CBSE Summary with NCERT Solutions For Class 9 English The Fun They Had for revision. And also for better performance in tests and exams. The author, Issac Asimov, coveys the message that education is not merely the accumulation of information. He emphasizes the point that normal schooling is a life experience and that helps the students to study and grow together.
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The story The Fun They Had is essential for you teenagers to understand the importance of schooling. Below you can find a brief explanation of the lesson and NCERT Solutions For Class 9 English The Fun They Had.
The Fun They Had Summary
Characters in Spotlight: The Fun They Had
- Margie
- An eleven-year-old girl.
- Tommy
- A thirteen-year-old boy.
Quick Overview
The story “The Fun They Had” is set in the year 2157. It takes us into a world where computers play a major role in educating children. The students are taught by mechanical teachers and books are considered meaningless. The students learn from e-books and the class tests are conducted online. Future schools are quite different from present schools.
Detailed Summary
On May 17, 2157, Tommy, a young boy of 13 finds a book in the attic of his house which he shows to Margie, a girl of 11. The book is centuries-old and its pages are yellow and crinkly. Both Tommy and Margie are amazed to see that the words in the book are fixed on the pages and do not move as they do on a screen they are accustomed to. Margie recalls that once her grandfather had told her about how stories were printed on pages in the times of his grandfather.
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Tommy considers books a waste and Margie is disappointed when Tommy tells her that the book is about a school because she dislikes schools. Margie’s dislike for schools has intensified these days because her mechanical teacher has not been functioning properly. Margie’s mother calls the County Inspector to examine the cause behind the error.
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The county Inspector tells that the geography sector had been fixed at a speed that was too fast for the little girl and that was the reason for her poor performance. He sets the speed to Margie’s level. Margie is still upset as she hoped that it would be taken away for some time and she would be relieved of the trouble of taking so many tests. Tommy tells that the book is not about their kind of school rather about the old kind of schools.
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Those schools were special buildings where lessons were taught by men and not by machines. The students of one level were taught by the same teacher in the same room. Tommy and Margie discuss how earlier many students adjusted their levels with the same teacher, unlike their own schools where every teacher is attuned to the requirement of individual students. They haven’t even read the half book when Margie’s mother reminds her that it’s time for school.
Also Read : The Road Not Taken – Summary Class 9 English
Margie’s schoolroom is right next to her bedroom. She has to study at regular hours because her mother considers it right to study at a fixed time every day as a mechanical teacher is teaching the addition of proper fractions, Margie is lost in her thoughts about working in schools in old times. She believes that the kids must have enjoyed going together to school. They must have had fun going to the same school, studying the same things, and being able to help one another.
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The story conveys the message that education is not the mere accumulation of information. Computerization can certainly help gain information the better way but schooling is much more than acquiring facts. It is a life experience where children interact with each other and have fun. They learn the values of sharing and caring. If we expect future schools to have mechanical teachers attuned to the specific needs of every student and books available only in electronic form, then our children will be deprived of the privilege to study and grow together.
NCERT Solutions for Class 9 English The Fun They Had
Thinking About The Text
Q. 1. Answer these questions in a few words or a couple of sentences each.
- How old are Margie and Tommy?
- What did Margie write in her diary?
- Had Margie ever seen a book before?
- What things about the book did she find strange?
- What do you think a telebook is?
- Where was Margie’s school? Did she have any classmates?
- What subjects did Margie and Tommy learn?
A)
- Margie is eleven years and Tommy is thirteen-year-old.
- Margie wrote, “Today Tommy found a real book!”.
- No, Margie had never seen a book before.
- 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 the first time they were read. Besides, the idea that someone would write a book about schools was itself strange for Margie.
- A book that can be displayed on a screen is called telebook.
- Margie’s school was in her home itself, right next to her bedroom. No, she did not have any classmates.
- Margie and Tommy learned geography, history, and arithmetic.
Q. 2. Answer the following with reference to the story.
- “I wouldn’t throw it away.”
- Who says these words?
- What does ‘it’ refer to?
- What is it being compared with by the speaker?
- “ Sure, they had a teacher, but it wasn’t a regular teacher. It was a man.”
- Who does ‘they’ refer to?
- What does ‘regular’ mean here?
- What is it contrasted with?
A)
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- Margie says these words.
- It refers to that real book that Tommy found.
- The speaker compares it with a telebook.
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- ‘They’ refer to the people of the old times.
- Here, regularly refers to the mechanical teacher then they had.
- It is contrasted with a normal teacher of earlier times, who was a living human being.
Q. 3. Answer each of these questions in a short paragraph (about 30 words).
1. What kind of teachers did Margie and Tommy have?
A) 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.
2. Why did Margie’s mother send for the County Inspector?
A) 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.
3. What did he do?
A) 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 quickly for an average ten-year-old.
4. Why was Margie doing badly in geography? What did the County Inspector do to help her?
A) Margie was doing badly in geography because the geography sector of the mechanical teacher had been geared a little too quickly. The County Inspector rightly told her that she could not be blamed for her poor performance. The County Inspector slowed down the geography sector of the mechanical teacher to an average ten-year level. He also told Mrs. Jones that Margie’s overall progress pattern was satisfactory.
5. What had once happened to Tommy’s teacher?
A) Once, The history sector of Tommy’s teacher had once blanked out completely.
6. Did Margie have regular days and hours for school? If so, why?
A) 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 every day except Saturday and Sunday.
7. How does Tommy describe the old kind of school?
A) Tommy described the 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.
8. How does he describe the old kind of teachers?
A) 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.
Q. 4. 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?
A) 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. The kids had to write their answers in a punch code and the mechanical teacher calculated the marks immediately. Their schools were in their homes themselves. They did not have any classmates. The students 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.
2. Why did Margie hate school? Why did she think the old kind of school must have been fun?
A) Margie hated school because it was not fun. A mechanical teacher used to teach her every day 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 that was given by the mechanical teacher. She did not like the fact that she had to write her answers in a punch code.
Margie thought that the old kind of school must have been fun as she imagined all the kids from the entire neighborhood 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.
Some Frequently Asked Questions
Q. 1. What kind of books were Margie ad Tommy studying in their schools?
A) They did not have any book but used to read everything on the screen.
Q. 2. Why were Margie and Tommy surprised to see a textbook?
A) They were surprised because they had always read a telebook through a computer or television screen. Now, they had found a printed book with pages and words that did not move.
Conclusion: Class 9 English The Fun They Had Summary
The above written includes the Class 9 The Fun They Had Summary, explanation, and question answers.
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