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Unit2TheFunTheyHadMargieevenwroteaboutitthatnightinherdiary.OnthepageheadedMay17,2157,shewrote,TodayTommyfoundarealbook!Itwasaveryoldbook.Margie'sgrandfatheroncesaidthatwhenhewasalittleboyhisgrandfathertoldhimthattherewasatimewhenallstorieswereprintedonpaper.Theyturnedthepages,whichwereyellowandcrinkly,anditwasawfullyfunnytoreadwordsthatstoodstillinsteadofmovingthewaytheyweresupposedto—onascreen,youknow.Andthen,whentheyturnedbacktothepagebefore,ithadthesamewordsonitthatithadhadwhentheyreaditthefirsttime.Gee,saidTommy,Whatawaste!Whenyou'rethroughwiththebook,youjustthrowitaway,Iguess.Ourtelevisionscreenmusthaveamillionbooksonitandit'sgoodforplentymore.Iwouldn'tthrowitaway.Samewithmine,saidMargie.Shewaselevenandhadn'tseenasmanytelebooksasTommyhad.Hewasthirteen.Shesaid,Wheredidyoufindit?Inmyhouse,hepointedwithoutlookingbecausehewasbusyreading.Intheattic.What'sitabout?School.Margiewasscornful.School?What'stheretowriteaboutschool?Ihatschool.Margiealwayshatedschool,butnowshehateditmorethanever.ThemechanicalteacherhadbeengivinghertestaftertestingeographyandshehadbeendoingworseandworseuntilhermotherhadshakenherheadsorrowfullyandsentfortheCountyInspector.Hewasaroundlittlemanwitharedfaceandawholeboxoftoolswithdialsandwires.HesmiledatMargieandgaveheranapple,thentooktheteacherapart.Margiehadhopedhewouldn'tknowhowtoputittogetheragain,butheknewhowallright,and,afteranhourorso,thereitwasagain,largeandblackandugly,withabigscreenonwhichallthelessonswereshownandthequestionswereasked.Thatwasn'tsobad.ThepartMargiehatedmostwastheslotwhereshehadtoputhomeworkandtestpapers.Shealwayshadtowritethemoutinapunchcodetheymadeherlearnwhenshewassixyearsold,andthemechanicalteachercalculatedthemarkinnotime.Margiewasdisappointed.Shehadbeenhopingtheywouldtaketheteacherawayaltogether.SoshesaidtoTommy,Whywouldanyonewriteaboutschool?Tommylookedatherwithverysuperioreyes,Becauseit'snotourkindofschool,stupid.Thisistheoldkindofschoolthattheyhadhundredsandhundredsofyearsago.Headdedloftily,pronouncingthewordcarefully,Centuriesago.Margiewashurt.Well,Idon'tknowwhatkindofschooltheyhadallthattimeago.Shereadthebookoverhisshoulderforawhile,thensaid,Anyway,theyhadateacher.Suretheyhadateacher,butitwasn'taregularteacher.Itwasaman.Aman?Howcouldamanbeateacher?Well,hejusttoldtheboysandgirlsthingsandgavethemhomeworkandaskedthemquestions.Amanisn'tsmartenough.Sureheis.Myfatherknowsasmuchasmyteacher.Margiewasn'tpreparedtodisputethat.Shesaid,Iwouldn'twantastrangemaninmyhousetoteachme.Tommyscreamedwithlaughter.Youdon'tknowmuch,Margie.Theteachersdidn'tliveinthehouse.Theyhadaspecialbuildingandallthekidswentthere.Andallthekidslearnedthesamething?Sure,iftheywerethesameage.Butmymothersaysateacherhastobeadjustedtofitthemindsofeachboyandgirlitteachesandthateachkidhastobetaughtdifferently.Theyweren'tevenhalf-finishedwhenMargie'smothercalled,Margie!School!Margielookedup.Notyet,Mamma.Now!saidMrs.Jones.Andit'sprobablytimeforTommy,too.MargiesaidtoTommy,CanIreadthebooksomemorewithyouafterschool?Maybe,hesaidnonchalantly.Hewalkedawaywhistling,thedustyoldbooktuckedbeneathhisarm.Margiewentintotheschoolroom.Itwasrightnexttoherbedroom,andthemechanicalteacherwasonandwaitingforher.ItwasalwaysonatthesametimeeverydayexceptSaturdayandSunday,becausehermothersaidlittlegirlslearnedbetteriftheylearnedatregularhours.Thescreenwaslitup,anditsaid:Today'sarithmeticlessonisontheadditionofproperfractions.Pleaseinsertyesterday'shomeworkintheproperslot.Margiedidsowithasigh.Shewasthinkingabouttheoldschooltheyhadwhenhergrandfather'sgrandfatherwasalittleboy.Allthekidsfromthewholeneighborhoodcame,laughingandshoutingintheschoolyard,sittingtogetherintheschoolroom,goinghometogetherattheendoftheday.Theylearnedthesamethings,sotheycouldhelponeanotheronthehomeworkandtalkaboutit.Andtheteacherswerepeople.Margiewasthinkingabouthowthekidsmusthaveloveditintheolddays.Shewasthinkingaboutthefuntheyhad.他们的快乐那天晚上玛吉甚至在她的日记里还写到了它。在纸的顶端她写道：2157年5月17日，今天汤米找到了一本真正的书！这是一本很旧的书。玛吉的爷爷曾经说过当他还是小孩的时候，他的爷爷告诉过他曾经有个时候所有的故事都是印在纸上的。他们翻着这本纸张蜡黄，起着皱褶的书，觉得读静止的文字很有趣，而不是按照它们应该移动的方式——在屏幕上时，你们知道的。然后当他们翻回上一页时，上面的文字还是和他们第一次看到的一样。“嘿”，汤米说道，“真浪费啊！我想当人们看完这本书之后，就会把它丢掉的。我们的电视屏幕上一定有上百万本书，而且还有更多。我决不会扔掉它们。”“我也是”，玛吉说道。玛吉十一岁，她没有汤米读过的电视书多。汤米十三岁。玛吉问道，“你在哪儿找到这本书的？”“在我的房子里，”汤米没看就一边指着一边说，因为他正忙着看书，“阁楼上。”“是关于什么的？”“学校。”玛吉非常厌恶，“学校？上面都写了些有关学校的什么？我讨厌学校。”玛吉一直都讨厌学校，但是她现在比以往更讨厌学校了。机器老师一次又一次地考她地理，她做得一次比一次差，最后她妈妈难过地摇摇头，请来镇上的检察员。他矮矮胖胖的，脸红红的，带着一箱子的工具，还有刻度盘和线。他朝玛吉笑了笑，给了她一个苹果，然后将机器老师拆了。玛吉本来希望他不懂怎么样将机器重新装好，可惜他知道如何顺利装好。过了大约一小时，机器装好了，又大又黑又丑，还有个大大的屏幕，上面显示所有的课文和提出的问题。这还不那么糟。玛吉最讨厌的地方是她必须放进作业和考卷的槽口。她总是不得不用在她六岁时他们就教给她的计算机语言写作业和考卷，然后机器老师立刻就计算出分数。玛吉很失望。她希望他们会把老师一块带走。她对汤米说，“为什么有人竟会写学校的事呢？”汤米得意地看了看她，“因为那不是我们这种学校，傻瓜。这是几百年前的老式学校。”他又傲慢地加了一句，每个字都说得很清楚，“好几个世纪以前。”玛吉感觉自尊心受到伤害。“噢，我不晓得几百年前的学校是什么样子。”她从汤米的背后伸过头去看了会儿书，然后说道，“不管怎样，他们是有老师的。”“他们当然有老师，但不是普通的老师。是人。”“人？人怎么可以当老师啊？”“嗯。他只是教给男孩和女孩一些东西，然后布置作业，问问题。”“人可不够聪明啊。”“人当然聪明。我爸爸懂的和我老师懂的一样多。”玛吉并不准备争论了。她说：“我可不想让一个陌生人在我的房子里教我。”汤米大声尖笑起来。“你知道得太少了，玛吉。老师不是在家里教书。他们有一幢特殊的楼房，所有的孩子都去那里上课。”“那所有的孩子都学相同的东西吗？”“当然，只要他们一样大。”“但是妈妈说老师必须调整教学内容来满足每个男孩和女孩的愿望，而且每个小孩都应该学的不一样。”他们还没说完，玛吉的妈妈