- Answer these questions in a few words or a couple of sentences each.
Question 1. How old are Margie and Tommy?
Answer: Margie is 11 and Tommy is 13 years old.
Question 2. What did Margie write in her diary?,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,K,’
Answer: She wrote in her diary “Today Tommy found a real book!”
Question 3. Had Margie ever seen a book before?
Answer: No, Margie had never seen a book before.
Question 4. What things about the book did she find strange?
Answer: The aspects of the book that Margie found strange were:
- i) The pages of the book were yellow and crinkly.
- ii) The words remained stationary instead of moving.
iii) When they returned to the previous page, it still contained the same words as when they first read it.
Question 5. What do you think a telebook is?
Answer: I think the telebook must be a book that gets displayed on the screen of the television.
Question 6. Where was Margie’s school? Did she have any classmates?
Answer: Margie’s school was located next to her bedroom in her house. She did not have any classmates because she was taught individually by a mechanical teacher through a screen at home.
Question 7. What subjects did Margie and Tommy learn?
Answer: Tommy and Margie learnt History, Arithmetic and Geography.
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- Answer the following with reference to the story.
Question 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 books.
(iii) The paperback book is being compared with the telebooks by the speaker.
Question 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” refers to the students centuries ago.
(ii) “Regular” means the usual for the people in 2157. Here, regular teacher means the mechanical teacher.
(iii) The mechanical teacher is contrasted with humans as teachers of earlier times.
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 were taught by mechanical teachers, which featured large screens displaying all the lessons and asking questions. Instead of human teachers, the children learned from computer and television screens.
Question 2. Why did Margie’s mother send for the County Inspector?
Answer: Margie’s mother called the County Inspector because Margie’s mechanical teacher was malfunctioning. Despite Margie’s efforts, the teacher kept administering Geography tests, and her performance worsened with each attempt. Worried about Margie’s education, her mother sought assistance from the County Inspector.
Question 3. What did he do?
Answer: The County Inspector greeted Margie with a smile and offered her an apple. He then removed the mechanical teacher from her possession. Afterward, he repaired the mechanical teacher, explaining to Margie’s mother that the geography section had been operating at an overly rapid pace. He adjusted it to a more suitable level, equivalent to that of an average ten-year-old.
Question 4. Why was Margie doing badly in geography? What did the County Inspector do to help her?
Answer: Margie’s performance in geography was suffering because the questions presented on the mechanical teacher’s screen were too fast-paced for her age level.
The County Inspector slowed its speed to an average ten-year level so that Margie would be able to perform satisfactorily.
Question 5. What had once happened to Tommy’s teacher?
Answer: Tommy’s teacher had to be completely removed for a month because the history sector had completely malfunctioned and stopped working.
Question 6. Did Margie have regular days and hours for school? If so, why?
Answer: Yes, Margie had regular days and hours for school. Margie’s mother believed that having consistent and structured learning times would help Margie learn better.
Question 7. How does Tommy describe the old kind of school?
Answer: Tommy mentions that in the old type of school, there were dedicated buildings where all the children gathered to study.
Question 8. How does he describe the old kind of teachers?
Answer: He explains to Margie that in the past, teachers were human beings rather than machines. These human teachers would teach the students, assign homework, and ask them questions to test their understanding. 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 main features of the mechanical teachers that Margie and Tommy have are as follows:
- Large black screens: Mechanical teachers are equipped with big black screens where lessons are displayed, and questions are asked.
- Homework and tests: Students need to insert their homework and test papers into a slot in the mechanical teacher for assessment. They write answers in punch code format, and the mechanical teacher calculates the results instantly.
The main features of the schoolrooms that Margie and Tommy have are as follows:
- Home-based schooling: In the story, schools are situated within homes. For example, Margie’s school is located right next to her bedroom, suggesting a convenient and domestic approach to education.
- Individualized learning: Students do not have classmates in these schoolrooms, indicating a personalized learning environment tailored to each student’s needs.
- Subject diversity: Students study various subjects like arithmetic, history, geography, etc., indicating a comprehensive curriculum aimed at holistic development.
- Consistent schedule: The mechanical teacher turns on at the same time every day, except on weekends, suggesting a structured and regular approach to education.
Question 2: Why did Margie hate school? Why did she think the old kind of school must have been fun?
Answer: Margie disliked school because she found it monotonous. The mechanical teacher followed a strict schedule, starting class at the same time every day. Margie’s frustration grew as her mechanical teacher incessantly tested her on Geography, with her performance deteriorating each time.
Furthermore, Margie found the process of inserting homework and test papers into the slot on the mechanical teacher tedious and impersonal.
She imagined that traditional schools must have been more enjoyable. In her mind, such schools would have brought together children from various parts of the neighborhood, fostering a sense of community. She envisioned the classroom as a lively space where students interacted and supported each other in their studies and homework, creating a more engaging learning environment.
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: Yes, I agree with Margie that modern schools are more enjoyable than the school depicted in the story. In the narrative, schools are confined within the students’ homes, depriving them of the opportunity for social interaction. Learning solely from screens and undergoing tests sounds dull. The repetitive task of inserting homework and test papers into a slot on a mechanical teacher every day adds to the monotony. Writing answers in punch codes further exacerbates the tedium.
Learning together in a classroom exposes students to a broader spectrum of people, fostering social interaction and communication skills. Human teachers offer a dynamic learning experience, readily available to address any queries or concerns students may have. In contrast, mechanical teachers are programmed with predetermined lessons, lacking the flexibility of human interaction. A Students benefit from collaborative learning, where they can seek help from classmates when solving homework or understanding concepts. This collaborative aspect makes modern schools more engaging and enjoyable than those depicted in the story.
Question 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”.
carefully:
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. She wanted to read about those funny schools.
nonchalantly:
“Maybe,” he said nonchalantly.
Question 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) 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.
Question 3. Make adverbs from these adjectives.
Answer:
(i) angry – angrily (ii) happy – happily
(iii) merry – merrily (iv) sleepy – sleepily
(v) easy – easily (vi) noisy – noisily
(vii) tidy – tidily (viii) gloomy – gloomily
- If Notand Unless
Complete the following conditional sentences. Use the correct form of the verb.
- If I don’t go to Anu’s party tonight, she will get irritated.
- If you don’t telephone the hotel to order food, you will miss your meal.
- Unless you promise to write back, I will not write you another letter.
- If she doesn’t play any games, she will become lazy.
- Unless that little bird flies away quickly, the catwill pounce on it and kill it