I. Answer these question in a few words or a couple of sentences each.

1. How old are Margie and Tommy?

Ans: Margie is eleven and Tommy is thirteen years old.

2. What did Margie write in her diary?

Ans: Margie wrote, “Today Tommy found a real book!”.

3. Had Margie ever seen a book before?

Ans: No, Margie had never seen a book before.

4. What things about the book did she find strange?

Ans: The pages of the book were yellow and wrinkled. The words in the book were still. They were not moving like the words on a computer screen. These things seemed strange to him.

5. What do you think a telebook is?

Ans: A book that can be displayed on a screen is called a telebook.

6. Where was Margie’s school? Did she have any classmate?

Ans: Margie’s school was near her bedroom. No, she did not have any classmates.

7. What subject did Margie and Tommy learn? 

Ans: 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?

Ans: Tommy says these words. 

(ii) What does ‘it’ refer to?

Ans: ‘It’ refers to the television screen.

(iii) What is it being compared with by the speaker?

Ans: The speaker compares it with a telebook.

2. “Sure they had a teacher, but it was not a regular teacher, It was a man.”

(i) Who does ‘they’ refer to?

Ans: ‘They’ refer to the people of the old times.

(ii) What does “regular” mean here?

Ans: Here ‘Regular’ means Tommy and Margie’s mechanical teacher.

(iii) What is ‘it’ contrasted with?

Ans: It is contrasted with a human teacher.

III. Answer each of these questions in a short paragraph (about 30 words)

1. What kind of teacher did Margie and Tommy have?

Ans: Margie and Tommy had no one as their teacher. Their teachers were a kind of machine attached to their television screens. They are called mechanical teachers.

2. Why did Margie’s mother send for the country inspector?

Ans: Margie’s mother called the county inspector because Margie’s mechanical teacher (computerized education system) was not working properly. It was giving her very low test scores, indicating some malfunction or problem in the operation of the machine. Her mother wanted the inspector to fix the problem so that Margie’s learning process could continue smoothly.

3. What did he do? 

4. Why was Margie doing badly in geography? What did the country inspector do to help her?

Ans: It was not Margie’s fault that she was doing poorly in geography. In fact, the mechanical teacher was a little too fast for her. The county inspector slowed it down for Margie to the level of an average ten-year-old.

5.What had once happened to Tommy’s teacher?

6. Did Margie have regular days and hours for school? It so why?

7. How does Tommy describe the old kind of school?

8. How does he describe old kind of teachers?

IV. Answer each of these question 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 school today are more fun than the school in the story? Give reasons for your answer.

Updated on 09/02/2025