Class 9- English -Beehive – Chapter 1

Margie is eleven and Tommy is thirteen years old.

Margie wrote in her diary, “Today Tommy found a real book”.

No Margie had never seen a book before but she had heard about it from her grandfather.

The things about the book that she found strange were that the pages of the book were yellow and crinkly and that the words stood still instead of moving.

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

Margie’s school was next to her bedroom. No, she did not have any classmates.

Margie learnt geography and mathematics and Tommy learnt history and mathematics

(i) Tommy said these words.

(ii) ‘It’ refers to the television screen, which had a million books on it.

(iii) Tommy is comparing the television screen to the real book.

(i) ‘They’ refers to the students who studied in the old kind of schools centuries before the time this story is set in.

(ii) ‘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.

Margie and Tommy had mechanical teachers. They were taught on computers and television screens. They didn’t have a living person as a teacher who would teach the pupils in a classroom.

Margie’s mother sent for the County Inspector because the mechanical teacher was not functioning efficiently. It had been giving her test after test in geography and she had been doing worse and worse.

He slowed down the mechanical teacher’s speed upto an average ten-year level. The mechanical teacher’s speed was controlled and adjusted according to the IQ level of Margie.

Margie was doing badly in geography because the geography sector of the mechanical teacher had been adjusted at a higher level. In order to help her, the County Inspector slowed down the geography sector of the mechanical teacher to an average ten-year level.

Tommy’s teacher was taken away for nearly a month because the history sector had blanked out completely. So, Tommy had nothing to do during that period. He just relaxed and enjoyed.

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.

Tommy says that the old kind of school had a special building and all the kids went there. They had a teacher, who was a man. They all studied together and learned the same thing.

Tommy says that the teacher of the old kind were men, who taught the students inside a special building. The teachers taught the children in groups and gave them homework and asked them questions.

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.

Margie hated her school because she had a mechanical teacher. It was in her house. She was supposed to sit in that room alone to complete her home task or assignments. The part Margie hated most was the slot where she had to put homework and test papers. She thought that the old schools must have been fun because the students used to sit together in the classroom. They enjoyed, laughed, and shouted in the schoolyard. Children needed company to enhance their skills. If they are isolated, they get depressed and dejected.

The school in the story is a dull place. The child finds nothing in it to enjoy. There is no human touch in it. Everything is mechanical. The teacher here is not a man. It is a mere gadget. It flashes lessons on the television screen. It gives the child homework. It gives tests to mark the child’s progress. Thus there are no human feelings in the whole process. The child remains all alone in his schoolroom. He has no companions to share his thoughts. That is why Margie hates school.
But she likes the old kind of schools. In those schools, children from the whole neighbourhood played and learnt together. They laughed and shouted in the schoolyard. They sat together in the schoolroom. At the end of the day, they went home together. They learnt the same things at school. Thus they could help each other on the homework. I agree with Margie that schools today are more fun than the school in the story.