How does technology make education more mechanical in the story?

Correct answer: Lessons, questions, and checking are controlled by the machine

The governing concept is the standardisation and automation of the learning process. Margie's mechanical teacher presents lessons, asks questions, and checks her answers according to programmed procedures. The pace and content are controlled by the machine, leaving little room for spontaneous discussion, personal understanding, or a teacher's emotional response. Therefore, option A is correct because it describes the machine-controlled process that makes education mechanical. Option B belongs to collaborative human schooling, not Margie's routine. Option C is incorrect because no human teacher explains her lessons. Option D also describes social learning that is absent from her isolated home study. The story does not deny that the machine works; it questions what may be lost when education becomes only an automated process.