while, then said, "Anyway, they had a teacher."

"Sure, they had a teacher, but it wasn't a regular teacher. 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."

"A man isn't smart enough."

"Sure 6 he is. My father knows as much as my teacher."

"He can't. A man can't know as much as a teacher."

"He knows almost as much, I betcha.7" Margie wasn't prepared to dispute that. She said. "I wouldn't want a strange man in my

house to teach me."

Tommy screamed with laughter. "You don't know much, Margie. The teachers 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."

"But 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."

"Just the same they didn't do it that way then. If you don't like it, you don't have to read the book."

"I didn't say I didn't like it," Margie said quickly. She wanted to read-about those funny schools.

They weren't even hall-finished, when Margie's mother called, "Margie! School!"

Margie looked up. "Not yet, Mamma."

"Now!" said Mrs. Jones. "And it's probably time for Tommy, too." Margie said to Tommy, "Can I read the book some more with

you after school?" "Maybe," he said nonchalantly.

He walked away, whistling, the dusty old book tucked beneath his arm.

Margie went into the schoolroom. It was right next to her bedroom and the mechanical teacher was on and waiting for her. It was

always on at the same time every day, except Saturday and Sunday, because her mother said little girls learned better if they learned

at regular hours.

The screen 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."

Margie did so with a sigh. She was thinking about the old schools they had when her grandfather's grandfather was a little boy. All

the kids from the whole neighbourhood came laughing and shouting in the schoolyard, sitting together in schoolroom, 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 teachers were people ...

The mechanical teacher was flashing on the screen:

"When we add the fractions 1/2 and 1/4 8 — "Margie was thinking about how the kids must have loved it in the old days. She was

thinking about the fun they had.

EXPLANATORY NOTES

1. his grandfather: graphic means (italics, bold type, etc.) are very often used as expressive means of the language to enhance a

part of the utterance in order to convey in written form the emphatic intonation of the speaker.

2. gee (interj.): a very common mild euphemism based on the first syllable of the word "Jesus". Used to express surprise or the

like. (Russian: Вот так так! Вот это да! Здорово!)

3.1 guess (Am. colloq.): I think.

4. telebooks: authors of science fiction (SF) very often coin new words to describe advanced technology of the future. The term is