Extract Based Questions

Question No 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.
Q1. Where was the house located?
A1. The house was located on the crest of a low hill.
Q2. What did Lencho do throughout the morning?
A2. Throughout the morning, Lencho had done nothing else but see the sky towards the north–east.
Q3. What did the earth need?
A3. The earth needed a downpour or at least a shower.
Q4. What could be seen from the house?
A4. From the house, one could see the river and the field of ripe corn dotted with the flowers.

Question No 2
Now we’re really going to get some water, woman.” The woman who was preparing supper replied, “Yes, God willing”. The older boys were working in the field, while the smaller ones were playing near the house until the woman called to them all, “Come for dinner”.
1. Who said “Now we‘re really going to get some water, woman“?
Answer: The man.
2. What was the woman preparing?
Answer: Supper.
3. What were the older boys doing?
Answer: Working in the field.
4. What did the woman call to the children?
Answer: “Come for dinner“.

Question No 3
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, and when he returned he exclaimed, ‘‘These aren’t raindrops falling from the sky, they are new coins. The big drops are ten cent pieces and the little ones are fives.’’
Q1: Who predicted that it was going to rain?
A1: Lencho predicted that it was going to rain.
Q2: What did the man do when he went outside?
A2: The man went outside to have the pleasure of feeling the rain on his body.
Q3: What did the man exclaim when he returned?
A3: The man exclaimed, “These aren’t raindrops falling from the sky, they are new coins. The big drops are ten cent pieces and the little ones are fives.”
Q4: What did the air smell like?
A4: The air was fresh and sweet.

Question No 4
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 along with 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.
Q1: What expression did the person have when looking at the field of ripe corn?
A1: The person had a satisfied expression.
Q2: What happened when a strong wind began to blow?
A2: Along with the rain, very large hailstones began to fall.
Q3: How did the hailstones resemble?
A3: The hailstones resembled new silver coins.
Q4: What did the boys do when the hailstones began to fall?
A4: The boys ran out to collect the frozen pearls, exposing themselves to the rain.

Question No 5
‘‘It’s really getting bad now,’’ exclaimed the man. “I hope it passes quickly.” It did not pass quickly. For an hour the hail rained on the house, the garden, the hillside, the cornfield, on the whole valley. The field was white, as if covered with salt.
Q1. Who exclaimed, “It’s really getting bad now”?
A1. Lencho.
Q2. What was the weather like?
A2. It was hailing.
Q3. What did the hail cover?
A3. The hail covered the house, the garden, the hillside, the cornfield, and the whole valley.
Q4. What did the field look like after the hail?
A4. The field looked like it was covered with salt.

Question No 6
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. This year we will have no corn.’’
Q1: What happened to the trees?
A1: Not a leaf remained on the trees.
Q2: What happened to the corn?
A2: The corn was totally destroyed.
Q3: What happened to the flowers?
A3: The flowers were gone from the plants.
Q4: What did Lencho say to his sons?
A4: He said, “A plague of locusts would have left more than this. The hail has left nothing. This year we will have no corn.’’

Question No 7
But in the hearts of all who lived in that solitary house in the middle of the valley, there was a single hope: help from God. “Don’t be so upset, even though this seems like a total loss. Remember, no one dies of hunger.”
Q1. Who lived in the solitary house in the middle of the valley?
A1. All who lived in the house.
Q2. What was the hope of those living in the house?
A2. The hope was help from God.
Q3. What did the people living in the house tell each other?
A3. They told each other not to be upset and to remember that no one dies of hunger.
Q4. What kind of valley was the house located in?
A4. The house was located in a solitary valley.

Question No 8
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. The following Sunday, at daybreak, he began to write a letter which he himself would carry to town and place in the mail. It was nothing less than a letter to God.
Q1. Who was Lencho?
A1. Lencho was a farmer. He was working like an animal in the fields.
Q2. What was Lencho’s one hope?
A2. Lencho’s one hope was the help of God.
Q3. How did Lencho know how to write?
A3. Lencho knew how to write because he had been instructed.
Q4. What did Lencho do on Sunday at daybreak?
A4. On Sunday at daybreak, Lencho began to write a letter to God.

Question No 9
“God,” he wrote, “if you don’t help me, my family and I will go hungry this year. I need a hundred pesos in order to sow my field again and to live until the crop comes because of the hailstorm.”
Q1: Who wrote the prayer?
A1: The prayer was written by an unnamed person.
Q2: What did the person need help with?
A2: The person needed help for obtaining a hundred pesos in order to sow their field again and to live until the crop comes due to a hailstorm.
Q3: What was the purpose of the prayer?
A3: The purpose of the prayer was to ask God for help in providing the necessary funds to sow the field and to live until the crop comes.
Q4: What caused the need for prayer?
A4: The need for the prayer was caused by a hailstorm that damaged their corn field.

Question No 10
One of the employees, who was a postman and also helped at the post office, went to his boss laughing heartily and showed him the letter to God. Never in his career as a postman had he known that address. 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!”
Q1: Who was the employee?
A1: The employee was a postman who also helped at the post office.
Q2: What did the employee show his boss?
A2: The employee showed his boss a letter to God.
Q3: How did the postmaster react to the letter?
A3: The postmaster reacted with laughter, but then became serious and commented on the faith of the man who wrote the letter.
Q4: What did the postmaster wish for?
A4: The postmaster wished he had the faith of the man who wrote the letter.

Question No 11
So, in order not 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 were obliged to give something ‘for an act of charity’.
Q1: What did the postmaster do in order to not shake the writer’s faith in God?
A1: The postmaster came up with the idea to answer the letter.
Q2: What did the postmaster need in order to answer the letter?
A2: The postmaster needed more than goodwill, ink and paper to answer the letter.
Q3: How did the postmaster obtain the money to answer the letter?
A3: The postmaster asked for money from his employees, gave part of his salary, and asked several friends to give something ‘for an act of charity’.
Q4: What was the purpose of the postmaster’s act of charity?
A4: The purpose of the postmaster’s act of charity was to not shake the writer’s faith in God.

Question No 12
It was impossible for him to gather together the hundred pesos, so he was able to send the farmer only a little more than half. He put the money in an envelope addressed to Lencho and with it a letter containing only a single word as a signature: God.
Q1: How much money did Lencho receive?
A1: Lencho received a little more than half of the hundred pesos.
Q2: Who sent the money to Lencho?
A2: The money was sent to Lencho by an unnamed person.
Q3: What was included in the envelope?
A3: The envelope contained the money and a letter with a single word as a signature.
Q4: What was the single word included in the letter?
A4: The single word included in the letter was “God”.

Question No 13
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.
Q1: Who handed the letter to Lencho?
A1: The postman.
Q2: When did Lencho come to ask for the letter?
A2: He came earlier than usual.
Q3: What was the postmaster feeling?
A3: He was feeling the contentment of a man who has performed a good deed.
Q4: What did Lencho come to ask for?
A4: He came to ask if there was a letter for him.

Question No 14
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.
Q1: What was Lencho’s reaction on seeing the money?
A1: Lencho showed not the slightest surprise on seeing the money.
Q2: What was Lencho’s confidence based on?
A2: Lencho’s confidence was based on his belief that God could not have made a mistake.
Q3: What did Lencho request from God?
A3: Lencho requested money from God.
Q4: How did Lencho react when he counted the money?
A4: Lencho became angry when he counted the money.

Question No 15
Immediately, Lencho went up to the window to ask for paper and ink. On the public writing table, he started to write, with much wrinkling of his brow, caused by the effort he had to make to express his
ideas. 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.”
Q1: Who wrote the letter?
A1: Lencho wrote the letter.
Q2: What did the letter say?
A2: The letter 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.”
Q3: What did Lencho do after writing the letter?
A3: After writing the letter, Lencho went to the window to buy a stamp, which he licked and then affixed to the envelope with a blow of his fist.
Q4: What happened when the letter fell into the mailbox?
A4: The moment the letter fell into the mailbox, the postmaster went to open it.

Brief Questions & Answers (3 Marks)

1. Why was Lencho angry when he received the letter? (CBSE Board Term I, 2014)

Ans: Lencho got angry when he received the letter because he expected genuine help from God. But instead of a hundred pesos, he received only seventy pesos. The amount wasn’t sufficient for his family’s survival and the sowing of new crops. That situation increased his anger.

2. How did the postmaster help Lencho? (CBSE Board Term I, 2014)
OR
What did the postmaster do to keep faith in Lencho? (CBSE Board Term I, 2012)

Ans: The postmaster collected a handsome amount of money from his colleagues, who worked in the post office with him and along with that he collected money from his friends also. Later he sent that money as a money order to Lencho in the name of God as an act of charity to keep Lencho’s faith in God.

3. Where was Lencho’s house situated? Why did he sit seeing the sky? (CBSE Board Term I, 2013)

Ans: Lencho’s house was situated on the crest of a low hill in the valley, as described in the story ‘A Letter to God’. He sat all day watching the skies because he knew his fields needed a heavy downpour or at the very least a shower. So, he was waiting to see if there was any sign of rain in the sky for a good harvest.

4. What were Lencho’s feelings when the hailstorm stopped? (CBSE Board Term I, 2012)

Ans: Before the hailstorm, Lencho was expecting a good harvest, and it was his only source of sustenance. But after the hailstorm, along with the cornfield, all of his hopes and means of livelihood were lost or destroyed. He became hopeless, and he knew that after that incident he and his family would have to starve that year.

5. How did Lencho’s hope change to despair? (CBSE Board Term I, 2012)

Ans: Though Lencho’s field needed a good rain but he was confident about a good harvest that year. The yellow cornfield and his hard labour created good hope for a better future. But when that rain turned into a hailstorm and destroyed everything in that valley, his hope changed into despair as his family would have to starve that year.