The Fun They Had by (Isaac Asimov)

Class 9 English Beehive Chapter 1 The Fun They Had: “The Fun They Had” is a story (a science fiction) by American writer Isaac Asimov and one of the chapters in English literature subject (CBSC).

Answer in Short

Q. How old are Margie and Tommy?
Ans: Margie is eleven and Tommy is thirteen-year-old.

Q. What did Margie write in her diary?
Ans: Margie wrote, “Today Tommy found a real book!”

Q. Had Margie ever seen a book before?
Ans: No, Margie had never seen a book before.

Q. What things about the book did she find strange? Ans: 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.

Q. What do you think a telebook is?
Ans: A book that can be displayed on a screen is called telebook.

Q. Where was Margie’s school? Did she have any classmates?
Ans: Margie’s school was in her home itself, right next to her bedroom. No, she did not have any classmates.

Q. What subjects did Margie and Tommy learn?
Ans: Margie and Tommy learned geography, history and arithmetic.

Reference to Context

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 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.

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.

The Fun They Had: Question & Answers

Q) How did a chance discovery of a paper book leave Margie and Tommy awestruck?

Q) What are the main features of the mechanical teachers and the schoolrooms that Margie and Tommy have in the story?

Q) Why did Margie hate school? Why did she think the old kind of school must have been fun?

Q) Do you agree with Margie that schools today are more fun than the school in the story? Give reasons for your answer.

Q) Suppose you are Margie. Write a diary entry dated 17th May 2157 about Tommy’s real book that he found in his attic.

Q) Why did Margie hate school? Why did she think the old kind of school must have been fun?

Q) The old schools are considered fun by the modern generation. Explain.

Q) Do you agree with Margie that schools today are more fun than the school in the story? Give reasons for your answer.

Q) Will the existing schools and teachers become totally irrelevant in future? Give a reasoned answer.

Q) Describe the characteristics of old schools. How did they arouse so much interest in Margie and Tommy?

Q) Can you imagine a school without teachers and books? Give your opinion on the basis of the lesson ‘The Fun They Had’

Q) What is the role of a teacher in the life of a student? How is a human teacher better than a mechanical teacher?

Assignment/Project Topics

Question: Hypothesise, Justify, Create.

1. If you were to meet your favourite textual character, what is the one question you would ask him/ her/ it?

Answer: My favourite character from the story is Margie and if I meet her, I would ask her:

“If her entire day goes like that, without getting any opportunity to interact with other people and children of her age, or is it that after the school she get to meet her friends for play time, she goes for some hobby classes, and later in the evening they have a fun filled family game time”?

2. What prompted you to ask that question?

Answer: Even today, most students depend on their computers for their studies and I feel the importance of computers and technology in education is only going to increase in future.

So, even if Margie does not go to a regular school, and if in the rest of the time she is able to meet her friends for play time, if she goes to some hobby classes, and if her family gets together for some fun time later in the evening, I would still consider it to be a good day, and ask Margie to look at the brighter side of the day.

3. What, according to you, would be the character’s reply?

Answer: I feet Margie would be happy to hear that question and will probably thank me for making her look at the brighter side of the day.

Even though we have regular school, there are times, when even we get overwhelmed and tired with homework and don’t feel like attending class, but there is always something to look forward to later in the day or over the weekends.

So even Margie should look at the positive things to come.