NCERT Solutions for Class 9 English (Beehive) Chapter 1 The Fun They Had

NCERT
SOLUTIONS
CLASS - 9TH

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Book - Beehive Ncert Solutions | Chapter-1 English-1

Class : 9th
Subject : English-1
Chapter : 1
Chapter Name : The Fun They Had

QI 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 nd 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?

Answer. 1. Margie was eleven years old while Tommy was thirteen.
2. Margie wrote in her diary, "Today Tommy found a real book!"
3. No, Margie had never seen a book before.
4. On turning the pages of the book, she found it awfully funny to read words that stood still
instead of moving the way they were supposed to on a screen. When they turned back to the
previous page, it had the same words on it when they read it the rst time.
5. A telebook is a book that could be read on screen. Words move on the screen for the students
to read. All the lessons appear on the big screen and are followed by questions from the book.
6. Margie's school was in her home itself. In fact, it was next to her bedroom. It was a mechanical
teacher on whose screen lessons and questions appeared. She had to put her homework in a
particular slot and write the answers in a punch code. She did not have any classmates.
7.Margie and Tommy learnt geography, history and arithmetic.

QII 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?

Answer. 1. (i) Tommy said these words.

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(ii) 'It' refers to the television screen, which had a million books on it.
(iii) Tommy is comparing the television screen to the books in the 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 tele books.

2. (i) 'They' refers 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.

QIII 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 County 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?

Answer. 1. Margie and Tommy had mechanical teachers. They had large black screens on which
all the lessons were shown and questions were asked. These mechanical teachers had a slot in
which the students had to put their homework and test papers. They had to write their answers
in a punch code and the mechanical teacher calculated the marks immediately.
2. Margie had been given many tests in geography by the mechanical teacher. She had been
performing worse and worse in them. It is for this reason that she sent for the County Inspector.
3. The County Inspector gave Margie an apple and started working on the mechanical teacher.
Margie had hoped that the Inspector would not know how to put the mechanical teacher
together again, but he managed to assemble it. He slowed up the geography sector of the teacher
because it had become too quick.
4. Margie was doing badly in geography because the geography sector of the mechanical teacher
had been adjusted at a higher level. The County Inspector rightly told her that she could not be
blamed for her poor performance. The County Inspector slowed down the geography sector of
the mechanical teacher to an average ten-year level. He also told Mrs. Jones that Margie's
progress pattern was satisfactory.
5. Once, Tommy's teacher had to be 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. Margie had regular days and hours for
school because her mother said that little girls learned better when they learned at regular
hours.
7. Tommy says that the old kind of school existed centuries ago. They had a teacher, who was a

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man. This teacher taught in a special building where all the kids assembled and learned the same
things according to their respective ages.
8. He says that the teacher in old times was a man, who taught the students inside a special
building. He gave them homework and asked them questions. When Margie said that a man was
not smart enough to be a teacher, he contradicted her by saying that his father knew as much as
his mechanical teacher.

QIV 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.

Answer. 1. Margie and Tommy had mechanical teachers. They had large black screens on which
all the lessons were shown and questions were asked. They had a slot in which students had to
put their homework and test papers. They had to write their answers in a punch code and the
mechanical teacher calculated the marks immediately. Their schools were in their homes itself.
They did not have any classmates. They learnt geography, history and arithmetic. They had
regular days and hours for school. Margie's school was right next to her bedroom. The
mechanical teacher always turned on at the same time every day except Saturdays and Sundays
because her mother said that little girls learned better when they learned at regular hours.
2. Margie hated school because it was not fun. She had been doing badly in the geography tests
that her mechanical teacher had been giving her. When her mother sends for the County
Inspector, she hopes that the inspector would take the mechanical teacher away. She is
disappointed when the County Inspector manages to assemble all the parts of the mechanical
teacher. The part that she hated the most was inserting the homework and test papers in the slot
on the mechanical teacher. She did not like the fact that she had to write her answers in a punch
code. She thought that the old kind of school must have been fun as she imagined all the 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 and talk
about it. Also, the teachers were people. All these aspects made her believe that the old kind of
school must have been fun.
3. Yes, schools today are more fun than the school in the story. In the story, there is no
interaction among students regarding studies. Studying and answering questions seems to be a
boring idea. Doing homework without anybody's help and writing them in a punch code would
also be draining. Moreover, children develop a better understanding about each other and of
their surroundings when they go to a school and interact with each other. It is a healthier way of
learning. Listening to teachers explaining lessons is always more interesting than reading the
entire lesson on a mechanical computer. Also, if any student faces any problem with the subject
or in homework, he can discuss it with the teacher and other kids. The excitement of waiting to
know the marks scored in exams is greater when one is sitting in a classroom with other

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students. It does not have the same effect when the 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. They promote a healthy environment for the students to study and learn.

QI 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.
1. Find the sentences in the lesson which have the adverbs given in the box below.

2. Now use these adverbs to ll 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 nished my work so that I could go out to play.

3. Make adverbs from these adjectives.
(i) angry ________________ (ii) happy ________________
(iii) merry ________________ (iv) sleepy ________________
(v) easy _________________ (vi) noisy ________________
(vii) tidy ______________ (viii) gloomy ________________

Answer. 1. (i) 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.
(ii) 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.
(iii) Completely They had once taken Tommy's teacher away for nearly a month because the
history sector had blanked out completely.
(iv) Loftily He added loftily, pronouncing the word carefully, "Centuries ago."
(v) Carefully He added loftily, pronouncing the word carefully, "Centuries ago."
(vi) Differently "But my mother says a teacher has to be adjusted to t the mind of each boy and
girl it teaches and that each kid has to be taught differently."
(vii) Quickly "l didn't say I didn't like it," Margie said quickly.

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(viii) Nonchalantly Copy sh "May be," he said nonchalantly.

2. (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 nished my work quickly so that I could go out to play.

3. (i) angry Angrily
(ii) happy Happily
(iii) merry Merrily
(iv) sleepy Sleepily
(v) easy Easily
(vi) noisy Noisily
(vii) tidy Tidily
(viii) gloomy Gloomily

Page : 11 , Block Name : Thinking about the Text

QII If Not and Unless

Imagine that Margie’s mother told her, “You’ll feel awful if you don’t nish your history
lesson.”

She could also say: “You’ll feel awful unless you nish 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 nish, nish 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.

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

1. If I don’t go to Anu’s party tonight, _________________

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2. If you don’t telephone the hotel to order food, _________________
3. Unless you promise to write back, I _________________
4. If she doesn’t play any games, _________________
5. Unless that little bird ies away quickly, the cat _________________

Answer. 1. If I dont go to Anu's party tonight, she will be angry.
2. If you don't telephone the hotel to order food, you will miss your evening meal.
3. Unless you promise to write back, I will not write to you.
4. If she doesn't play any games, she will become dull and lazy.
5. Unless that little bird ies away quickly, the cat will pounce on it.

Page : 11 , Block Name : Thinking about the Text

Q1 A new revised volume of Issac Asimov’s short stories has just been released.
Order one set. Write a letter to the publisher, Mindfame Private Limited, 1632
Asaf Ali Road, New Delhi, requesting that a set be sent to you by Value Payable
Post (VPP), and giving your address. Your letter will have the following parts.
• Addresses of the sender and receiver
• The salutation
• The body of the letter
• The closing phrases and signature

Answer. DIY

Page : 12 , Block Name : Writing

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

2. Discuss what these phrases mean to you.
(i) a yellow wood
(ii) it was grassy and wanted wear
(iii) the passing there
(iv) leaves no step had trodden black
(v) how way leads on to way

3. 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?

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

Answer. 1. The traveller nds himself at a point where two roads diverge His problem is to decide
on which road he should walk.

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2. 1. A forest in the autumn season.
2. The road was grassy because it was a less travelled road. It wanted people to move on it
3. It implies walking on the road.
4. It means the leaves had not been crushed under the feet of travellers.
5. How one road leads to another?

3. 1. There no difference between the two roads in stanzas two and three
2. In the last two lines of the poem the poet tells that the road he opted for is less travelled.

4. The last two lines have the quintessence of the poem The poet expresses his opinion that it
becomes dif cult for a normal human being to change his/her decision. The poet intends to walk
on the rst road but he couldn't do so because life does not offer multiple chances to choose The
decision taken may mar one's future or lead one to success. It makes all the differences. He now
repents for not getting a chance to travel on the rst road.

Page : 16 , Block Name : Think About The Poem

QII 1. Have you ever had to make a dif cult choice (or do you think you will have dif cult choices
to make)? How will you make the choice (for what reasons)?
2. After you have made a choice do you always think about what might have been, or do you
accept the reality?

Answer. 1. Such situations occur everyone's life. In today's world people have numerous
alternatives But the decision should be taken after considering all the ins and outs of the
situation. We must ruminate over the disadvantages also.

2. One should live in the present and not in the past. The philosophy of 'is' is the key to attaining
success. Life is not a bed of rose3 Its hurdles are to be crossed bravely One must not feel nervous
and get dejected the trying circumstance. On some instances, one needs to be con dent about
the choice he/she makes.

Page : 16 , Block Name : Think About The Poem

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