Question 1:
(Activity) Calculate how many years and months ahead from now Margie's diary entry is.
Answer these questions in a few words or a couple of sentences each.
1. How old are Margie and Tommy?
2. What did Margie write in her diary?
3. Had Margie ever seen a book before?
4. What things about the book did she find strange?
5. What do you think a telebook is?
6. Where was Margie's school? Did she have any classmates?
7. What subjects did Margie and Tommy learn?
Solution:
Directions for activity: The answer is to be calculated by deducting the present date from the date of Margie's diary entry, i.e. 17 May 2157. If the present date is 17 June 2013, the answer will be 143 years and 11 months. Hence, for this particular date, the answer to this question will be as follows:
Margie's diary entry is 143 years and 11 months ahead from now.
1. Margie is eleven while Tommy is thirteen years old.
2. Margie wrote in her diary, "Today Tommy found a real book!"
3. No, Margie had never seen a book before.
4. 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.
5. A telebook is a book that can be read on screen. Words move on the screen for the readers to read.
6. Margie's school was in her home itself, right next to her bedroom.
No, she did not have any classmates.
7. Margie and Tommy learnt geography, history and arithmetic.
Q2:
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?
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?
Solution:
1.
(i) says these words.
(ii) 'It' refers to the television screen.
(iii) Tommy is comparing the television screen with printed books of the earlier times.
2.
(i) The word 'they' refers to the students who studied in the old kind of schools, centuries before the time the story is set in.
(ii) Here, the term 'regular' refers to the mechanical teachers that Tommy and Margie has.
(iii) The mechanical teacher is contrasted with the teacher of the earlier times, who was a man.
Question 3:
Answer each of these questions in a short paragraph (about 30 words).
1. What kind of teachers did Margie and Tommy have?
2. Why did Margie's mother send for the County Inspector?
3. What did he do?
4. Why was Margie doing badly in geography? What did the Country Inspector do to help her?
5. What had once happened to Tommy's teacher?
6. Did Margie have regular days and hours for school? If so, why?
7. How does Tommy describe the old kind of school?
8. How does he describe the old kind of teachers?
Solution :
1. Margie and Tommy had mechanical teachers with large black screens that flashed lessons and questions. These teachers had slots where the students had to put their homework and test papers.
2. Margie had been consistently failing to perform well in the geography tests given by her mechanical teacher. In order to find out the reason behind this, her mother sent for the County Inspector.
3. The County Inspector took apart the teacher and after examining it, assembled it again. He slowed up the geography sector of the teacher because it was 'geared up a little too quick' for an average ten-year old.
4. Margie was doing badly in geography because the geography sector of the mechanical teacher had been adjusted at a higher level.
In order to help her, the County Inspector slowed down this sector to an average ten year level.
5. Once, Tommy's teacher was taken away for nearly a month because its history sector had blanked out completely.
6. Yes, Margie had regular days and hours for school. The mechanical teacher always turned on at the same time every day except Saturdays and Sundays. This was because her mother believed that learning at regular hours helped little girls learn better.
7. Tommy says that the old kind of school existed 'centuries ago'. They had a teacher, who was a man. This teacher taught in a special building, where all the kids assembled and learned the same things according to their respective ages.
8. Tommy says that the teacher of the old kind were men, who taught the students inside a special building. The teachers taught the children in groups and gave them homework and asked them questions.
Question 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?
2. Why did Margie hate school? Why did she think the old kind of school must have been fun?
3. Do you agree with Margie that schools today are more fun than the school in the story? Give reasons for your answer.
Solution:
1. Margie and Tommy had mechanical teachers. These teachers were basically large black screens on which the lessons were shown and questions were asked. These teachers were adjusted according to the age and potential of the student concerned. They had a slot in which the students had to put their homework and test papers. The mechanical teacher immediately calculated the marks for the answers written in punch codes by the students. However, these teachers were prone to technical and mechanical failure and troubles.
Their schools were in their homes itself. In fact, Margie's school was right next to her bedroom. Students did not have classmates. They had regular days and hours for school. The mechanical teacher always turned on at the same time every day except Saturdays and Sundays.
2. Margie hated school because it was not fun. She hated the large black screen and the way she had to insert the homework and test papers in the slot on the mechanical teacher. She disliked fact that she had to write her answers in a punch code. Besides, her hatred for school was amplified by her failure to fare well in the geography tests given by her mechanical teacher.
Margie imagined the old kind of school with kids from the entire neighbourhood 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. Also, the teachers were people, making the learning process more interactive. All these aspects made her believe that the old kind of school must have been fun.
3. Yes, I agree that schools today are more fun
than the school in the story. Studying and
answering questions seems to be a boring
idea without the presence of classmates.
Writing homework in punch codes and that
too without anybody's help would be draining.
Children develop a better understanding about
each other and their surroundings when they
go to a school and interact with others.
Human teachers are people are more understanding and accommodating than mechanical ones that are programmed to teach in a specific way. The excitement in waiting for the marks scored in exams is greater when one is sitting in a classroom with fellow students. It does not have the same effect when marks are calculated immediately after a test has been taken. Therefore, schools today are more fun than the school in the story as they are more interactive and promote a healthier way of learning.
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