Telangana SCERT 8th Class English Study Material Telangana Unit 4A The Fun They Had Textbook Questions and Answers.
TS 8th Class English Guide Unit 4A The Fun They Had
Pre – Reading :
Look at the pictures given below and answer the questions that follow:
Question 1.
What do you see in these pictures?
Answer :
I see a robot, a rocket launcher, e – class room and an Astronaut.
Question 2.
What do they tell us?
Answer :
They tell us about the development of Science and Technology in the modern age.
Oral Discourse Debate :
“Development in Science and Technology will always lead to disasters”.
Answer :
“Development in Science and Technology will always lead to disasters.”
Speaker – 1 : Respected Chairperson, honourable Judges and dear friends! I stand here to express my views for the motion, “Development in Science and Technology will always lead to disasters.” There is no doubt that science and technology are developing rapidly. At the same time, disasters are also increasing to a great extent. Terrorists are killing innocent people with deadly bombs. College students are attacking girls with acid. So, I strongly feel that development in Science and Technology will always lead to disasters.
Speaker – 2: Respected Chairperson, honourable Judges and dear friends! My knowledgeable opponent might have forgotten the fact that we, human beings, are misusing Science and Technology and we are responsible for all these disasters. But why to blame Science and Technology ? Now-a-days Science and Technology play a major role in almost every field. People depend on Science and Technology for many purposes. That is why I strongly oppose the motion.
Speaker – 1 : When my opponent feels that man is responsible for all these disasters, then why can’t he control himself and use Science and Technology in the right way? Youth is not on the right track today. Why? It is just because of Science and Technology. People indulge in playing games on mobiles and computers. What a waste of time and energy! When we can’t use time well, we can’t rise and shine in our lives. Science and Technology is doing more bad and than good. Through this, it is clear that Science and Technology is misguiding us.
Speaker – 2 : My friend has said that man is uncontrollable and is creating all these disasters. All men are not alike. Thoughts differ from person to person. It is better to look at the other side of the coin. With the help of internet, we can communicate with any person anywhere in this world. Science and Technology can foretell the occurrence of natural calamities like earthquakes, tsunamis etc. Science and Technology has both merits and demerits. Let’s drive benefits from the merits and minimise demerits. I hope man will realise his fault and use Science and Technology only for the well-being of mankind in future.
Answer the following questions :
Question 1.
What did Margie write in her diary?
Answer :
Margie wrote in her diary that Tommy found a real book. It means she did not see the physical shape of a book.
Question 2.
What things in the book did Margie find strange?
Answer :
The things Margie found strange are : It was a very old book. When they read the book they felt strange. The letters on the book were without any movement unlike on the TV screen. Margie felt funny on reading it.
Question 3.
Why do you think Margie was disappointed ?
Answer :
Margie was disappointed because she hated school very much. The mechanical teacher had been giving her test after test in geography. She had been doing worse and worse. Margie’s mother was very worried looking at her daughter’s performance. She sent for the County Inspector.
Margie hoped that they would take her mechanical teacher away from the computer, but it was not done.
Question 4.
Why did she think the old kind of school must have been a fun ?
Answer :
Margie thought that the old kind of school must have been fun because in old schools teachers were human beings and not machines. The children would learn, things reading printed books. All the kids from the neighbours would roam laughing and shouting, sit together in the school room and go home together at the end of the day. It was unlike her study room where she sat alone. They learnt the same things so they could help one another with the homework and talk about it. All these things made Margie feel fun which were quite opposite to her present experience.
Question 5.
Margie says old school was better than the future school!…. Do you agree with this statement? Give reasons.
Answer :
Yes, I agree with this statement because in future, only mechanical teachers teach through TV screens. There children never feel a human touch. In old schools, there was live teaching by human teachers. There they could share and exchange their ideas with one another.
Question 6.
What kind of school do you wish to have after 30 years ?
Answer :
I wish to have a school where live teaching would take place with the involvement of human teachers. I also wish, the teaching process isn’t mechanized in schools in the future. Teachers and children should be exchanging their ideas and views in a democratic way so as to strengthen the knowledge and wisdom of the students.
Question 7.
‘And the teachers were people.’ What do you understand by this expression ?
Answer :
I understand by this expression that there were human teachers and not the mechanical teachers who would be teaching students in class rooms. Mechanical teacher means the teacher who is present on computers. He is not a human teacher.
Vocabulary :
I. Fill in the blanks with the words from the box.
slots, loftily, dispute, screamed, scornful
1. We look …………… when we show something useless. (scornful)
2. Your workbook does not have ……….. for writing. (slots)
3. Why do you always ……….. your younger brother’s statements? (dispute)
4. The commander ordered ……….. to the soldiers, “Open fire”. (loftily)
5. All the boys ……….. when they saw a snake in their class room. (screamed)
II. Pick out the opposites for the following words from the story and use them in your own sentences.
1. serious × trivial – Achieving something is not a trivial matter.
2. scarce × abundant – Natural resources are abundant in India.
3. idle × busy, industrious – Don’t idle away your time; Be busy like a bee.
4. agree × refuse, decline; disagree = He refused my offer. He disagreed with me.
5. create × destroy – You have to create your own path. Destroy old ideas and construct new ideas!
6. knowingly × unknowingly – We shouldn’t commit mistakes knowingly or unknowingly.
III. Look at the underlined words in the following sentence taken from the text.
He was a round little man with a red face.
As you can see, there are two adjectives that precede the noun ‘ $m a n$ ‘. The adjective ’round’ and ‘little’ appear in a certain order. The adjective ‘little’ refers to the ‘size’ and ’round’ indicates the ‘shape’.
Think of two adjectives of size and shape for the following objects and put them before the nouns.
Answer :
1. a small round table.
2. a long pointed pencil.
3. a big square room.
4. a small round chapathi.
5 a thin big cat.
Gramanar :
I. Read the sentence taken from the text.
He added loftily pronouncing the word carefully “Centuries ago”.
In this sentence the words ‘carefully’ and ‘loftily’ are adverbs of manner, because they tell us about how the action is done.
1. Pick out some more verbs and the adverbs that go with them from the story or elsewhere. Use them in your own sentences.
1. She shook her head sorrowfully.
2. The geography sector was geared quickly.
3. History sector had blanked out completely.
4. He agreed to my proposal readily.
5. She prepared carefully for the examination.
2. Now look at the adverbs given in the box and fill in the blanks.
nonchalantly, quickly, completely, sorrowfully, awfully, carefully, differently
1. We all behave ………. when we don’t have any anxiety.(nonchalantly)
2. I ……….. forgot about it. (completely)
3. The report must be read ……….. then the action will be taken. (carefully)
4. The teacher shook her head ……….. when her student lied to her. (sorrowfully)
5. The two teams played ………… (differently)
II. Read the following sentences and notice the underlined part in each sentence.
1. They turned the pages, which were yellow and crinkly.
2. It was awfully funny to read words that stood still instead of moving the way they were supposed to – on a screen.
What, according to you, is the function of the underlined clause? Which part in the sentence does it modify? The underlined parts in these sentences are Relative Clauses.
A Relative Clause gives extra informaton about or identifies a person, place, time or thing. It normally begins with a relative pronoun such as who, where, when, what or that. It functions like an adjective. They are known as adjective clauses.
Now, read the following sentences and underline the relative clauses.
a) The part Margie hated most was the slot where she had to put homework and test papers.
b) This is the old kind of school that they had hundreds and hundreds of years ago.
c) My mother says a teacher has to be adjusted to fit the mind of each boy and girl it teaches and that each kid has to be taught differently.
III. Combine the sentences using where, who, which and that.
1. Mahi always tells funny stories. We all like them.
Mahi always tells funny stories that we all like.
2. Dolly ate all the biscuits. I bought them for Chandu.
Dolly ate all the biscuits which I bought for Chandu.
3. An old man visited us last night. He was my grandfather.
An old man who visited us last night was my grandfather.
4. We should remember the place. We used to meet often.
We should remember the place where we used to meet often.
5. Divija gave me a camera. It was not working.
The camera, which Divija gave me, was not working.
IV. Complete the following sentences using with suitable relative clauses.
1. I know the boy who is intelligent as well as wise.
2. I visited the place which I had never visited earlier.
3. He told me the time when to attend the meeting.
4. This is the book which I bought yesterday in Book Exhibition held in P.W.D. Grounds.
V. Editing :
Read the following passage. Every numbered sentence has an error. Identify and edit it.
(1) In Siripuram village it did not rain at three years. (2) Men, women and children looked at the sky anxious for signs of clouds. (3) The pond were now a wide stretch of caked earth. Thirsty animals crowded around puddles of dirty water. (4) Women went very far on search of water. (5) They returned with pots of water balanced over their head and some fodder of the cattle tucked under their arms.
Answer :
1. it did not rain for three years
2. Looked at the sky anxiously
3. The pond was now
4. went very far in search of water
5. some fodder for the cattle
Writing :
I. Mary is a girl studying in class eight. Read the following letter that she wrote to her friend Candy.
Wonderland,
Computer Town.
20th Sept. 2016.
Dear Candy,
I am very glad to say that I have established a computer teaching lab, which gives me full information with the help of a mechanical teacher. It’s an up to date lab. Technology is growing fast, isn’t it? Imagine our classroom in 30 years. Reply soon.
With warm regards,
Your loving friend,
Mary.
To
Candy,
Winterland,
Technical Country.
Write a reply imagining how our future classrooms will be in the next 30 years. You may use the following hints while writing.
Winterland,
Technical Country.
5th December, 2016.
Dear Mary,
I am very glad to receive your letter and being enlightened with the contents describing the enrichment of computer lab. I would also throw light on our future class rooms and how they are going to be in the next 30 years.
Our future class rooms may be fully equipped with e-library, e-screen and e-mail facilities. They could make our learning easy and fruitful in surpassing the challenges thrown by the advancing world. I also imagine that there would be robot teachers who would be teaching us online. There the evaluation of our progress would take place through technology using advanced devices. That’s the class room in my dream in the next 30 years, Mary ! How do you feel ?
Reply soon.
With warm regards.
Your loving friend,
Candy
To
Mary,
Wonderland,
Computer Town.
Listening Passage :
Message from Space
Sunitha Williams sent out warm wishes on the occasion of Diwali from the International Space Station.
“I just want to wish everybody in India and people of Indian origin around the world a “Happy Diwali”. It’s a wonderful festival and I am happy we are part of it up here at the International Space Station. I did bring a couple of things that have to do with India from my father, particularly a peaceful ‘om’ that stays outside my crew quarters where I sleep, and the Upanishads. So I can read it while I am up. It is a small version (of the Upanishads) but it definitely brings the wisdom to us while we are here and allows us to think of the true meaning of life and what we are doing. Heartfelt feelings for the work we are doing up here and how we are doing and for our safe return home.
Listen to a message from space by Sunitha Williams and answer the following questions.
Question 1.
What is the text about?
Answer :
The text is about ‘Sunitha Williams’ wishes from the International Space Station to every Indian on the occasion of Diwali.
Question 2.
Where was Sunita Williams when she sent the message?
Answer :
She was in the International Space Station.
Question 3.
On which occasion did she send the message ?
Answer :
She sent the message on the occasion of Diwali.
Question 4.
What are the two things Sunita received from her father ?
Answer :
The two things Sunita received from her father are ‘ $\mathrm{Om}$ ‘ and ‘Upanishads’.
Question 5.
In what way did the Upanishads help Sunita?
Answer :
Upanishads made Sunita feel that she got wisdom. Upanishads gave her the true meaning of life and what she was doing. They enlightened her to have heart felt feelings for her work, and for their safe return home.
Study Skills :
Here are posters about two schools. Read them carefully.
Every one of you have an aspiration. Some one wants to become a sportsperson, a software engineer etc., As a student in which school do you want to join? Why? Write your opinion here.
Answer :
I am also an aspirant of a bright career. But as an aspirant, I prefer to join the school which can expand my spheres of knowledge in all aspects. They add to my bright future. As I have gone through the posters in the newspapers, I prefer to join the school, that enhances all-round development of the child. The school must be located in the midst of nature and there should be individual attention. It should focus, on social values in addition to education. I like to acquire all the skills, which can make me a complete man, useful to the nation.
For the harmonious development of the child there should be games, dance and all cultural activities. The school should make children, wonderful citizens. In my view majority of the children are being made technicians rather than good citizens. But there are schools which are providing facilities to the children to become wonderful citizens.
So I prefer those schools, which can impart education in Science and Technology in addition to games, music, dance, Indian heritage, moral education giving focus on social values. They are very essential for the all round development of the child as well as the development of the nation. I prefer to join that kind of school for bright future. I hope all the students are wise in choosing the best school which can provide a bright future for them.
The Fun They Had Summary in English
(In the lesson, Mechanical teacher means an image produced on the screen.
This teacher image is a part of computer programme meant for teaching)
This is an interesting conversation between two characters Margie and Tommy in this science fiction. Both are students in the year 2157 almost a century from today. Imagine that, at that time, science and technology has develop fully using electronic gadgets.
Margie looks at the old book in the hands of Tommy. There are printed letters which are not moving. Such printed books were in vogue at the time of their grand father’s grand father. Tommy says that such books are read and thrown away. But on the computer through which both Tommy and Margie are being educated, millions of books can be preserved.
Margie is impressed by the system of old education in those days. The students in those days came from their neighbourhood laughing and shouting. They used to sit together, and help one another. It was funny and enjoyable. Margie does not like the mechanical teacher. There is neither interest nor fun in such a learning.
The author emphasises that mechanized teaching should not be imparted. It should not involve in human life.
About the Autor :
Isaac Asimov (1920 – 1992) was an American author best known for his science fiction. He was the professor of biochemistry at Boston University. He is considered the master of science fiction. Most of his works explain scientific concepts in a historical way. He worked as the president of AHA (American Humanist Association). He earned a credit on ‘Star Trek’, a movie on science fiction. His famous works are ‘The Foundation Series’, ‘The Robot Series’ and ‘The Galactic Empire Series’.
Glossary :
1. crinkly (adj) : with many folds or lines
2. awful (adj, adv) : very bad, unpleasant
3. million (n) : ten lakhs
4. telebooks (n) : books seen or read on a television or computer screen
5. attic (n) : a space just below the roof, used as a storeroom
6. scornful (adj) : contemptuous; think something is worthless
Usage : There was a scornful look on Sharmila’s face, when she was not given the thing she wanted.
7. slot (n) : a given space, time or position
8. geared (v) : adjusted to a particular standard or level
Usage : Mr. Sona geared up to start a new work on the instruction of Ratna.
9. loftily (a d v) : in a superior way
10. regular teacher (n p h r) : a mechanical teacher (here)
11. betcha (exp) : (bet you) I’m sure
12. dispute (v) : disagree with
13. screamed (v) : gave a loud cry
Usage : She screamed on seeing the snake.
14. nonchalantly (adv) : not showing much interest
Usage: He replied non chalantly to my question.
15. beneath (prep.) : below
16. mechanical (adj) : connected with machines operated by power
Additional Meanings :
17. patted (v) : hit repeatedly
18. disappointed (adj) : upset
19. probably (adv) : likely to happen
20. blanked out (adv) : empty
21. tucked : held