NCERT Solutions for Class 10 English First Flight Chapter 1 A Letter to God

A Letter to God Extra Questions and Answers Class 10 English First Flight

Extract Based Questions [3 Marks each]

Read the following extracts carefully and answer the questions that follow.

Question 1.
The house- the only one in the entire valley- sat on the crest of a low hill. From this height one could see the river and the field of ripe corn dotted with the flowers that always promised a good harvest. The only thing the Earth needed was a downpour or at least a shower. Throughout the morning Lencho who knew his fields intimately had done nothing else but see the sky towards the North-East. “Now we’re really going to get some water, woman.
” The woman who was preparing supper, replied, “Yes, God willing”.
(a) Where was Lencho’s house located?
(b) What was Lencho’s wife preparing?
(c) Find the word from the passage which means ‘very closely’.
(d) What does ‘Crest’ means?
Answer:
Lencho’s house was located on the crest of a low hill.
(b) Lencho’s wife was preparing supper.
(c) The word is ‘Intimately’.
(d) Crest means the top part of a hill.

Question 2.
It was during the meal that, just as Lencho had predicted, big drops of rain began to fall. In the North-East huge mountains of clouds could be seen approaching. The air was fresh and sweet. The man went out for no other reason than to have the pleasure of feeling the rain on his body.          [CBSE 2012]
(a) What could be seen approaching in the North-East?
(b) Why did Lencho go out?
(c) Give an antonym of the word Big.
(d) Which word in the passage is a synonym of ‘forecast’.

Answer:
(a) Huge mountains of clouds could be seen approaching in the North-East.
(b) Lencho went out to have the pleasure of feeling the rain on his body.
(c) The word is ‘small’.
(d) The word ‘predict’ is a synonym of forecast.

Question 3.
With a satisfied expression he regarded the field of ripe corn with its flowers, draped in a. curtain of rain. But suddenly a strong wind began to blow and alongwith the rain very large hailstones began to fall. These truly did resemble new silver coins. The boys, exposing themselves to the rain, ran out to collect the frozen pearls.
(a) What happened to the rain suddenly?
(b) ‘The frozen pearls’ refers to which thing in the paragraph.
(c) Find the similar meaning-of ‘contented’ in the paragraph.
(d) Find from the passage a word which means ‘to take after’.

Answer:
(a) The rain suddenly changed into hailstones.
(b) ‘The frozen pearls’ refers to hailstones.
(c) The word is ‘Satisfied’.
(d) The word is ‘Resemble’.

Question 4.
Not a leaf remained on the trees. The corn was totally destroyed. The flowers were gone from the plants. Lencho’s soul was filled with sadness. When the storm had passed, he stood in the middle of the field and said to his sons. “A plague of locusts would have left more than this. The hail has left nothing.
(a) Describe Lencho’s feeling as shown in the passage.
(b) What happened to the crop when the storm had passed?
(c) Find the word that means the opposite of ‘restored’ as used in the passage.
(d) What do you mean by ‘hail’ in the last line?

Answer:
(a) Lencho was filled with sadness when the storm had passed.
(b) The crop was completely destroyed when the storm had passed.
(c) The word is ‘destroyed’.
(d) ‘Hail’ is balls of ice that falls from the sky in the form of rain.

Question 5.
“That’s what they say: no one dies of hunger.” All through the night, Lencho thought only of his one hope: the help of God, whose eyes, as he had been instructed, see everything, even what is deep in one’s conscience. Lencho was an ox of a man, working like an animal in the fields, but still he knew how to write.       [CBSE 2014]
(a) What was Lencho’s only hope?
(b) How did Lencho work in the field?
(c) Find the exact word of similar meaning ‘moral sense’ given in the passage.
(d) Explain ‘an or of a man’.

Answer:
(a) Lencho’s only hope was the help of God.
(b) Lencho worked as an ‘ox’ in the field.
(c) The word is ‘conscience’.
(d) It means a man working hard like an ox or animal.

Question 6.
The postmaster- a fat, amiable fellow- also broke out laughing, but almost immediately he turned serious and tapping the letter on his desk, commented. “What faith! I wish I had the faith of the man who wrote this letter. Starting.up a correspondence with God!”
So, in order ndt to shake the writer’s faith in God, the postmaster came up with an idea: answer the letter. But when he opened it, it was evident that to answer it he needed something more than goodwill, ink and paper. But he stuck to his resolution: he asked for money from his employees, he himself gave part of his salary and several friends of his vreie obliged io give something ‘for an act of charity’.
(a) What kind of a person the postmaster was?
(b) How did the postmaster help Lencho?
(c) Find the exact word in similar meaning ‘without delay’ given in the passage.
(d) Determination is synonymous with …………….

Answer:
(a) The postmaster was a fat, amiable and helpful fellow.
(b) The postmaster helped Lencho by collecting money from his employees and friends.
(c) The word is ‘Immediately’.
(d) Determination is synonym with Resolution.

Question 7.
The following Sunday, Lencho came a bit earlier than usual to ask if there was a letter for him. It was the postman himself who handed the letter to him while the postmaster, experiencing the contentment of a man who has performed a good deed, looked on from his office.
Lencho showed not the slightest surprise on seeing the money; such was his confidence, but he became angry when he counted the money. God could not have made a mistake, nor could he have denied Lencho what he had requested.
(a) Why did Lencho come earlier to the post office?
(b) Why wasLencho angry when he counted money?
(c) Find the word which means the opposite of permitted from the passage.
(d) Which word in the passage gives the meaning ‘that one will be successful one day’.

Answer:
(a) Lencho came earlier to the post office to know if there was a letter for him.
(b) Lencho was angry when he counted money as it was not the full amount that he had demanded from God.
(c) The word is ‘denied’.
(d) The word is ‘confidence’.

Question 8.
When he finished, he went to the window to buy a stamp which he licked and then affixed to the envelope with a blow of his fist. The moment the letter fell into the mailbox the postmaster went to open it. It said: “God: Of the money that I asked for, only seventy pesos reached me. Send me the rest, since I need it very much. But don’t send it to me through the mail because the post office employees are a ‘bunch of crooks’. Lencho.”                      [CBSE 2016]
(a) What did Lencho do wijh the stamp?
(b) What did the postmaster do when the letter fell into the mailbox and why?
(c) Find out the word which has the similar meaning as ‘attached’ used in the passage.
(d) Which word in the passage denotes a dishonest person?

Answer:
(a) Lencho licked and affixed the stamp to the envelope with a blow of his fist.
(b) The postmaster immediately opened the letter to know Lencho’s feeling for the money he had received.
(c) The word is ‘affixed’.
(d) The word is ‘crook’.

Short Answer Type Questions [2 Marks each]

Question 1.
Who was Lencho? What were his main problems?       [CBSE 2015]
Answer:
Lencho was a hardworking farmer, who lived on the crest of a low hill. Due to the hailstorm his crops were destroyed, so he needed money to sow his field again and support his family. These were the main problems of Lencho.

Question 2.
Give a brief description of the view from Lencho’s house?
Answer:
Lencho’s house was situated on the crest of a low hill and it was the only one in the valley. One could easily see the river and the field of ripe corn from here.

Question 3.
What did Lencho compare the raindrops to and why?          [ CBSE 2011]
Answer:
Lencho compared the raindrops to new coins because the crop needed the rain badly and it was the sign of good harvest. Good harvest meant prosperity for Lencho as he needed the money to fulfil his basic needs.

Question 4.
Why did Lencho write a letter to God?
Answer:
When.Lencho’s crops were completely destroyed by the hailstorm, he wrote a letter to God because he was the only hope in his despair. Lencho asked him to send hundred pesos to sow his field again and support his family.

Question 5.
Why and how did the postmaster help Lencho?
Answer:
The postmaster was determined to help Lencho. He did not want Lencho’s faith in God to be shaken so he asked his employees and friends to help Lencho. He also contributed a part of his salary for this act of charity.

Question 6.
How much money did Lencho need? How . much did he get?
Answer:
Lencho got seventy pesos. He was angry at the difference as he needed hundred pesos to sow the crops again and to support his family till the next harvest.

Question 7.
Why did Lencho not want the money to be sent through mail? CBSE 2016
Answer:
Lencho wrote in his second letter that he received only seventy pesos but he needed a hundred pesos.
He requested God not to send rest of the money by post since the post office employees were a bunch of crooks and would steal the money.

Question 8.
Do you think that Lencho was right to call the post office employees a bunch of crooks? Why or why not?
Answer:
Lencho called the post office employees a bunch of crooks as he did not get full money that he had demanded. He could not believe that God had sent him any less money so he doubted these people. But he was not right to call them a bunch of crooks.

Long Answer (Value Based) Type Questions [8 Marks each]

Question 1.
Who was Lencho and what circumstances forced him to write a letter to God?
Answer:
Lencho was a hardworking farmer who lived with his family on a crest of a low hill. He was very caring and God loving man. Though, he was a farmer he could read and write. Lencho eagerly waited for the rainfall in order to get good harvest and he became happy when it came. But the pleasing rain changed into hailstorm and destroyed his crop.
He became sad and was worried about his family as they might remain hungry that year. His last hope was the help from God as he had complete faith in him. Hence, he wrote a letter to God asking him to send hundred pesos to survive and to reharvest.

Question 2.
Give a character-sketch of Lencho.
Answer:
Lencho was a simple man and a hardworking farmer. He worked as an ox in his field.
Lencho’s entire crops were badly destroyed by the hailstorm. So, he became very sad as he was worried about his family. He was an optimistic person. Although his only source of living was taken away, he didn’t lose hope. He had his last hope in God. He was confident that God would help him in his distress. Lencho was an innocent atheist who didn’t know that there was no such living person as God who could send him money. He had blind faith in God and sought solution of his problem’Trom God only.

Question 3.
Sketch the character of the postmaster in the story ‘A Letter to God”.
(or)
How do you like ,the character of the postmaster in the story ‘A Letter to God?” Give reason for your answer.
Answer:
The postmaster was a fat and friendly fellow. He was a sensible human being. He first laughed looking at the letter which had a strange address. But soon he became serious. He was surprised at the faith that Lencho had in God. He wanted his faith not to be shaken.
The postmaster himself gave a part of his salary and also requested his employees and a few friends to contribute for charity. He felt happy and satisfied when Lencho received the money. This shows that he was a kind and empathetic person as well. He loved to help others.

Question 4.
How did the postmaster and post office employees help Lencho? How did he react to their help?
Answer:
The Postmaster and post office employees were very generous as they contributed for the act of charity. First they laughed when they saw Lencho’s letter to God, but soon they were impressed by his faith in God. They decided to send some money to Lencho so that his faith in God does not get shaken. They collected seventy pesos and sent it to Lencho.
When Lencho got the envelope and opened it to count money, he became angry. He again wrote a letter to God demanding the remaining thirty pesos. He thought that post office employees had taken away the remaining money and called them a bunch of crooks, which was not justified at all as they were the people who had helped him. But it shows his innocence and firm faith in God.

Question 5.
How did the hailstones affect Lencho’s field? What was Lencho’s only hope?
Answer:
Lencho, a hardworking farmer, worked like an ox for a good harvest, depended completely on his fields to  take care of his family. He expected a good harvest that year. He needed a downpour for the crops to ripe, but the rain followed by hailstorm completely destroyed the crops.
It made him sad. He was worried for his family as he loved them so much. But Lencho had firm faith in God and believed that nobody died of hunger. So, he decided to seek help from God. He wrote a letter to God and asked him for a hundred pesos to survive and to sow new crop.

Question 6.
“Humanity still exists”, this is what we get to know after reading A letter to God’ in which firm faith in God of a poor farmer and helpfulness of the post office employees are aptly depicted thought. Write a paragraph on the values in it, in about 80-100 words. Give the paragraph a suitable title. [CBSE 2012]
Answer:
Existence of Humanity
After reading ‘A letter to God’, our faith in humanity stirs for strong. We learn from the story that there still are people who help others without any self interest. The postmaster and the post office employees lay an example for everyone of us to be kind. Though they all laughed at his letter, they were really moved by the grip of faith Lencho had in God. The way they all decided to help the stranger in his hard times restores our faith in the existence of humanity and motivates us to be a noble and kind person.

Question 7.
Describe Lencho’s qualities in light of his faith in God. Do you have faith in God like Lencho? Was Lencho’s reaction towards post office employees right?              [CBSE 2015]
Answer:
Lencho was a poor farmer who totally depended on the harvest to survive and fulfil basic needs of his family. Once his crops were destroyed due to heavy rainfall and hailstones and he was afraid to think how his family would survive. He believed that God would help him in this plight. He had firm faith in God, he believed that God would not let him be hungry.
Now-a-days faith in God like Lencho is almost impossible and unseen. People are very much aware that nobody is willing to help others without any self interest. Lencho’s reaction towards post office employees was not right or justified but it was just because of his innocence as he could not believe that God had done such a mistake. It were only the post office employees who had stolen money according to him.