awfully, sorrowfully, completely, loftily, carefully, differently, quickly, nonchalantly
Answer
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.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.
They had once taken Tommy’s teacher away for nearly a month because the history sector had blanked out completely.
He added loftily, pronouncing the word carefully, “Centuries ago.”
“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.”
“I didn’t say I didn’t like it,” Margie said quickly.
“May be,” he said nonchalantly.
Thinking about Lang.
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.
(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) The report must be read carefully so that performance can be improved.(ii) At the interview, Sameer answered our questions loftily, shrugging his shoulders.
(iii) We all behave differently when we are tired or hungry.
(iv) The teacher shook her head sorrowfully when Ravi lied to her.
(v) I completely forgot about it.
(vi) When I complimented Revathi on her success, she just smiled nonchalantly and turned away.
(vii) The President of the Company is awfully busy and will not be able to meet you.
(viii) I finished my work quickly so that I could go out to play.
Thinking about Lang.
3
Make adverbs from these adjectives.
(i) angry _____
(ii) happy _____
(iii) merry_____
(iv) sleepy _____
(v) easy ______
(vi) noisy ______
(vii) tidy ______
(viii) gloomy _____
(i) angry _____
(ii) happy _____
(iii) merry_____
(iv) sleepy _____
(v) easy ______
(vi) noisy ______
(vii) tidy ______
(viii) gloomy _____
Answer
(i) Angrily(ii) Happily
(iii) Merrily
(iv) Sleepily
(v) Easily
(vi) Noisily
(vii) Tidily
(viii) Gloomily
Thinking about Lang.
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 ______
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 dull and lazy.
5. Unless that little bird flies away quickly, the cat will pounce on it.
Thinking about Lang.