CBSE Class 10 English A Letter to God Worksheet Set B

Question: 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.”
(a) Who is the speaker? Why does he seem so happy to see the rain?
(b) Give reasons why he calls the raindrops ‘coins’?
Answer: (a) The speaker is the farmer Lencho, the protagonist of the story. He is happy because his corn was ready for harvestand he had been waiting for rains.
(b) The raindrops were big and he could see that the rain shower would help his harvest and bring him some money. Thus, to him, the raindrops were coins.

Question: “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.”
(a) Why was the employee laughing? Who was the reason for his laughter?
(b) Give the meaning of the word: Amiable.
Answer: (a) The postmaster was laughing at the letter he had received. Lencho was the reason for his laughter. He had written a letter to God and posted it, expecting a response.
(b) Amiable means pleasant and friendly.

Short Answer Type Questions

Question: How did the postmaster help Lencho ? 
OR
What did the postmaster do to keep the faith of Lencho ? 
Answer: The postmaster collected money from the post office employees, he himself also contributed his share and sent the money-order to Lencho in God’s name to keep his faith.

Question: What did Lencho write in his letter to God?
Answer: Lencho wrote that because of the hailstorm, his crops had been destroyed and he needed a hundred pesos to live until the next crop was harvested. He wrote that if God did not help him, he and his family would die out of hunger.

Question: What were Lencho’s feelings when the hailstorm stopped ?
Answer: Lencho was filled with utter sadness when the hailstorm stopped. He was troubled to see the corn which was totally destroyed. Nothing was left in the fields. He and his family had to go hungry without corn.

Question: ‘All through the night, Lencho thought only of his one hope.’ What was it? How did he think of it?
Answer: Lencho could not sleep the whole night. His only hope was the help from God. The hailstones had completely destroyed his crops. He felt that God’s eyes could see everything and that he would not behave so unfair with anyone. This help from God was his only hope. He kept assuring himself that no one died of hunger because God was not that cruel. He also kept thinking that one should not be upset even in the times of total loss.

Question: Why did Lencho write a letter to God?
Answer: Lencho’s crops were destroyed by a hailstorm. He had put all his money in farming and therefore, he was left with no money now. But he had strong faith in God that God would definitely solve his problem. So, he wrote a letter to God asking for 100 pesos so that he and his family wouldn’t starve.

Question: Why would you not agree with Lencho calling them ‘a bunch of crooks’ ? 
Answer: Lencho was not at all justified in calling them ‘a bunch of crooks’ because they helped him by collecting money and understanding Lencho’s unshakable faith in God. Each one of them parted with some money for the act of charity which ‘a bunch of crooks’ would never do.

Question: Why did Lencho become angry when he counted the money ? 
Answer: Lencho became angry when he counted the money because the money was not hundred pesos which he had demanded. It was only seventy pesos. Lencho had firm faith in God. Moreover, he knew that God could not make a mistake or deny his request.

Question: What did Lencho write in his second letter ? 
Answer: When Lencho found thirty pesos less, he wrote a second letter to God to send him the remaining amount, but not through the mail as he felt that the employees of the post office were a bunch of crooks.

Question: What is the message given by the poem?
Answer: The poem teaches us that we should not be desperate because there is always an opportunity to change the sad mood into happy mood. Today, when most of the people are living in stressful atmosphere, the poem teaches us to gain happiness from little things.

Question: Who did Lencho write a letter? What did he ask for?
Answer: Lencho wrote a letter to God. He asked God to send him Hundred Pesos to sow his field again and to live until the crops come.

Question: What mood of the poet is reflected in the poem?
Answer: The poet seems to be in a sad and depressive mood. The day offered no comfort or happiness to him. He thinks that the whole day is going to be sad and dull. He can see only negative symbols like the hemlock tree and the crow around him.

Question: Why does the poet hold with those who favour fire?
Answer: The poet takes side with those who believe that the world will be destroyed by fire. Frost connects fire with desire. According to the poet, desire is powerful and would be a quick end. Moreover, the fact that he has had personal experience with desire leads him to first conclude that the world will end in fire.

Long Answer Type Questions

Question: Lencho seemed to be an impulsive man who felt suddenly elated at the rainfall and later became sad to see the destruction which the rain had caused. Did he lack tolerance? Did he not have the courage to face the challenges of life? Elucidate it discussing the values one must possess to face any type of situation in about 100-120 words.
Answer: Lencho was a hard working farmer. He had grown corn in his field and was anxiously hoping for a good rain. He was very happy to see the rain, but he became despaired on seeing the destroyed crop in his field by the storm. No doubt, he had tolerance and the courage to face the challenges in his life. He had a very firm and deep faith in God and after the destruction of his field, he was still hopeful that everything will be all right. Although Lencho was a very strong man and worked hard in his fields, but his firm faith in God made him write a letter to God. And the tolerance in him only kept him waiting for the reply. He asked for hundred Pesos from God and was confident of receiving the amount. He accepted seventy pesos and again faced the situation by writing a second letter, demanding for the rest of the thirty pesos. His faith in God was not shaken. He tackled the situation bravely. In the same way we should face all situations courageously, we should be tolerant and never loose faith in God.

Question: Why did Lencho say the raindrops were like new coins ? How did the same rain change the face of Lencho’s field ?
Answer: Lencho was a poor and hardworking farmer. He hoped for a good crop, but his fields needed rain or atleast a shower. He waited for the rain eagerly. The rain did come. One day it started drizzling. Lencho felt the falling rain drops as ‘new silver coins’. The big drops of rain, according to him, were ten cent coins and the little ones were that of five. He was quite satisfied with the rainfall. But suddenly the strong wind began to blow and with the rain very large hailstones began to fall. It fell for an hour. The rain, which till then, was a hope for better future, changed into destruction. It shattered all his hopes and changed the face of his fields. It destroyed his crop completely. Lencho’s soul was filled with sadness. He feared that he would go hungry for whole year unless someone helped them from imminent starvation.

Question: (i) What did the postmaster need to answer the letter? How did he collect it?
(ii) How did Lencho react to the help?
Answer: (i) The postmaster was a kind man. He wondered at Lencho’s blind faith in God. He did not wish to shake or destroy it. Instead, he wished he had such a faith too. He opened the letter and decided to reply to it. But he needed something more than just writing. Lencho had requested God to send him money. So, the postmaster decided to send money to him. He asked for money from his employees. He himself gave a part of his salary. It was impossible for him to collect the hundred pesos. He was able to collect only seventy pesos. It was then sent to Lencho.
(ii) Lencho came to the post office a bit earlier than usual and asked if there was a letter for him. The postman gave a letter to him. Lencho did not even show slightest surprise on seeing the money. Such was his confidence in God ! Instead, he became very angry when he counted the money. According to him, God could not have made a mistake. He also could not have denied what he had requested. He at once wrote another letter to God. He wrote to God to send the remaining money but not through the mail. He said in his letter that the postmasters were crooks and that they had stolen 30 pesos. Thus, God should not send cash through mail.

Question: What do the metaphors of Ice and Fire convey to the reader? Elaborate. What is the message given by the poet?
Answer: Frost presents the two of the darkest traits of humanity; the capacity to hate and the capacity to be consumed by lust or desire. Of the two, he attributes the greater of the two evils, is desire. In giving desire the foremost position with regard to the destruction of the world, Frost is providing a powerful statement on the subject of greed and jealousy, saying that above all trait of humanity that is most likely to lead to its demise. Desire represents the greatest problem that attributes to the cause of the war. Frost then attributes hatred with the same capacity to do harm. However, he lessens the relative importance of hatred but still presents it as having the ability to lead to the destruction of the world if it were to happen for a second time.

Question: It is our attitude towards a situation that makes it positive or negative. Do you agree with it? Express your views with reference to the poem ‘Dust of Snow’.
Answer: It is true that our attitude towards a problem plays an important role in making it positive or negative. Most of the people in today’s world live a stressful life. They face different types of problems in day to day life. A person can neither keep away from problems completely nor find solutions for them easily. But what makes the situation worse is one’s attitude towards the problems. If we are depressed or sad the whole environment becomes gloomy. But if we are ready to face the problem bravely and positively, it helps in solving the problem also.
The poet in the poem Dust of Snow was in a sorrowful mood. He felt that the whole day was going to be gloomy. But when a crow shook down snowflakes on him, his bitter mood changed into an optimistic one. This small, regular incident wiped away his gloom and made him cheerful. He could have become unhappy when such a thing occurred. But instead of seeing the negative aspect of the incident, he took a positive vibe from it. Thus the the poem teaches us to find happiness from small things and to take everything positively.

Reference to Context

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.

Question. Choose the answer that lists the correct descriptions about the falling rain.
1. The air was fresh and sweet. Raindrops are like fresh coins.
2. Raindrops were like fresh corns.
3. The air was not fresh it was humid. The streets were filled with wet mud.
4. The falling raindrops made Lencho sick. He went out but came back wet and gloomy.
(a) option 1
(b) option 2
(c) option 3
(d) option 4
Answer: (a) rainy

Question. Why did the man go out in rain?
(a) for sheer pleasure
(b) to get his clothes
(c) to examine the rain
(d) to examine the roads
Answer: (a)

Question. The big raindrops were the size of ______.
(a) five-cent pieces
(b) twenty-cent pieces
(c) ten-cent pieces
(d) fifteen-cent pieces
Answer: (c)

Question. What was falling from the sky?
(a) raindrops
(b) stones
(c) mud
(d) money
Answer: (a)

Question. The extract uses the phrase, ‘proceed towards’ for rain. Identify the synonym of the phrase from the given words.
1. Fleeting
2. Retreating
3. Approaching
4. Encroaching
(a) option 1
(b) option 2
(c) option 3
(d) option 4
Answer: (c)

The moment the letter fell into the mailbox the postmaster went to open it. “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.”

Question. When is Lencho thinking about the money?
(a) while writing the second letter
(b) while writing about crop failure
(c) while writing his first letter
(d) while stamping the letter
Answer: (a)

Question. Choose the option that lists the set of statements that are NOT TRUE according to the given extract.
1. Lencho realized the sacrifices made on his behalf.
2. Lencho trusted in God to send him 100 pesos.
3. Lencho wrote letters to God for help.
4. He was confident about getting a sure answer.
5. Lencho does not sound greedy when he collects the 70 pesos.
6. Lencho liked the post office employees.
7. Lencho was not happy with the money he got.
(a) 1, 2, 4
(b) 1, 2, 3
(c) 1, 2, 6
(d) 3, 5, 7
Answer: (c)

Question. Pick the option that correctly classifies fact/s (F) and opinion/s (O) of the students below.
1. They shared their money with Lencho.
2. I think he deserve all that he asked God.
3. The post office employees were glad to help.
4. I feel the post office employess had done a good deed.
(a) F – 1, 2 and O – 3, 4
(b) F – 1, 3, 4 and O – 2
(c) F – 1, 3 and O – 2, 4
(d) F – 3 and O – 1, 2, 4
Answer: (c)

Question. Why does he address the post office employees as crooks?
(a) because he received less money
(b) because he was cheated of money
(c) because they had charged money
(d) because they owed him money
Answer: (a)

Question. Why is Lencho asking money from God?
(a) he is poor
(b) he lost his money
(c) he was duped of his money
(d) his crops were ruined
Answer: (d)

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.”

Question. Who is the speaker? Why does he seem so happy to see the rain?
Answer: The speaker is the farmer Lencho, the protagonist of the story. He is happy because his corn was ready for harvestand he had been waiting for rains.

Question. Give reasons why he calls the raindrops ‘coins’?
Answer: The raindrops were big and he could see that the rain shower would help his harvest and bring him some money. Thus, to him, the raindrops were coins.

That night was a sorrowful one.
“All our work, for nothing.”
‘‘There’s no one who can help us.”
“We’ll all go hungry this year.”

Question. Why will the family “go hungry this year”? Explain the meaning of the line: “All our work for nothing”.
Answer: The family will go hungry because the hail had destroyed their harvest of corn. The father and sons had been toiling in the field for the better part of the year, preparing the field for the crop. However, the hailstorm had ruined the entire crop.

Question. Who do you think they would turn to for help next?
Answer: The farmers have no one else to turn to but the Almighty. They turn to God to ask for sustenance and monetary help.

“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.”

Question. Why was the employee laughing? Who was the reason for his laughter?
Answer: The postmaster was laughing at the letter he had received. Lencho was the reason for his laughter. He had written a letter to God and posted it, expecting a response.

Question. Give the meaning of the word: Amiable.
Answer: Amiable means pleasant and friendly.

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.

Question. Why did Lencho not show any surprise seeing the money?
Answer: Lencho had a strong faith in God. He was such a simple-minded farmer, who knew that the money he had received was from God.

Question. What was the reason for his anger?
Answer: He was angry because he had received 30 pesos less than what he had asked for. Lencho thought that the people at the post office had taken the money.

Short Answers Type Questions 

Question. How did the postmaster collect the money? Was he able to collect the full amount?
Answer: The postmaster asked for money from his employees. He himself gave a part of his salary and several friends of his were obliged to give something ‘for an act of charity’. But still, he was not able to collect the full amount of a hundred pesos.

Question. What did Lencho write in his letter to God?
Answer: Lencho wrote that because of the hailstorm, his crops had been destroyed and he needed a hundred pesos to live until the next crop was harvested. He wrote that if God did not help him, he and his family would die out of hunger.

Question. Where was Lencho’s house situated? Why was he looking at the sky?
Answer: Lencho’s house was the only house situated in the valley. It was on a crest of a low hill. One could see the river and the fields of ripe corn from there. Lencho sat looking the whole day at the sky because his crop needed the rain to ripen.

Question. When did it start raining? How did Lencho’s family welcome it? What became troublesome soon?
Answer: Lencho prayed for the rain to come since his crops essentially needed that to ripen. It finally started raining during the evening and big drops of water began to fall. When Lencho went out to feel the rain on his body, he called the raindrops, “new coins”. The raindrops however soon changed into hailstones which caused great trouble for the crops.

Question. Describe the destruction caused by the hailstones in Lencho’s fields.
Answer: As soon as the raindrops started changing into hailstones, the corn was totally destroyed. Not a leaf remained on the trees, the flowers withered away and not a leaf of corn remained in the fields. Even the locusts would not have done so much of destruction. It was a sorrowful sight for Lencho to watch.

Question. ‘All through the night, Lencho thought only of his one hope.’ What was it? How did he think of it?
Answer: Lencho could not sleep the whole night. His only hope was the help from God. The hailstones had completely destroyed his crops. He felt that God’s eyes could see everything and that he would not behave so unfair with anyone. This help from God was his only hope. He kept assuring himself that no one died of hunger because God was not that cruel. He also kept thinking that one should not be upset even in the times of total loss.

Question. What did Lencho do to face the sadness caused by the destruction of the crop?
Answer: The destruction of the crops by the storm posed a big problem in front of Lencho. He had to do something else his family would starve, so he only thought of God at that hour of crisis. His unquestionable faith in God made him write a letter to him. In this letter, Lencho decided to ask God for help. He had no other way to stop his family from starving and thereafter, dying.

Question. How did Lencho react when he counted the money? What did he do thereafter?
Answer: Lencho had asked for 100 pesos from God in his letter. He was confident that the God will send him his money but when he received only 70 pesos on opening the letter, he got really angry. He went up to the window to ask for paper and ink and wrote another letter to God wherein he complained to God against the crook postmasters and officials.

Question. Why did Lencho write a letter to God? 
Answer: Lencho’s crops were destroyed by a hailstorm. He had put all his money in farming and therefore, he was left with no money now. But he had strong faith in God that God would definitely solve his problem. So, he wrote a letter to God asking for 100 pesos so that he and his family wouldn’t starve.

Long Answers Type Questions 

Question. Based on the story, illustrate Lencho’s faith and attitude towards God and man.
Answer: Lencho has great faith in God. When his crop is destroyed and he faces a complete ruin and starvation, he writes a letter to God asking for his help. When a reply comes back, he is not surprised as he believes that God himself has responded to his plea for help. On the other hand, when he gets only a part of the money he had asked God to give him, he instantly believes that the post office employees have stolen some of it. He has no faith in the men at the post office. Lencho has never seen God and still he has a great faith in him but the least amount of trust in the humans who lived around him. This shows his narrow belief and twisted manner of thinking.

Question. All through the night Lencho thought only of his one hope: the help of God…The following Sunday, at daybreak he began to write a letter…It was nothing less than a let- ter to God...The following Sunday Lencho came a bit earlier than usual to ask if there was a letter for him…. Lencho showed not the slightest surprise on seeing the money, such was his confidence. [A Letter to God]
Answer: In Apostrophe start A Letter to God Apostrophe end, the help provided was of a different nature of aid. Lencho writes a letter to God asking for money and his conviction in God touches the postmaster and his team who raise money and sends it to him. Lencho asks for help but the source of his aid is clearly revealed and it was not God, yet Lencho was still not satisfied with the money he received and felt cheated.

Question. (i) What did the postmaster need to answer the letter? How did he collect it?
(ii) How did Lencho react to the help?
Answer: (i) The postmaster was a kind man. He wondered at Lencho’s blind faith in God. He did not wish to shake or destroy it. Instead, he wished he had such a faith too. He opened the letter and decided to reply to it. But he needed something more than just writing. Lencho had requested God to send him money. So, the postmaster decided to send money to him. He asked for money from his employees. He himself gave a part of his salary. It was impossible for him to collect the hundred pesos. He was able to collect only seventy pesos. It was then sent to Lencho.
(ii) Lencho came to the post office a bit earlier than usual and asked if there was a letter for him. The postman gave a letter to him. Lencho did not even show slightest surprise on seeing the money. Such was his confidence in God ! Instead, he became very angry when he counted the money. According to him, God could not have made a mistake. He also could not have denied what he had requested. He at once wrote another letter to God. He wrote to God to send the remaining money but not through the mail. He said in his letter that the postmasters were crooks and that they had stolen 30 pesos. Thus, God should not send cash through mail.

Question. How do you think the postmaster felt when he received Lencho’s second letter? What do you think he did?
Answer: The postmaster must have felt really bad on receiving Lencho’s second letter. He had worked so hard to collect the money so as to reinstate Lencho’s faith in God but in spite of his hard efforts he received only accusation about the postmasters and post officials being crooked and roguish. He must have felt that all his hard work of collecting 70 pesos went into vain for Lencho thought ill about him.

Question. The postmaster helped Lencho but received abuses in return? Where had the postmaster gone wrong? What would you do in this place? Write your answer in about 80 words.
Answer: The greed of a man and his blatant thanklessness makes him cruel and insensitive of the feelings of other people. In this case, I don’t think that the postmaster had gone wrong anywhere because his intentions were the best. He wanted Lencho to maintain his faith in God and in order to do that he did everything which was possible. He collected money from his fellow post officials and sent it to Lencho. Lencho was so blind in his faith towards God that he could not see any human helping him. The only thing that the postmaster did wrong was to not give his name along with the cash that he sent to Lencho.

Archive Questions

Question. Why did Lencho write a letter to God?
Answer: [Text not provided in Archive section, refer to Short Answer Q9]

The moment the letter fell into the mail box 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.

Question. Why did Lencho write this letter?
Answer: Lencho wrote this letter to request the remaining 30 pesos from God, as he only received 70 pesos of the 100 pesos he had initially asked for to survive after his crops were destroyed.

Question. Why was Lencho angry with the post office employees?
Answer: Lencho was angry because he believed that the post office employees had stolen 30 pesos from the money God had sent him.

Question. Find out a word from the passage which means, Dishonest people.
Answer: crooks