The NCERT Solutions for Class 9 English Beehive Chapter 1 The Fun They Had (from the Beehive textbook) provides detailed and insightful answers to all the exercise questions. Written by Isaac Asimov, this chapter explores a futuristic world where education is conducted through mechanical teachers and students no longer attend schools like we do today. The solutions help students understand the theme of the story, the contrast between old and new methods of education, and the emotions of the characters. These answers are crafted to enhance students’ comprehension skills, ensuring they grasp the key concepts and themes while preparing them for their exams.
Thinking About Text
l. Answer these questions in a few words or a couple of sentences each.
Question 1. How old are Margie and Tommy?
Answer: Tommy is thirteen-year-old, and Margie is eleven-year-old.
Question 2. What did Margie write in her diary?
Answer: Marie wrote in her diary that Tommy found a real book today.
Question 3. Had Margie ever seen a book before?
Answer: No, Margie used to study from a telebook and had never seen a real book before.
The NCERT Solutions for Class 9 English Beehive Chapter 1 The Fun They Had
Question 4. What things about the book did she find strange?
Answer: Margie had never seen an actual book before. She thought it unusual to see words printed on a book whose pages stayed unchanged from the first time they were read, as opposed to the screens they read from.
Question 5. What do you think a telebook is?
Answer: Pages of a book in a digital form are called a telebook.
Question 6. Where was Margie’s school? Did she have any classmates?
Answer: Margie studied in her home, next to her bedroom. No, she didn’t have any company while studying.
Question 7. What subjects did Margie and Tommy learn?
Answer: Tommy and Margie studied history, geography, and arithmetic.
The NCERT Solutions for Class 9 English Beehive Chapter 1 The Fun They Had
II. Answer the following with reference to the story.
“I wouldn’t throw it away.”
(i) Who says these words?
Answer: Tommy said these words.
(ii) What does ‘it’ refer to?
Answer: It refers to the television screen.
(iii) What is the speaker comparing it with?
Answer: Tommy is comparing his digital class with the book he found.
“Sure they had a teacher, but it wasn’t a regular teacher. It was a man.”
(i) Who does ‘they’ refer to?
Answer: They refer to the kids who studied in the old times and used to go to school to study.
(ii) What does ‘regular’ mean here?
Answer: For Margie and Tommy, regular meant their digital classroom where mechanical teachers taught them.
(iii) What is it contrasted with?
Answer: The human teachers of the old times are compared with the mechanical teachers Margie and Tommy had.
The NCERT Solutions for Class 9 English Beehive Chapter 1 The Fun They Had
III. Answer each of these questions in a short paragraph (about 30 words).
Question 1. What kind of teachers did Margie and Tommy have?
Answer: Margie and Tommy were assigned mechanical teachers, and their classroom had a giant black screen that broadcast lessons and allowed students to ask questions. The mechanical teachers were black and nasty, and they emerged every day at the same hour, except on Saturday and Sunday. They also have spaces for kids to place their assignments in so that it could be assessed.
Question 2. Why did Margie’s mother send for the County Inspector?
Answer: Margie performed poorly on prior geography assessments. She gradually deteriorated in them, and her mother was forced to summon the County Inspector to inspect the mechanical teacher.
Question 3. What did he do?
Answer: When the County Inspector arrived, he handed Margie an apple and began examining the mechanical teacher. Margie despised her mechanical teacher and hoped that the Inspector would either remove it or not be able to repair it. But he did, and he slowed down the instruction for a typical ten-year-old.
Question 4. Why was Margie doing badly in geography? What did the County Inspector do to help her?
Answer: Margie’s mechanical teacher was geared up, a little too quick in the geography section. This resulted in her scoring badly, which wasn’t acceptable to her mother. When the County Inspector visited her slowed down the mechanical teacher to an average ten-year level. He also informed Mrs. Jones that her daughter’s progress was satisfactory.
Question 5. What had once happened to Tommy’s teacher?
Ans: Tommy’s teacher once blanked out completely.
The NCERT Solutions for Class 9 English Beehive Chapter 1 The Fun They Had
Question 6. Did Margie have regular days and hours for school? If so, why?
Answer: Margie’s mechanical teacher was fired up and rushed through the geography part. As a result, she received low marks, which her mother found unacceptable. When the County Inspector came to see her, the mechanical teacher slowed down to an ordinary ten-year level. He also told Mrs. Jones that her daughter’s progress was satisfactory.
Question 7. How does Tommy describe the old kind of school?
Answer: Tommy explained that the ancient school was a unique, historic structure where children congregated and learned collectively. Every day, hundreds of students came to that building to learn and have fun together.
Question 8. How does he describe the old kind of teachers?
Answer: Tommy explained that the ancient school was a unique, historic structure where children congregated and learned collectively. Every day, hundreds of students came to that building to learn and have fun together.
The NCERT Solutions for Class 9 English Beehive Chapter 1 The Fun They Had
IV. Answer each of these questions in two or three paragraphs (100 –150 words).
Question 1. What are the main features of the mechanical teachers and the schoolrooms that Margie and Tommy have in the story?
Answer: Tommy and Margie had mechanical teachers who helped them with their coursework. Digital instruction took place in rooms adjacent to their bedrooms. The room had a mechanical device with slots for tests and homework that students had to put back into the slot after finishing it, as well as a black display screen for telebooks.
They studied geography, math, and history. Every day save Saturday and Sunday, her classes met at the same hour. Her mother thought that small children learnt best when their teachings were given on a regular basis. For the kids, this schedule was incredibly tedious and dull. When they discovered the textbook, they were enthralled to learn about the educational methods once employed by children.
Question 2. Why did Margie hate school? Why did she think the old kind of school must have been fun?
Answer: Every day, Maggie’s teacher was a machine. She found the thought of going to school dull and repetitive, thus she didn’t like it. Her mother wasn’t happy with the results of her most recent geography test, where she was performing poorly. She was now annoyed by the mechanical teacher and wanted the County Inspector to remove him. She detested feeding test and homework papers into the automated teacher. She thought that studying with all the kids from the same neighborhood would be so much fun at the previous school, where there was more fun. She thought the children would all sit about and giggle. It would be engaging and lively since the instructors would be real people.
Question 3. Do you agree with Margie that schools today are more fun than the school in the story? Give reasons for your answer.
Answer: Yes, I agree with Margie that, when compared to schools in the past, those in the present are more enjoyable.The current educational system aids in the child’s general growth and gives students access to a more engaged environment.Kids can escape the boring routine at home by participating in class activities and answering questions.
It also aids in children’s emotional intelligence development and heightened empathy.Children attend school, socialize with one another, and form friendships that enrich and complete their lives.It is a healthy method of learning and makes studying easier and more enjoyable.Kids who participate in sports in school learn leadership and cooperation skills as well as how to preserve their physical health.When opposed to studying at home, attending school often makes growing up and the learning process more enjoyable and involved.
The NCERT Solutions for Class 9 English Beehive Chapter 1 The Fun They Had
Thinking about Language
Question 1. Find the sentences in the lesson which have the adverbs given in the box below.
Awfully, sorrowfully, completely, loftily, carefully, differently, quickly, nonchalantly
Answer: The yellow, crinkly pages were turned, and reading text that remained static rather of moving as they should on a screen was incredibly amusing.
Her mother had sent it to the County Inspector, shaking her head sorrowfully, after her mother had been giving her geography tests by the mechanical teacher and she had been performing worse and worse.
Tommy’s history instructor had once completely blanked out, and they had to remove her for over a month.
He added loftily, pronouncing the word carefully, “Centuries ago.”
“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.”
“I didn’t say I didn’t like it,” Margie said quickly. “Maybe,” he said nonchalantly.
Question 2. Now use these adverbs to fill in the blanks in the sentences below.
(i) The report must be read _____________so that performance can be improved.
Ans: The report must be read carefully so that performance can be improved.
(ii) At the interview, Sameer answered our questions _____________, shrugging his shoulders.
Ans: At the interview, Sameer answered our questions loftily, shrugging his shoulders.
(iii) We all behave ____________when we are tired or hungry.
Ans: We all behave differently when we are tired or hungry.
(iv) The teacher shook her head ___________when Ravi lied to her.
Ans: The teacher shook her head sorrowfully when Ravi lied to her.
(v) I _____________forgot about it.
Ans: I completely forgot about it.
(vi) When I complimented Revathi on her success, she just smiled ____________and turned away.
Ans: When I complimented Revathi on her success, she just smiled nonchalantly and turned away.
(vii) The President of the Company is _____________busy and will not be able to meet you.
Ans: The President of the Company is awfully busy and will not be able to meet you.
(viii) I finished my work ____________so that I could go out to play.
Ans: I finished my work quickly so that I could go out to play.
The NCERT Solutions for Class 9 English Beehive Chapter 1 The Fun They Had
Question 3. Make adverbs from these adjectives.
(i) angry
Ans: Angrily
(ii) happy
Ans: Happily
(iii) merry
Ans: Merrily
(iv) sleepy
Ans: Sleepily
(v) easy
Ans: Easily
(vi) noisy
Ans: Noisily
(vii) tidy
Ans: Tidily
(viii) gloomy
Ans: Gloomily
The NCERT Solutions for Class 9 English Beehive Chapter 1 The Fun They Had
II. Complete the following conditional sentences. Use the correct form of the verb.
If I don’t go to Anu’s party tonight, _______________
Ans: If I don’t go to Anu’s party tonight, she will be angry.
If you don’t telephone the hotel to order food, ______________
Ans: If you don’t telephone the hotel to order food, you will miss your evening meal.
Unless you promise to write back, I ______________
Ans: Unless you promise to write back, I will not write to you.
If she doesn’t play any games, _______________
Ans: If she doesn’t play any games, she will become dull and lazy.
Unless that little bird flies away quickly, the cat ______________
Ans: Unless that little bird flies away quickly, the cat will pounce on it.
The NCERT Solutions for Class 9 English Beehive Chapter 1 The Fun They Had
For the Next Chapter Solution Click Below
CHAPTER 2 – The Sound of Music
CHAPTER 4 – A Truly Beautiful Mind
CHAPTER 5 – The Snake and The Mirror
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