Page 69 - English Expedition Class 6

9

The Fun They Had

Isaac Asimov

Just as we imagine what people in the future would be like, the people of the future may also have
similar conversations about the generations which lived before them. The present story is an example
of science fi ction, which is a form of fi ction that often portrays futuristic, highly advanced worlds, space
or time travel and life on other planets. Science fi ction stories are usually set in worlds where readers
can clearly see the impact of actual or imagined science on human beings and their civilizations.

Note the futuristic ideas or objects featured in the story as you read. Which of these ideas do you fi nd
familiar now? Discuss in class.

M argie even wrote about it that night in her diary. On the page headed 17 May 2157, she
wrote, ‘Today, Tommy found a real book!’
It was a very old book. Margie’s grandfather once said that when he was a little boy
his grandfather told him that there was a time when all stories were printed on paper.
1
2
Th ey turned the pages, which were yellow and crinkly and it was awfully funny to read words
that stood still instead of moving the way they were supposed to – on a screen, you know. And
then, when they turned back to the page before, it had the same words on it that it had had when
they read it the fi rst time.
‘Gee,’ said Tommy, ‘what a waste. When you’re through with the book, you just throw it away,
I guess. Our television screen must have had a million books on it and it’s good for plenty more.
I wouldn’t throw it away.’
‘Same with mine,’ said Margie. She was eleven
and hadn’t seen as many telebooks as Tommy had. • In which period is this story set?
3
He was thirteen. • What did Margie’s grandfather tell
She said, ‘Where did you fi nd it?’ her about his grandfather?
‘In my house.’ He pointed without looking,
• How is a telebook diff erent from a
because he was busy reading. ‘In the attic .’ ‘real’ book?
4
‘What’s it about?’
‘School.’

1 crinkly: crumpled 3 telebook: an electronic book that is read on a monitor or
2 awfully: (here) very television screen
4 attic: a storage space just below the roof of a house
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