Here, I have fully discussed about the lesson The Fun They Had Question Answer. The language or words used here are very easy to understand well.

I. Answer these questions in a few words or a couple of sentences each.

Question : How old are Margie and Tommy?

Ans: Margie is eleven and Tommy is thirteen years old.

Question : What did Margie write in her diary?

Ans: Margie wrote in her diary that " Today Tommy found a real book".

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

Question : What things about the book did she find strange?

Ans: She (Margie) found strange about the book that the pages were yellow and crinkly, the words of the book were not moving, when they turned back to the page before, the same words were found there.

Question : What do you think a telebook is?

Ans: I think the telebooks are displayed on the television or computer screen.

Question : Where was Margie's school? Did she have any classmates?

Ans: Margie's school was right next to her bedroom. She did not have any classmates.

Question : What subjects did Margie and Tommy learn?

Ans: Margie and Tommy Learnt History, Geography and Mathematics.

II. Answer the following with reference to the story.
1. "I wouldn't throw it away."

Question : Who says these words?

Ans: Tommy says these words.

Question : What does 'it' refer to?

Ans. 'It' refers to the book that Tommy found.

Question : What is it being compared with by the speaker?

Ans: It is being compared with the telebook by the speaker.

2. "Sure they had a teacher, but it wasn't a regular teacher. It was a man."

Question : Who does 'they' refer to?

Ans: 'They' refer to the students centuries ago.

Question : What does 'regular' mean here?

Aus. Here, 'regular' means the mechanical teacher that Margie and Tommy had.

Question : What is it contrasted with?

Ans. It is contrasted with a normal teacher of earlier time, who was a living human being.

III. Answer each of these questions in a short paragraph (about 30 words).

Question : What kind of teachers did Margie and Tommy have?

Ans: Margie and Tommy had mechanical teachers instead of human teachers. They took education on computer and television screens. The children had to write the answers in a particular punch code and insert in a slot.

Question : Why did Margie's mother send for the County Inspector?

Ans. Margie's mother sent for the County Inspector because the mechanical teacher was not functioning properly. It had been giving her test after test in geography and she had been performing worse every time. Margie's mother was very careful and thus sent for the County Inspector.

Question : What did he do?

Ans: The County Ispector found that the geography sector of the mechanical teacher was geared a little too quick. He slowed down the mechanical teacher's speed upto an average ten-year level.

Question : Why was Margie doing badly in geography? What did the County Inspector do to help her?

Ans: Margie was doing badly in geography because the questions which were shown on the screen of the mechanical teacher were to quick according to her age.

       The County Inspector helped her by controlling its speed upto an average ten-year level sot that she could be able to practise properly.

Question : What had once happened to Tommy's teacher?

Ans: Tommy's teacher had once taken away for nearly a month because the history sector had blanked out completely.

Question : Did Margie have regular days and hours for school? If so, why?

Ans: Yes, Margie had regular days and hours for school except Saturday and Sunday because her mother said that little girls learned better if they learned at regular hours.

Question : How does Tommy describe the old kind of school?

Ans: Tommy describes that the old kind of schools were different. They had a special building and all the kids went to learn there. They laughed and shouted there and learned lessons together in a classroom.

Question : How does he describe the old kind of teachers?

Ans: He (Tommy) describes that the old kind of teachers did not live in the house. They were humans instead of machines. They had a special building and all the kids went there to study. They gave homework to the students and asked questions.

IV. Answer each of these questions in two or three paragraphs (100-150 words).

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

Ans. The main features of the mechanical teachers that Margie and Tommy have mentioned below:

   The mechanical teachers have big black
screens on which lessons are shown and questions are asked. The students have to put their homework and test papers in a slot. The Students write answers in punch code and the mechanical teacher calculates the marks in no time.

     The main features of the schoolrooms that Margie and Tommy have mentioned below :

     In the story, the schools are at homes as Margie's school was right next to her bedroom. The students do not have classmates. They had regular days and hours for school. They could not fun in the schoolrooms. The mechanical teacher was always on at the same time everyday except on Saturday and Sunday.

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

Ans. Margie hated school because it was not fun. The mechanical teacher started the class at the same time regularly. Margie's mechanical teacher was giving her test again and again in geography and she was doing worse. Margie also felt bore inserting homework and test papers in the slot on the mechanical teacher.

      She thought that the old kind of school must have been fun because it would have had kids from various places of the neighbourhood and they laughed and shouted in the schoolyard. It would have been so amazing to sit together in the classroom and leave the school together when the school breaks up. All the students learnt the same thing so they could help each other in studies and homework.

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

Ans : Yes, I agree with Margie that schools today are more fun than the school in the story. In the story, the schools are at the homes of students. There is no place to interact among the students. It is boring to learn from a screen. It is monotonous to put homework and test papers in a slot. Writing answers in punch code is even more irksome.

     Learning together in a class gives students a wider view of the people. Students also get familiar with others and learn how to interact and socialize. Getting taught by human teachers more progressive than being taught by a robotic teacher. If there is any problem with any lesson or concept, the student can ask the human teacher at once. But mechanical teachers are programmed with a certain lesson and concept for a particular day. During the time of doing homework, he/she can take help from classmates. That is why the schools today are 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 add -ly to it, it becomes an adverb.

a) Find the sentences in the lesson which have the adverbs given in the box below.

awfully,  sorrowfully,  completely,  loftily, carefully, differently, quickly, nonchalantly

Answers :-
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 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.

Nonchalantly : "May be," he said nonchalantly.

b) Now use these adverbs to fill in the blanks in the sentences below.

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.

vill) I finished my work quickly so that I could go out to play.

Remember:-
An adverb describes action. You can form adverbs by adding-ly to adjectives.

Spelling Note: When an adjective ends in -y, the 'y' changes to 'i' when you add-ly to form an adverb.

For example: angr-y-angr-i-ly

3. Make adverbs from these adjectives.

(i) angry -------------angrily
(ii) happy------------happily
(iii) merry-----------merrily
(iv) sleepy----------sleepily
(v) easy--------------easily
(vi) noisy------------noisily
(vil) tidy--------------tidily
(viii) 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.

Notice 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.

There won't be any books left (Future Tense) unless we preserve them (Present
Tense)

You won't learn your lessons (Future Tense)
if you don't study regularly (Present
Tense)

Tommy will have an accident(Future Tense)
unless he drives more slowly (Present
Tense)

Complete the following conditional sentences. Use the correct form of the verb.

a) If I don't go to Anu's party tonight, She will feel irritated.

b) If you don't telephone the hotel to order food, you will stay without meal.

c) Unless you promise to write back, I shall not write to you again.

d) If she doesn't play any games, she will become lazy.

e) Unless that little bird flies away quickly, the cat will catch it and kill it.