beehive chapter 1 all question answer
Answers
Answer:
(i) Tommy says these words.
(ii) 'It' refers to the television screen.
(iii) Tommy is comparing the television screen with the printed books of earlier times. He thought that after reading such books, one would have to throw them away. However, he would never throw away his telebook.
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 with 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 didn’t have a living human being as a teacher who would teach the students in a classroom.
2. Why did Margie’s mother send for the County Inspector?
Answer: Margie’s mother sent for the County Inspector because the mechanical teacher was not functioning efficiently. Margie had been given many tests in geography by the teacher, but there was no improvement in her performance. So, Margie’s mother wanted to find out the reason behind it.
3. away for nearly a month because its history sector had 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 because her mother believed that learning at regular hours helped little girls learn better. So, her mechanical teacher always turned on at the same time every day except on Saturdays and Sundays.
7. How does Tommy describe the old kind of school?
Answer: 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.
8. How does he describe the old kind of teachers?
Answer: Tommy describes the old kind of teachers as living human beings who did not live in the house. Instead, they taught the students in a special building. They taught the children in groups and gave them homework.
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. These teachers were adjusted according to the age and potential of the student concerned. 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 had regular days and hours for school. The mechanical teacher always turned on at the same time every day except Saturdays and Sundays. They learned geography, history and arithmetic.
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. She had a mechanical teacher who used to teach her every day at a fixed time in her house. She hated the part when she had to insert 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. Her disliking for the mechanical teacher was increased even more when she was failing to perform well in the geography tests.
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. Also, the teachers were human beings that would make the learning process more interactive. All these aspects made her believe that the old kind of school must have been fun.
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 strongly agree with Margie that schools today are more fun than the school in the story. In the story, teaching is done mechanically inside a learner's house itself. Studying and answering questions in the absence of classmates seems to be a boring idea. Writing homework in punch codes and that too without anybody’s help would be really exhausting.