Danny Dunn and the Homework Machine Read Online Free PDF Page A

writing five-tenths this way—.5—is just the same as writing it 5/10. And five-tenths is the same as one-half. Why is that, George?”
    George Bessel, a plump, tow-headed boy whose nickname was Fatso, got reluctantly to his feet. At once, two or three girls began giggling, and George glanced angrily at them.
    â€œUh—” he said.
    â€œDo you know, George?” Miss Arnold asked, gently.
    He fidgeted, in despair. “I used to know,” he said. “But I guess I forgot.”
    â€œVery well. You may sit down.”
    Sue Parker was waving her hand urgently. She always waved her hand whenever anyone couldn’t answer a question.
    Before Miss Arnold could call on her, however, a small white object, sailing down one of the aisles just above the floor, caught the teacher’s eye. She strode forward and picked it up just as it landed next to Irene Miller’s desk. It was a bit of paper, folded into a glider.
    â€œWho threw this?” she demanded.
    A dead silence fell upon the class.
    Then Eddie Philips said, “Danny Dunn threw it, Miss Arnold. It’s a note.”
    Danny’s face was flaming. Ellen Tresselt, who sat behind him, whispered to her neighbor, Victoria Williams, “I know who it was for, too.”
    â€œWho doesn’t?” Victoria whispered back.
    A wave of tittering went through the class.
    â€œA note? Is that true, Dan?” Miss Arnold asked.
    Danny nodded. He had banked on Miss Arnold not noticing the little glider because of Sue Parker’s waving hand. He thought to himself, “Next time I’ll make it out of dark paper, for camouflage.” Aloud, he said, “Yes’m.”
    Miss Arnold crumpled the glider in her hand. “I’m not going to read this, Danny,” she said, “and I’m not even going to ask who it was for.”
    She glanced down at Irene, who was staring studiously at the top of her desk, pretending not to be listening. Like all good teachers, Miss Arnold knew more about her pupils than they thought she did.
    â€œHowever,” she went on, “I must say I’m surprised at you, Danny. School will be over in ten minutes, and anything you have to say to anyone could certainly wait until then. Or, on the other hand, there are the United States mails. I’d prefer not to have my students flying their letters by air mail during class.”
    She walked back to her desk and turned to face the pupils. “Particularly during a period in which so many of you seem to be doing so poorly,” she went on. “Will you all write down the homework assignment for tomorrow, please?”
    A groan went through the class. Miss Arnold tightened her lips.
    â€œThere’s no occasion for all this weeping and wailing, either,” she said. “In the first place, you all know that the class has grown a good deal in the last couple of years. That means I can’t work with each one of you as much as I used to. It means high school will be overcrowded, too. It also means that there will be more competition for college admissions. It’s not easy to get into college these days.”
    She looked at them and sighed. “I want each of you to have a good chance at the best kind of education,” she continued. “People are finding out more and more about the earth—about science, and about each other. That means there’s more and more for you to learn. Above all, you have to know how to study these new things. There’s no substitute for homework as a way of learning how to study. So I suggest that instead of complaining you all buckle down and work.”
    She flipped open the arithmetic book and said, “You will all do problems one through twenty, on pages 57 and 58.”
    There was another heartfelt groan from everyone but Danny, Irene, and Joe. Miss Arnold turned to the blackboard and firmly wrote down the assignment.
    While her back was turned, Irene glanced at Danny. He