A Letter To God

Class 10 English "First Flight" textbook lesson no.1 all question & answers. 

Oral Comprehension check : 

1. What did Lencho hope for ? 

Ans. Lencho hoped for rain as it was much needed for a good harvest. 

2. Why did Lencho say the raindrops were like 'new coins' ? 

Ans. For Lencho, the raindrops were like 'new coins' as they promised him a good harvest resulting in more prasperity. 

3. How did the rain change ? What happened to Lencho's fields ? 

Ans. The rain who came with a new hope had changed into a hailstorm. A strong wind began to blow and huge hailstones began to fall along with the rain. All the craps in Lencho's field got destroyed hue to hailstorm. 

4. What were Lencho's feelings when the hail stopped ?

Ans. When the hail stopped Lencho was filled with grief as everything was runiedand there was nothing that could feed his family. He could see a bleak future for him and his family. 

5. Who or what did Lencho have faith in ? What did he do ? 

Ans . Lencho had firm faith in God. He believed that God sees everything including one's deep conscience and help everyone in one's problems. He wrote a letter to God demanding him a hundred pesos to his field again. 

6. Who read the letter ? 

Ans. The postmaster read the letter. 

7. What did the postmaster do them ? 

Ans. The postmaster helped Lencho by sending money on behalf of God. Lencho had written a letter God help him money. The postmaster didn't want to shake Lencho's faith in God. So he collected money and sent to Lencho. 

8. Was Lencho surprised to find a letter for him with money in it ? 

Ans. No, Lencho was not surprised to find  letter for him with money in it, because he had full faith in God. He knew that God Saw everything even in one's conscience. 

9. What made him angry ? 

Ans. Lencho asked for hundred pesos from God. But God sent him only seventy pesos. It was not good on God's part. This made him angry. 

Thinking about the text : 

1. Who does Lencho have complete faith in ? Which sentences in the story tell you this ? 

Ans. Lencho have complete faith in God as he is instructed that God knows everything and helps as in our problems. There are few sentences which show this.

       i. But in the heart of all who lived in that soiltary house in the middle of the valley, there was a single hope help from God. 

       ii. 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 that is deep in one's conscience.

      iii. God could not have made a mistake, nor could he have denied Lencho what he had requested. 

2. Why does the postmaster send money to Lencho ? Why does he sign the letter 'God' ? 

Ans. The postmaster does not want that Lencho's faith in God should break. He in fact, feels proud that Lencho has such a great faith in God. He signs the letter again to keep Lencho's faith. It he does not do so, Lencho might think differently. His faith i God may shake.

3. Did Lencho try to find out who sent the money to him ? Why/Why not ? 

Ans. Lencho did not try to find out who had sent the money to him. It was because he had complete faith in God. Therefore he did not bother about the sender.

4. Who does Lencho think has taken the rest of the money ? What is the irony in the situation ? (Remember that the irony of a situation is an unexpected aspect of it. An ironic situation is strange or amusing because it is the opposite of what is expected.)

Ans. Lencho thinks that the rest of the money have been taken by the employees of the post office as he had asked for hundred pesos from God. But he get only seventy pesos with the letter from God, and he believes that God can not make such a mistake. Thus he assumes that they have stolen the money. 

            The irony in the situation is that due to his full faith in God, Lencho suspects those people who helped him in his problem and tried to keep his faith alive in God. 

5. Are there people like Lencho in the real world ? what kind of a person would you say he is ? You may select appropriate words from the box to answer the question. 

greedy, naive, stupid, ungrateful, selfish, comical, unquestioning.

Ans. In this world of science, it is hard to find a person like Lencho who is and unquestioning and naive by nature. He looks so stupid as he doesn't understand who has sent him money and how his letter God without any address, it is Lencho's faith in God. In real world, people are selfish, greedy and ungrateful, while Lencho is totally lavable and different. 

6. There are two kinds of conflict in the story : between humans and nature and between humans themselves. How are these conflicts illustrated ? 

Ans. The conflict between humans and nature is illustrated by the destruction of Lencho's crop by the hailstorm as Lencho was expecting a good harvest as that was the only hope he had for his earning. He worked so hard to feed his family, but he become the victim of nature who destroyed his crop field. 

              This very story is also illustrated another conflict between human themselves. After receiving Lencho's letter to God, the postmaster along with the staff sent money to him which he asked from God in order to keep his believe in God. But Lencho has climed the staff of post office that they take away money from him because he get called them "a bunch of crook". It shows that man does not have faith in other man, thereby giving rise to this conflict.

Thinking about language : 

1. There are different names in different parts of the world for storms, depending on their nature. Can you match the names in the box with their descriptions below, and fill in the blanks ? You may use a dictionary to help you.

gale, whirlwind, cyclone, hurricane, tornado, typhoon.

Ans. i. A violent tropical storm in which strong winds move in a circle : cyclone.

ii. An extremly strong wind : gale.

iii. A violent tropical storm with very strong winds : typhoon.

iv. A violent storm whose centre a cloud in the shape of a funnel : tornado.

v. A violent storm with very strong winds, especially in the western Atlantic Ocean : hurricane.

vi. A very strong wind that moves very fast in a spinning movementband causes a lot of damage : whirlwind.

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