Q.1: Answer these questions in a few words or a couple of sentences each:
a) How old are Margie and Tommy ?
Ans: Margie was eleven and Tommy was thirteen.
b) What did Margie write in her diary ?
Ans: Margie wrote in her diary that Tommy had found a real book.
c) Had Margie ever seen a book before ?
Ans: No, Margie had never seen a book before.
d) What things about the book did she find strange ?
Ans: Margie found that the words stood still instead of moving.
e) What do you think a telebook is ?
Ans: A telebook is a book on television screen.
f) Where was Margie’s school ? Did she have any classmates ?
Ans: Margie’s school was at her home, near her own bedroom. No, she didn’t have any classmates.
g) What subjects did Margie and Tommy learn ?
Ans: Margie learnt Mathematics and Geography. Tommy learnt Mathematics and History.
Q.2: Answer the following sentences with reference to the story:
a) “I wouldn’t throw it away”.
i) Who says these words ?
Ans: Tommy said these words.
ii) What does ‘it’ refer to ?
Ans: It refers to ‘printed paper book’.
iii) What is it being compared with by the speaker?
Ans: It is being compared with a telebook.
b) “Sure they had a teacher, but it wasn’t a regular teacher . It was a man”.
i) Who does ‘they’ refer to ?
Ans: ‘They’ refers to the people of old times.
ii) What does ‘regular’ mean here ?
Ans: ‘Regular’ means mechanical teacher.
iii) What is it contrasted with ?
Ans: It is contrasted with a living human being.
Q.3: Answer each of these questions in a short paragraph :
a) What kind of teachers did Margie and Tommy have ?
Ans: Margie and Tommy had mechanical teachers. It was large and black and ugly, with a big screen on which all lessons were shown and the questions were asked.
b) Why did Margie’s mother send for the County Inspector ?
Ans: The mechanical teacher had been giving her test after test in geography and she had been doing worse and worse. So, her mother had sent for the County Inspector.
c) What did he do ?
Ans: He smiled at Margie and gave her an apple and took the mechanical teacher apart.
d) 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 was geared a little too quick. The County Inspector had slowed it up to an average ten-year level.
e) What had once happened to Tommy’s teacher ?
Ans: The history sector of Tommy’s mechanical teacher had blanked out completely.
f) Did Margie have regular days and hours for school ? If so, why ?
Ans: Yes, Margie had regular days and hours for school, because her mother said that little girls learned better if they learned at regular hours.
g) How does Tommy describe the old kind of school ?
Ans: Tommy said that the old kind of schools existed hundreds and thousands of years ago. It was a special building and all the kids went there.
h) How does he describe the old kind of teachers ?
Ans: He said that old kind of teachers told boys and girls things and gave them homework and asked them questions.
