THE FUN THEY HAD(BEE HIVE) CHAPTER 1stmarysajmer.org/data/notes/Module 2/Class 9/Class... · student. They had large black screen on which lessons were shown and questions were asked.

THE FUN THEY HAD(BEE HIVE)CHAPTER 1

III. Answer the following.

1. What kind of teachers did Margie and Tommy have?

ANS. Margie and Tommy had mechanical teachers. They were kept in the school room of each student. They had large black screen on which lessons were shown and questions were asked. They taught students by instructions that flashed on the screen.

2. Why did Margie’s mother send for the county inspector?

ANS. Margie’s mother was worried because the child was not faring well in geography tests given by her mechanical teacher. Margie’s mother sent for the county inspector to evaluate Margie’s performance and reset the tests.

3. What did he do?

ANS. The county inspector took the mechanical teacher apart and checked the lessons and questions on a big screen. Thereafter he checked the slot where Margie had put her homework and test papers.

4. 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 geography sector in her mechanical teacher was geared a little too quick. The county inspector slowed it down to the level of an average ten-year-old child.

5. What had once happened to the Tommy’s teacher?

ANS. Once Tommy’s history teacher had completely blanked out. Due to some defect, its screen showed nothing. So, Tommy’s teacher was taken away for repairs for about a month.

6. Did Margie have regular days and hours for school? If so, why?

ANS. Margie had regular days and hours for attending school except on Saturday and Sunday. It was because Margie’s mother thought that if she learned at regular hours, she would learn better.

7. How does Tommy describe the old kind of school?

ANS. Tommy describes the old kind of school which existed centuries ago. The school then had a separate and special building and all the children went there to study together. They were taught by a human teacher

8. How does Tommy describe the old kind of teachers?

ANS. Tommy describes the old kind of teachers who were not like their mechanical teachers. They were real men who used to give homework to children and ask them questions.

IV. ANSWER EACH OF THESE QUESTIONS IN TWO OR THREE PARAGRAPHS.

1. What are the main features of the mechanical teachers and the schoolrooms that Margie and Tommy have in the story? (DO ON YOUR OWN)

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

ANS. Margie’s school was in a room of her house next to her bedroom. She had to go there to be taught by a mechanical teacher at fixed hour everyday except on Saturday and Sunday. In the story Margie hated school because she found it dull. She hated her school in particular because her mechanical teacher had been giving her test after test in geography and she was faring poorly. Margie thought that the old kind of school must have been fun. The children would be sitting together in the classes and going home together at the end of the school and learning the same things. Thus the students could help each other with their homework and talk about it. The teachers, too, were human beings.

3. Do you agree with Margie that schools today are more fun than the school in the story? Give reason for your answer. (DO ON YOUR OWN)

EXTRA QUESTIONS1. E-books are need of the hour especially when we have to save trees, paper and other resources.

Comment

2. “Margie was disappointed,” says the author. Why was she disappointed?

_______________________________________________________________________________

POEM

THE ROAD NOT TAKEN

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveller, long I stood

And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, just as fair,

And having perhaps the better claim,

Because it was grassy and wanted wear;

Though as for that the passing there

Had worn them really about the samze,

And both that morning equally lay

In leaves no step had trodden black.

Oh, I kept the first for another day!

Yet knowing how way leads on to way,

I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence;

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I –

I took the one less travelled by,

And that has made all the difference.

Robert Frost

INTRODUCTION

The poem is about the journey of life and contain a deep hidden meaning. It is about decisions people make during their lives and the doubts they have after making the decisions; whether it was right or not. A traveller is passing through a jungle in autumn season. He comes to a point where the road is divided into two. He has to choose one. Thus the poem depicts the problem of making a right choice in life.

SUMMARY

In the poem, the speaker was travelling through a forest during the fall, when he reached a point where the road diverged into two paths and the speaker had to decide which road to choose. The decision was not easy. He stood there for a long time. He wished he could take both roads, however he knew it was impossible. He examined one of the roads, trying to see where it led, but he couldn’t see since it bent in the undergrowth. Finally, the speaker chose the other road which looked as attractive as the first one, but it seemed to him that fewer people had used it- “it was grassy and wanted wear”. He chose the less conventional road and it implies that he wanted to do something different and not be like the others.

The speaker hoped to return one day and take the other road, but once he chose one way , it would lead to another then another. Therefore , it was unlikely that he would ever go back to the road he had not taken.

The poem ends with a sigh. “I will be telling this with a sigh”. The sigh may imply that the speaker was not satisfied with the decision he had made and regretted it, or it might be a sigh of satisfaction showing that he was pleased with his choice. The speaker knew that choosing the road less travelled by had made all the difference. It had a great influence on his life.

ANSWER THE FOLLOWING IN YOUR OWN WORDS.

1. Where does the traveller find himself? What problem does he face?

2. Is there any difference between the two roads as the poet describes them

(i) in stanzas two and three?

(ii) in the last two lines of the poem?

3. What do you think the last two lines of the poem mean? (looking back does the poet regret his choice or accept it?)