The Fun They Had — RBSE Class 9 English (Beehive)

It is the year 2157. Margie writes in her diary about something astonishing — a real book, made of paper, with words that stay still on the page. In Margie's world, children learn alone at home from a mechanical teacher. Isaac Asimov's little story flips our usual complaint on its head: it makes a child of the future envy the noisy, crowded schools we have today.

1. The story in brief

Margie (11) and Tommy (13) live in the future. Tommy finds a real, printed book in his attic — a curiosity, because in their time books are on screens (telebooks), and a printed book is "such a waste"; once you've read it, "it's just plain silly" to keep it. The book is about school — and to their surprise, it describes a school completely different from theirs.

Margie hates her school. She is taught at home by a mechanical teacher in her own study room, and she especially hates the geography sector, which has been giving her test after test, all worse than the last. Her mother calls the County Inspector, a round little man who takes the mechanical teacher apart, slows down the geography sector to an average ten-year-old's level, and reassembles it — Margie had hoped he wouldn't know how to put it together, but he does.

From the old book, the children learn that centuries ago children went to a special building (a school), were taught by a human teacher, learned the same things together, could help each other with homework, and laughed and played together. Margie is fascinated. At the end, as her mechanical teacher flashes the day's lesson, she finds herself dreaming about the old schools and "the fun they had."

2. Themes

• The value of human, social learning. The story contrasts cold, isolated, machine-taught learning with the warm, shared, social schooling of today — and makes the latter look precious.
• Loneliness of a high-tech future. Margie learns alone, at fixed hours, with no classmates — technology has made learning efficient but lonely.
• A prophetic imagination. Written in 1951, it eerily anticipates screens, e-books and computer-based teaching — while warning what is lost when the human element disappears.
• Children's universal feelings. Across centuries, children dislike tests and homework and love company — a gentle, timeless touch.

3. The characters

• Margie — an 11-year-old who hates her mechanical school and is captivated by the idea of old, human schools.
• Tommy — 13, who finds the book and explains the old school system; a little superior but curious.
• The mechanical teacher — a machine in Margie's home that teaches and tests her (and can be adjusted by the Inspector).
• The County Inspector — fixes the geography sector kindly and competently.

4. Why it matters

Asimov's clever trick is perspective reversal: we grumble about going to school; Margie, in her efficient, lonely future, longs for exactly that. The story quietly argues that school is not just about information — which a machine can deliver — but about companionship, shared learning and play, which a machine cannot. It is also a small marvel of foresight, imagining personalised, screen-based learning decades before it arrived.

For the RBSE board, hold on to the setting (2157, mechanical teacher, telebooks), the contrast between Margie's school and the old human school, the role of the County Inspector, and the central message about the value of social, human education. The ending line — Margie thinking of "the fun they had" — is the story's heart and a favourite exam quote.