NCERT Questions and Answers are given after text explanation
Line 1
Two roads
diverged in a yellow wood,
Our speaker is describing a fork in the road. This
poem was first published in 1916, when cars were only just beginning to become
prominent, so these roads in the wood are probably more like paths, not roads like
we'd think of them today.
The woods are yellow, which means that it's probably
fall and the leaves are turning colors.
"Diverged" is just another word for split.
There's a fork in the road.
Lines 2-3
And sorry I
could not travel both
And be one
traveler, long I stood
The speaker wants to go down both roads at once, but
since it's impossible to walk down two roads at once, he has to choose one
road.
The speaker is "sorry" he can't travel both
roads, suggesting regret.
Because of the impossibility of traveling both roads,
the speaker stands there trying to choose which path he's going to take.
Because he's standing, we know that he's on foot, and not in a carriage or a
car.
Lines 4-5
And looked down
one as far as I could
To where it
bent in the undergrowth;
The speaker really wants to go down both paths – he's
thinking hard about his choice. He's staring down one road, trying to see where
it goes. But he can only see up to the first bend, where the undergrowth, the
small plants and greenery of the woods, blocks his view.
This is where we start to think about the metaphorical
meanings of this poem. If our speaker is, as we suspect, at a fork in the road
of his life, and not at an actual road, he could be trying to peer into his
future as far as he can. But, since he can't really predict the future, he can
only see part of the path. Who knows what surprises it could hold?
Line 6
Then took the
other, as just as fair,
So after all this buildup about one road, which he's
looked down for a long time, our speaker takes the other path.
Then we get a tricky little phrase to describe this
road. It's "as just as fair." Read without the first "as,"
this phrase is clear, if you think of fair as meaning attractive, or pretty.
But the first "as" makes the phrase a little more difficult.
Combining the words "just" and "fair" in the same phrase is
a play on words – both of these words have multiple meanings. The phrase could
mean something like "as just as it is fair," as in proper, righteous,
and equal. But this doesn't quite apply to a road.
Yet we trust that our speaker wouldn't let things get
awkward without meaning it. We're guessing that he means the road is just as
pretty, but that in the metaphorical world of this poem, he thinks he made the
fair, or right, choice.
But it's not fairer – it's just as fair. So he was
choosing between two roads, or futures, that were different but potentially
equally good.
Lines 7-8
And having
perhaps the better claim,
Because it was
grassy and wanted wear;
The speaker still seems pretty uncertain when he
explains that this second path is better. It is only "perhaps"
better.
Then the speaker tells us why the path is better – it
seems like it hasn't been walked on very much, because it's grassy and doesn't
look worn.
Be careful not to think that the phrase "wanted
wear" is personification (it is alliteration, though). "Wanted,"
in this instance, means something more like "lacked."
Lines 9-10
Though as for
that the passing there
Had worn them
really about the same,
The speaker of this poem really can't seem to make up
his mind! Just when we think we've got a declaration about which path is
better, he changes his mind and admits that maybe they were equal after all.
The "as for that" refers to the path being
less worn.
"The passing there" refers to traffic,
probably on foot just like our speaker, that may have worn the paths down.
Lines 11-12
And both that
morning equally lay
In leaves no
step had trodden black.
Here, again, we hear that the paths are equal, but we
find out something new, that it's morning. It's possible that our speaker is
the first to travel to this place on that day.
The paths are covered with leaves, which haven't been
turned black by steps crushing them.
Wait, we thought one path was grassy…and now it's
covered with leaves. Possibly, the leaves aren't very thick, or the grass
sticks up in between them. Or maybe the speaker isn't being quite honest.
Line 13
Oh, I kept the
first for another day!
The speaker seems like he's already regretting his
decision. He is rationalizing his choice of path by saying he'll come back to
the one he missed later.
This is a familiar way to deal with difficult choices;
"you can always come back and try it again later," we think.
With an "Oh" at the beginning and an
exclamation point at the end, this line is emphatic. The speaker feels strongly
about what he's saying here.
Lines 14-15
Yet knowing how
way leads on to way,
I doubted if I
should ever come back.
The speaker realizes that his hopes to come back and
try the other path may be foolish.
He knows how "way leads on to way" – how one
road can lead to another, and then another, until you end up very far from
where you started. Because of this, he doesn't think he'll ever be able to come
back and take that other path, as much as he wishes he could.
Here we return to the metaphorical meaning of this
poem. In any life decision, we can hedge our bets by thinking we can always
come back, try a different option later. But sometimes our decisions take us to
other decisions, and yet still others, and it's impossible for us to retrace
our steps and arrive back at that original decision.
It's like deciding which college to go to – "I
can always transfer" a high school senior might think. But then, once the
decision is made and freshman year has passed, the reality hits that switching
schools is a lot more complicated than it seems, and it's hard to start
completely over somewhere else.
Lines 16-17
I shall be
telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages
and ages hence:
Now we jump forward in time. We don't know exactly
when, but we know that it's ages and ages "hence," or, from now. So
we're probably talking years, not months.
We know that this story is important, because the
speaker will still be telling it many years later.
He'll be telling it with a sigh, though, which is
interesting because sighs can be happy, sad, or merely reflective – and we
don't know what kind of sigh this is.
So, we know that this choice is probably going to be
important for the speaker's future, but we don't know if he's going to be happy
about it or not.
Line 18
Two roads
diverged in a wood, and I—
This line is a repetition of the first line of the
poem, with the subtraction of the word "yellow" and the addition of
the words "and I."
This repetition helps to bring the poem to a
conclusion. It reminds us what's important in the poem – the concept of
choosing between two different paths.
Then, we get the hesitation of "and I" and
the dash. This lets us know that whatever the speaker is about to say next is
important.
Line 19
I took the one
less traveled by,
In this line, the speaker sums up his story and tells
us that he took the road less traveled by. With the hesitation in the line
before, this declaration could be triumphant – or regretful.
Also, remember it wasn't exactly clear that the road
our speaker took was the one that was less traveled. He said at first that it
looked less worn, but then that the two roads were actually about equal.
Before you start getting mad at our speaker for
stretching the truth, remember that he's telling his story far in the future, a
long time from when it actually happened. He's predicting that his memory will
tell him that he took the road less traveled by, or that he'll lie in the
future, no matter what the reality of the situation was.
Line 20
And that has
made all the difference.
At first glance it seems that this line is triumphant
– the narrator took the path that no one else did, and that is what has made
the difference in his life that made him successful.
But he doesn't say that it made him successful – an
optimistic reader wants the line to read positively, but it could be read
either way. A "difference" could mean success, or utter failure.
Remember, the speaker is telling us about what he's
going to say in the future. From where he is now, just looking down the path as
far as he can see, he can't tell if the future that it leads him to is going to
be good or bad. He just knows that his choice is important – that it will make
all the difference in his life.
The speaker of this poem could be saying that his
choice made all the difference while he's surrounded by his grandchildren, by a
fire in a cozy little house. Or he could be saying it to the wind, while
walking alone on the streets. At this point, he doesn't know – and neither do we.
Rhyming
Quintains of Iambic Tetrameter
This poem has a pretty complicated form. We'll start
with the (relatively) simple stuff. The poem consists of four stanzas with five
lines each. These are called quintains. And in each quintain, the rhyme scheme is
ABAAB. For example, take the first stanza:
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, (A)
And sorry I could not travel both (B)
And be one traveler, long I stood (A)
And looked down one as far as I could (A)
To where it bent in the undergrowth; (B)
The rhythm of the poem is a bit trickier. It is
basically iambic, which means that there is one unstressed syllable followed by
a stressed syllable (da DUM). There are many variations in this poem, most of
which are anapestic, which means that there are two unstressed syllables
followed by a stressed syllable (da da DUM).
The most common use of iambs in poetry is in
pentameter, which means that there are five "feet," or units of
stressed and unstressed syllables, in the poem. But this poem is in iambic
tetrameter, which means that there are only four feet (tetra = four). If you
read the poem aloud, you should be able to hear four distinct beats per line.
It will sound roughly like this: da DUM da DUM da DUM da DUM.
Let's look at the first line as an example. Stressed syllables
are in bold and italic.
Two roads | diverged | in a yell|ow wood
Each of the four feet in this line is iambic except
for the third, because both "in" and "a" are unstressed
syllables, making it an anapest.
So this poem has a rhythm and rhyme scheme, but they
depart a little from the norm, just like the speaker of this poem, who chooses
his own path.
Thinking about the poem : Solutions of Questions on Page Number : 16
Q1.Where
does the traveler find himself? What problem does he face?
The traveller finds himself at a forked road
while travelling in a yellow wood. He faces the problem of choosing between the
two roads as he could not travel both at the same time.
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
2.(i) The phrase 'a yellow wood' signifies
the autumnal setting of the poem.
(ii) The grass on the road that the poet
decides to take was still afresh and the road seemed less worn out. This
implies that not many people had walked on it.
(iii)This refers to the people passing
through that road.
(iv) This means that there were no footmarks
on the leaves strewn on the paths since nobody had walked on them.
(v) Here, the poet refers to the fact that
one road always leads on to another and so on.
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?
3. (i) In stanzas two and three, the poet,
vaguely expresses the similarities but at the same time, tries to determine the
differences between the two roads. He says that although the second road seemed
'just as fair' and almost as same worn-out as the first yet it was somehow the
'better claim' since it was still afresh and less-trodden. That morning, both
the roads were equally strewn with leaves that had not yet been trampled by the
travellers.
(ii) According to the last two lines of the
poem, one of the two road was 'less travelled by' than the other and the poet's
decision to walk on this road made all the difference in his life.
4. What
do you think the last two lines of the poem mean? (Looking back, does the poet
regret his choice or accept it?)
Ans: In the last two lines, the poet says that he
chose the less-trodden road and that this choice made all the difference in his
life. Whether he regrets his choice or accepts it is ambiguous. The poet uses
word 'difference', which does not clarify the implication, whether good or bad.
However, the word 'sigh' suggests that the decision was possibly more of regret
than satisfaction.
QII. 1.
Have you ever had to make a difficult choice (or do you think you will have
difficult choices to make)? How will you make the choice (for what decisions)?
Ans: No, I have never been in a situation in which
I had to make a difficult choice. But I think the time will come when I will
have to choose a stream, among science, commerce and humanities, after tenth
grade. This decision will be a crucial one as it will determine my career
prospects in future. I will make this decision on the basis of my interests as
well as my aspirations and future goals in life.
(A model
answer has been provided for students' reference. It is strongly recommended
that students prepare the answer based on their own experience and
understanding.)
2. After
you have made a choice do you always think about what might have been, or do
you accept the reality?
Answer :
Having
made a choice, I accept the reality. Reconsidering a decision or contemplating
over it is not a positive approach towards life. Such thoughts never allow us
to be happy with what we have gained from our decision. Therefore, I believe in
sticking to my decisions.
(A model answer has been provided for
students' reference. It is strongly recommended that students prepare the
answer based on their own experience and understanding.)
The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost
List of Chapters Class 9 English
PROSE (Beehive)
- The Fun They Had
- The Sound of Music
- The Little Girl
- A Truly Beautiful Mind
- The Snake and the Mirror
- My Childhood
- Packing
- Reach for the Top
- The Bond of Love
- Kathmandu
- If I were you
POETRY
- The Road Not Taken
- Wind
- Rain on the Roof
- The Lake Isle of Innisfree
- A Legend of the Northland
- No Men Are Foreign
- The Duck and the Kangaroo
- On Killing a Tree
- The Snake Trying
- A Slumber did My Spirit Seal
SUPPLEMENTARY READER (Moments)
- The Lost Child
- The Adventures of Toto
- Iswaran the Storyteller
- In the Kingdom of Fools
- The Happy Prince
- Weathering the Storm in Ersama
- The Last leaf
- A House is Not a Home
- The Accidental Tourist
- The Beggar
ENGLISH SYLLABUS OF CLASS IX 2018-19
Summary
Evelyn Glennie is a multi-percussionist. She can play about 1000 instruments with perfection. She listens to sound without hearing it. Evelyn fought against a physical disability & became a source of inspiration for thousands of disabled persons. She was profoundly deaf. She was 11 years old when it was discovered that she had the hearing disability. She wanted to pursue her career in music but her teachers discouraged her, it was Ron Forbes who recognized her potential & supported her in achieving her goal. He advised her not to listen through her ears but try to sense & feel it in some other way. Soon she was excited. She felt the vibrations of higher drum from the waist above & the lower drum from the waist down. Later she realized that she could feel the vibrations in every part of her body. These tingle in her skin, her cheekbones and even in hair. She had learnt to open her body & mind to the sounds and vibrations. After that, she never looked back.
Evelyn joined the prestigious royal academy of music & scored one of the highest marks in the history of the academy. She worked hard with strong determination. She got right to the top. In 1991, she was presented with the royal philharmonic society’s prestigious soloist of the year award. Apart from the regular concerts, Evelyn gives free concerts in prisons & hospitals. She is shining inspiration for deaf children. She has accomplished more than most people twice her age. She has earned name in orchestra. She has inspired those who are handicapped made them believe that if Evelyn could do that, why not they.
Evelyn joined the prestigious royal academy of music & scored one of the highest marks in the history of the academy. She worked hard with strong determination. She got right to the top. In 1991, she was presented with the royal philharmonic society’s prestigious soloist of the year award. Apart from the regular concerts, Evelyn gives free concerts in prisons & hospitals. She is shining inspiration for deaf children. She has accomplished more than most people twice her age. She has earned name in orchestra. She has inspired those who are handicapped made them believe that if Evelyn could do that, why not they.
Key points
- Evelyn Glennie was 8, when first time her hearing disability was noticed by her mother.
- At the age of 11, her disability was discovered at school.
- Wants to do career in Music, her teachers discouraged her.
- Fortunately she met Ron Forbes, the percussionist, who identified her potential & supported in achieving her goal.
- He trained Evelyn to sense the music through different parts of our body.
- Suddenly she was excited to feel the vibrations in every part of her body.
- Evelyn followed him like an obedient student and in the meantime she had learnt to open her body & mind to sounds and vibrations.
- After this, she never looked back.
- Evelyn joined the famous Royal Academy of Music, worked hard with strong determination. Suddenly she got to top.
- In 1991, she bagged the Royal Philharmonic Society’s prestigious “Soloist of the Year Award”
- She toured round the world for her concerts with a very hectic schedule and became a kind of workaholic.
- Apart from this, she gives free concerts in prison & hospitals.
- Evelyn soon became shining super star & inspiration for not only the disabled ones but for all.
- She achieved more than most people twice her age.
- Evelyn has earned great name in Orchestra.
- She has inspired those who are handicapped & made them believe that if Evelyn could do that, why not they.
Question 1:
Answer these questions in a few words or a couple of sentences each.
1. How old was Evelyn when she went to the Royal Academy of Music?
2. When was her deafness first noticed? When was it confirmed?
Answer:
1. Evelyn was seventeen years old when she went to the Royal Academy of Music in London.
2. Her deafness was first noticed by her mother when Evelyn was eight years old. She was once waiting to
play the piano. When her name was called, she did not move. That was when her mother realized that
Evelyn had not heard anything. Her deafness was confirmed when she was eleven. Her marks had
deteriorated and her headmistress had urged her parents to take her to a specialist. It was
then discovered that gradual nerve damage had severely impaired her hearing.
Question 2:
Answer each of these questions in a short paragraph (30 – 40 words).
1. Who helped her to continue with music? What did he do and say?
2. Name the various places and causes for which Evelyn performs.
Answer:
1. Percussionist Ron Forbes was the first person to notice Evelyn’s potential. He began by tuning two large drums to different notes. He asked Evelyn not to listen through her ears but to try and sense the sound in some other manner. Suddenly Evelyn realized that she could feel the higher drum from the waist upand the lower drum from the waist down. Forbes repeated the exercise and Evelyn realized that she could sense certain notes in different parts of her body.
2. Evelyn always delighted her audience. She had toured the United Kingdom with a youth orchestra. She had a very hectic international schedule. Apart from the regular concerts, she gave free concerts in prisons and hospitals. She gave high priority to classes for young musicians because of which she was a shining inspiration for deaf children.
Question 3: Answer the question in two or three paragraphs (100 – 150 words).
1. How does Evelyn hear music?
Answer:
Evelyn heard music by sensing the notes in different parts of her body. When Ron Forbes tuned two drums and asked her to sense the sound without using her ears, she realized that she could feel the higher drum from the waist up and the lower drum from the waist down. When she played the xylophone, she could sense the sound passing up the stick into her fingertips. By leaning against the drums, she could feel the resonances flowing into her body. On a wooden platform, she removed her shoes so that the vibrations could pass through her bare feet. She herself said that music poured in through every part of her body. It tingled in the skin, her cheekbones and even in her hair.
Question 1:
Tick the right answer.
1. The (shehnai, pungi) was a ‘reeded noisemaker.’
2. (Bismillah Khan, A barber, Ali Bux) transformed the pungi into a shehnai.
3. Bismillah Khan’s paternal ancestors were (barbers, professional musicians).
4. Bismillah Khan learnt to play the shehnai from (Ali Bux, Paigambar Bux, Ustad Faiyaaz Khan).
5. Bismillah Khan’s first trip abroad was to (Afghanistan, U.S.A., Canada).
Answer:
1. The pungi was a ‘reeded noisemaker.’
2. A barber transformed the pungi into a shehnai.
3. Bismillah Khan’s paternal ancestors were professional musicians.
4. Bismillah Khan learnt to play the shehnai from Ali Bux.
5. Bismillah Khan’s first trip abroad was to Afghanistan.
Question 3:
Answer these questions in 30 – 40 words.
1. Why did Aurangzeb ban the playing of the pungi?
2. How is a shehnai different from a pungi?
3. Where was the shehnai played traditionally? How did Bismillah Khan change this?
4. When and how did Bismillah Khan get his big break?
5. Where did Bismillah Khan play the shehnai on 15 August 1947? Why was the event historic?
6. Why did Bismillah Khan refuse to start a shehnai school in the U.S.A.?
7. Find at least two instances in the text which tell you that Bismillah Khan loves India and Benaras.
Answer:
1. Emperor Aurangzeb banned the playing of the pungi in the royal residence for it had a shrill and
unpleasant sound. It became the generic name for reeded noisemakers.
2. Shehnai is a pipe with a natural hollow stem that is longer and broader than the pungi. It has seven
holes on its body. When it is played, the closing and opening of some of the holes produces soft and
melodious sounds.
3. Traditionally, the shehnai was part of the traditional ensemble of nine instruments found at royal courts.It was used only in temples and weddings. However, Ustad Bismillah Khan brought in the change by bringing it onto the classical stage.
4. Bismillah Khan had accompanied his uncle to the Allahabad Music Conference at the age of fourteen. At the end of his recital, Ustad Faiyaz Khan patted his back and told him to work hard and he shall make it big in life. He got his big break with the opening of the All India Radio in Lucknow in 1938. He soon became an often-heard shehnai player on radio.
5. On 15 August 1947, Bismillah Khan played the shehnai from the Red Fort. It was a historic day as India gained independence on that day. He became the first Indian to greet the nation with his shehnai. His audience included illustrious names such as Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and Mahatma Gandhi.
6. Bismillah Khan refused to start a shehnai school in the U.S.A. because he could not live outside India. His student, who had asked him to head the shehnai school, promised that he would recreate the atmosphere of Benaras by replicating the temples in the city. However, he wanted to know if his student could also transport River Ganga, which his student obviously could not. He himself said that
whenever he was in a foreign country, he kept yearning to see Hindustan.
7. Bismillah Khan immensely loved India, particularly Benaras and Dumraon. In his initial years, the temple of Balaji, Mangala Maiya, and the banks of River Ganga in Benaras became his favourite haunts where he could practice in peace and solitude. River Ganga’s flowing waters inspired him to improvise and invent ragas that were once thought to be beyond the range of shehnai. Bismillah Khan refused to start a shehnai school in the U.S.A. because he could not live outside India. His student, who had asked him to head the shehnai school, promised that he would recreate the atmosphere of Benaras by replicating the temples in the city. However, he wanted to know if his student could also transport River Ganga, which his student obviously could not.
EXTRA QUESTIONS:
EXTRA QUESTIONS:
short questions
Q :How was Evelyn a source of great pleasure to her audience?
A: Evelyn was very young. She performed despite her handicap. Her music was better than those of her double age. She was an inspiration to the handicapped. Thus, she has given enormous pleasure to millions.
Q: Why was Evelyn nervous while on the way to Royal Academy of music?
A:Evelyn was only seventeen year old girl while she was going to perform in Royal Academy of music. She was nervous as she was completely deaf. Moreover, she was Scottish.
Q:How did Evelyn’s parents come to know about her deafness?
A:Once Evelyn‘s name was called in the class but she did not respond. At that time she was just eight year old. Her performance in class had deteriorated. The headmistress called her parents and suggested to take her to a specialist. It was then her parents came to know about her deafness
Q:Why did Evelyn say that men with bushy beards gave her trouble?
A:Evelyn was a deaf girl. She understood others by reading their facial expressions and movements of their eyes and lips. It was difficult for her to read these movements of beard men. Thus, she remarked that men with bushy beards gave her trouble.
A: Evelyn was very young. She performed despite her handicap. Her music was better than those of her double age. She was an inspiration to the handicapped. Thus, she has given enormous pleasure to millions.
Q: Why was Evelyn nervous while on the way to Royal Academy of music?
A:Evelyn was only seventeen year old girl while she was going to perform in Royal Academy of music. She was nervous as she was completely deaf. Moreover, she was Scottish.
Q:How did Evelyn’s parents come to know about her deafness?
A:Once Evelyn‘s name was called in the class but she did not respond. At that time she was just eight year old. Her performance in class had deteriorated. The headmistress called her parents and suggested to take her to a specialist. It was then her parents came to know about her deafness
Q:Why did Evelyn say that men with bushy beards gave her trouble?
A:Evelyn was a deaf girl. She understood others by reading their facial expressions and movements of their eyes and lips. It was difficult for her to read these movements of beard men. Thus, she remarked that men with bushy beards gave her trouble.
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< END>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
The Sound of Music / Chapter 2
Summary 1
Margie and her brother Tommy find an old book in the attic of their house. They start to read it because it is very funny for them to read a real book. As they live in the 23rd century they are only used to telebooks which are displayed on a screen. This television screen belongs to the mechanical teacher which every child then has at home.
Tommy reads the book but he doesn't really care about the old kind of school. Margie, however, is very much interested in it since she hates school the way it is in her century. The only thing she likes about school is the geography lessons because she has been doing well in her most recent tests.
The little girl reads about the old days and although she can't really imagine exactly what school must have been like, she assumes that the children at that time must have had a lot more fun together in one school than she has alone in front of her mechanical teacher.
Summary 2
Margie, an 11-year-old girl who lives in the 22nd century, is very excited about the fact that her friend Tommy has found a real book which deals with school in the distant past. The content of the book is especially interesting to her as she doesn't like the school of her own time where children are taught by a computer at home. Moreover, Margie's mechanical teacher has to be fixed by the County
Inspector because it has given her tests in geography that were too demanding. This is one of the reasons why the little girl dislikes school. Another thing she particularly hates about the mechanical teacher is the slot of the machine where she has to insert her tests and homework.
Margie can't really imagine what school must have been like centuries ago with a lot of children in one room and a real human teacher who is not adjusted to one pupil's mind like the mechanical teacher is to hers. Nevertheless she can't stop thinking about the old schools and how much fun it must have been for the pupils to be there.
Summary 3
Margie and Tommy, two 11-year-old friends who live in the 22nd century, read a book about school as it was long ago. This is a very special situation for them because they are not used to reading real books. They usually read telebooks given to them by their teachers who adjust their computers to fit their minds.
Margie is very keen to learn more about school as it was long ago because she doesn't like her kind of school at all. This is partly due to the fact that her computer has given her one test after the other in maths. The County Inspector has had to come by and repair it because every child is taught by a computer at home. The little girl is happy when her computer works properly again and she can go back to studying but she still thinks about how much fun it must have been for the children back in those old days to go to school together.
Page No: 10 Thinking About Text I.
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?
Answer 1. Margie is eleven and Tommy is thirteen-year-old.
2. Margie wrote, “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 book that can be displayed on a screen is called telebook.
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 learned geography, history and arithmetic.
II. 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?
Answer (i) Tommy said these words.
(ii) 'It' refers to the television screen, on which you could read over a million books
(iii) Tommy is comparing the television screen to the real books in 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 telebooks.
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 (i) They refer 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.
III. Answer each of these questions in a short paragraph (about 30 words).
1. What kind of teachers did Margie and Tommy have?
Answer Margie and Tommy had mechanical teachers. They were large and black and ugly and 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. Why did Margie’s mother send for the County Inspector?
Answer: Margie had been given many tests in geography by the mechanical teacher, but there was no improvement in her performance. It only kept getting worse. It is for this reason that Margie’s mother sent for the County Inspector to find out why this was happening.
3. What did he do?
Answer The County Inspector gave Margie an apple and started working on the mechanical teacher. He took it apart and then checked it. Margie had hoped that the Inspector would not know how to put the mechanical teacher together again, but he managed to reassemble it. He slowed down the geography sector of the teacher because it was geared a little too quick for an average ten-year-old.
4. Why was Margie doing badly in geography? What did the County Inspector do to help her?
Answer Margie was doing badly in geography because the geography sector of the mechanical teacher had been geared a little too quick. 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 overall progress pattern was satisfactory.
5. What had once happened to Tommy’s teacher?
Answer: Once, The history sector of Tommy’s teacher had once blanked out completely.
6. Did Margie have regular days and hours for school? If so, why?
Answer Yes, Margie had regular days and hours for school. This was because her mother believed that learning at regular hours helped little girls learn better. Her mechanical teacher was also on at the same time everyday except Saturday and Sunday.
7. How does Tommy describe the old kind of school?
Answer Tommy described old kind of school as a special building where all kids studied together. There were hundreds of students studying and playing together. They used to shout and laugh together in an open yard.
8. How does he describe the old kind of teachers?
Answer Tommy said that the old kind of teachers was men, who taught the students inside a special building. The teachers taught the children in groups and gave them homework and asked them questions.
IV. 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?
Answer 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 learned 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. Why did Margie hate school? Why did she think the old kind of school must have been fun?
Answer: Margie hated school because it was not fun. A mechanical teacher used to teach her everyday at a fixed time. Recently, she had been doing badly in the geography tests that her mechanical teacher had been giving her. Her mother was not happy with the performance and 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. 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 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. It is impossible to discuss problems and situations with a mechanical teacher that is only programmed to teach in a particular manner. The excitement of waiting to know the marks scored in exams is greater when one is sitting in a classroom with other students. It does not have the same effect when the marks are calculated immediately after a test has been taken. Finally, the friends that you make at school are most probably
the best friends that you will ever make in your entire life. The various qualities that you learn in school like obedience, respect, kindness for others, sharing, taking part in school games, sports, and other activities are all a part of school education today. 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. f
