The Fun They Had by Isaac Asimov

1. (6.6C) Which sentence from the story best illustrates Margie's ignorance (lack of knowledge) about schools in the past?

• "She was thinking about the fun they had."
• "She said, "I wouldn't want a strange man in my house to teach me.""
• "She read the book over his shoulder for a while, then said, "Anyway, they had a teacher."
• "This is the old kind of of school they had hundreds of years ago."

2. (6.7C) The beginning of the story reveals--

• books with pages were rare in the year 2155.
• Tommy and Margie are brother and sister.
• Margie envies the students from the past.
• Tommy and Margie are curious about teacher in the old schools.

3. (6.5F) Read these sentences from the story: 14 So she said to Tommy, "Why would anyone write about school? 38 They learned the same things so they could help one another on the homework and talk about it. Based on these two sentences, the reader can conclude that Margie now thinks--

• learning the same things as others is foolish because they all learn at a different rate
• having a mechanical teacher is torture
• writing about school could be a fun assignment if it was the school of the past
• reading about school is interesting because of the idea of being with other kids at school.

4. (6.7C) Part A: How does the setting contribute to Margie's conflict in the story?

• It causes her to feel isolated.
• It allows her to advance her learning.
• It forces her to look uninformed in front of Tommy.
• It gives her an opportunity to appreciate what she has.

5. (6.6C) Part B: What evidence from the passage best supports the answer to Part A?

• Margie did so with a sigh. She was thinking about the old schools… All the kids…laughing and shouting in the schoolyard, sitting together in the classroom…They learned the same things so they could help one another…
• Tommy screamed with laughter. “You don’t know much, Margie.”
• She had been hoping they would take the teacher away altogether. They had once taken Tommy’s teacher away for nearly a month because the history sector had blanked out completely.
• The screen was lit up, and it said: “Today’s arithmetic lesson is on the addition of proper fractions. Please insert yesterday’s homework in the proper slot.”

6. (6.2B) In paragraph 35, the bolded word nonchalantly means--

• disagreeably
• casually
• suspiciously
• curiously

7. (6.5F) Why did Margie conclude schools from the past must have been fun?

• The teachers were human and not as smart as machines.
• She’d get to travel to a school building instead of staying in her house.
• Schools from the past had real books with pages she could turn.
• Students used to have the opportunity to interact with other classmates

8. (6.2B) What does the bolded word in this sentence mean? Tommy looked at her with very superior eyes.

• above average
• better than others
• situated higher up
• calmly indifferent

9. (6.5F) Which sentence from the story shows that Margie wishes she went to school when her grandfather's grandfather went to school?

• “Well, I don't know what kind of school they had all that time ago.” ...“Anyway, they had a teacher.”
• They learned the same things so they could help one another on the homework and talk about it.
• And the teachers were people...
• Margie was thinking about how the kids must have loved it in the old days. She was thinking about the fun they had.

10. (6.2B) The word scornful in paragraph 10 means--

• pride
• embarrassment
• sorrow
• strong dislike