Тексты для экзамена 11 класса


                                      The Fan They Had


    ( Isaac Asimov who wrote this story is also a well-known scientist.  In
this story he described school of 22nd century. In the opinion  of  children
living in 22nd  century , their great grandfathers must have had  a  lot  of
fun going to school.)
    Margie even wrote about it that night is her diary . On the page headed
 15 may 2155 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  time  when  all
stories were printed on paper.
    They turned the pages , 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.
    “ Gee”, said Tommy? “ Whate a waste! When you’re though 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 me ,” said Margie . She was eleven and hadn’t seen  as  many
telebooks as Tommy had. He was Thirteen.
    She said , “ Where did you find it?”
    “In my house. In the attic.” He pointed without looking  ,  because  he
was busy reading.
    “ What’s it about?”
    “School.”
    Margie was scornful. “ School? What’s there to write about school  ?  I
hate school.”
    Margie always hated school , but now she hared it more then  ever.  The
mechanical teacher had been given her test after test in geography  and  she
was doing worse until her mother had sent for the County Inspector who  came
with a box full of tools, dials and wires.
    He took the teacher apart/ Margie had hoped he wouldn’t know how to put
it together again, but he knew how all right and  after  an  hour  or  so  ,
there it was again , large and black with a big screen on which all  lessons
were shown and the questions were asked. That wasn’t so bad.  The  part  she
hated most was the slot where she had put  homework  and  test  papers.  She
always had to write them out in special code they had  her  learn  when  she
was six years old , and the mechanical teacher calculated  the  mark  in  no
time.
    The Inspector said to her another , “ It’s not the little girl’s fault,
Mrs. Jones . I think the geography sector was geared  a  little  too  quick.
I’ve slowed it up to an average ten-year level!’
    Margie was disappointed. She  had  been  hoping  they  would  take  the
teacher away altogether. The had once taken Tommy’s teacher away for  nearly
a month because the history sector blanked out completely.
    So she said to Tommy , “ Why would anyone write about school?”
    Tommy locked at her with very superior eyes. “  Because  it’s  not  our
kind of school , stupid. This is the old kind of school  they  had  hundreds
and hundreds of years ago.”
    Margie was hurt. “ Well ,I don’t know what kind of school they had  all
that time ago.” She read the book over his  shoulder  for  a  while  ,  then
said,” Anyway, they had a teacher/”
    “ Sure they had a teacher and it was a man.”
    “ A man ? How could a man be a teacher?”
    “Well, he just told the boys and girls things and  gave  them  homework
and asked them questions.”
    “ I wouldn’t want a strange  man  in  my  house  to  teach  me.”  Tommy
screamed with laughter. “You don’t know much,  Margie.  The  teacher  didn’t
live in the house. They had  a  special  building  and  all  the  kids  went
there.”
    “ And all the kids learned the same things?”
    “Sure, if they were the same age.”
    Now Margie wanted to read about those funny schools. They  didn’t  even
half finish when Margie’s mother called ,”Margie! School!”
    “ May be ,” he said walking away.
    Margie went into the schoolroom. It was next to her  bedroom,  and  the
mechanical teacher was on and was waiting for her. The  screen  was  lit  up
and said, “ Please insert yesterday’s home work in the proper slot.”
    Margie did so with a sigh. She was thinking about the old  school  they
had when her grandfather’s grandfather was a little boy. All the  kids  from
the whole neighborhood came , laughing  and  shouting  in  the  school-yard,
sitting together in the school-room , going home together at the end of  the
day. They learned the same things so they could  help  one  another  on  the
homework and talk about it. And the teacher 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.

                                                                          (
After Issac Asimov)
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