CBSE Class 10 English A Letter to God Worksheet Set A

 A Letter to God

A Letter to God is a story of extreme faith in God. It is the story of Lencho, a poor, honest and hardworking farmer, who wrote a letter to God and asked God to send him money.
Lencho was a dedicated farmer. He was expecting a good harvest. Unfortunately a hail storm came and destroyed his harvest totally. Lencho was very sad, but he had strong belief in God. He was sure that God would definitely help him. So the simple straight forward man wrote a letter to God asking for one hundred pesos. Although, his wishes get fulfilled partially, if not completely, he is ungrateful in the end and questions the honesty and modesty of the post-masters who actually helped him with money (anonymously) in the name of god.

CHARACTER SKETCH OF LENCHO
Lencho was a simple farmer who was very hardworking. He was completely dependent on the yield of his fields. He had good knowledge of farming. His crops had always been good. He knew his crops needed a good downpour to get good yield. But when the rain changed into a hail storm his crop was totally destroyed. He became very sad. But since he had strong faith in God, he didn’t lose hope. He needed God’s help. He knew how to read and write. He wrote a letter to God asking for help. He was fully confident that he would get the money. When he didn’t get as much money as he had asked, he became unhappy. He was not ready to be happy with what he received. He felt that he was being cheated. But he was not ungrateful to God. He felt angry thinking that the people in the post office are crooks and they had stolen the rest of the money. So he wrote another letter to God, instructing him to send money directly to him, not through the post office.Lencho’s innocence and staunch belief in God are clearly depicted in the story.

Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.

A. 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 rain, ran out to collect the frozen pearls.

Question. What do the ‘frozen pearls’ refer to?
Answer. The frozen pearls refer to hail stones.

Question. What does he compare the raindrops to?
Answer. He compared them to coins.

Question. Why was Lencho satisfied?
Answer. He was satisfied because his fields got good rains.

Question. Trace the word in the passage which means ‘covered with’.
Answer. draped

B. “What faith! I wish I had the faith of the man who wrote this letter. Starting up a correspondence with God!”

Question. “Starting up a correspondence with God.” What does it tell you about the man’s character?
Answer. The man is simple, innocent and straight forward. He has strong belief in God

Question. Why did the man write a letter to God?
Answer. The man lost his crops due to a hailstorm. So he wanted hundred pesos to sow his field again and to live until the crops come.

Question. Who is the speaker of the above lines?
Answer. The postmaster

Question. Give the verb form of the word ‘Correspondence’.
Answer. Correspond

C.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 five’s.”

Question. How did raindrops bring disaster to his crops?
Answer. The raindrops soon turned into a hailstorm and destroyed his crops and ruined his hopes.

Question. Why did he go out in the rain?
Answer. He went out in the rain to feel the happiness of rain on his body.

Question. Whywere the raindrops like ‘new coins’ for Lencho?
Answer. Lencho thought that the raindrops would help him get a good harvest and thus he can earn money. So the raindrops were like new coins for Lencho.

Question. Who is the person described here?
Answer. Lencho, the farmer is described here.

D.The moment the letter fell into the mail box, the post master 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.

Question. What did Lencho mean by the ‘rest’?
(i) Fifty pesos
(ii) Forty pesos
(iii) Thirty pesos
(iv) Twenty pesos
Answer.(iii) Thirty pesos

Question. Who was in Lencho’s mind when he was writing the letter?
(i) The Post-office staff
(ii) God
(iii) His friend
(iv) His neigbour
Answer.(ii) God
 

Question. Find out a word opposite of ‘honest’ from the passage.
(i) Unhonest
(ii) Dishonest
(iii) Cheats
(iv) Crooks
Answer.(iv) Crooks

Question. Who are denoted as a bunch of crooks?
(i) Visitors
(ii) Post office employees
(iii) Cleaners of the Post-office
(iv) Passers-by 
Answer.(ii) Post office employees
 

E.  “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 the hail storm.....” 
(a) Who is ‘he’ ?
(i) Postmaster
(ii) God
(iii) Lencho
(iv) None
Answer.(iii) Lencho

Question. Why did the speaker need money?
(i) to save his family from hunger
(ii) to save his land
(iii) to buy a plough
(iv) to repay his loans
Answer.(i) to save his family from hunger

Question. How much money, did the speaker need?
(i) Five hundred pesos
(ii) Four hundred pesos
(iii) Two hundred pesos
(iv) One hundred pesos
Answer.(iv) One hundred pesos
 

Question. Who is ‘you’ in the passage?
(i) Post-master
(ii) Lencho
(iii) God
(iv) Post-office staff
Answer.(iii) God
 

F. With a satisfied expressions 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. 

Question. Who was satisfied ?
(i) Lencho
(ii) Postmaster
(iii) God
(iv) None
Answer.(i) Lencho

Question. Why was he satisfied ?
(i) to see his crops.
(ii) to see the letter from God.
(iii) to see the rain falling.
(iv) to see the new coins.
Answer.(i) to see his crops.

Question. Which word in the extract means the same as ‘covered’ ?
(i) to cover
(ii) curtain
(iii) draped
(iv) ripe
Answer.(iii) draped

Question. Suddenly ___________ began to fall.
(i) rain drops
(ii) snow
(iii) large hailstones
(iv) snow flakes
Answer.(iii) large hailstones

Read the given extracts to attempt the questions that follow:

“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”. 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.’’
(G.L. Fuentes: A letter to God)

Question. When Lencho said - “Now we’re really going to get some water....”. what did he actually mean?
(a) They were going to get groundwater.
(b) They were going to get mineral water.
(c) It was about to rain.
(d) They were about to get saline water.
Answer. (c)

Question. How did Lencho predict the advent of rain?
(a) Lencho could feel the sweet air and see the huge clouds in north-east.
(b) Lencho was an astrologer.
(c) Lencho was a meteorologist.
(d) Lencho saw a dream.
Answer. (a) 

Question. Lencho compared the raindrops with …...... .
(a) snow flakes
(b) coins
(c) dust particles
(d) diamonds
Answer. (b)

Question. Why did Lencho say that “These aren’t raindrops falling from the sky, they are new coins...”
(a) Lencho knew an ancient technique of converting water droplets to precious coins.
(b) Lencho was an umbrella seller and he thought that rainy season will give his sale a boost.
(c) Lencho was a farmer and the rain would make his crop harvest which he can sell and earn.
(d) Lencho was a painter and he knew that people get their house painted after rain.
Answer. (c) 

Question. Select the suitable word from the extract to complete the following:
Awareness: Ignorance :: bitter:
(a) Salty
(b) Sweet
(c) Sour
(d) Spicy
Answer. (b) 

Read the given extracts to attempt the questions that follow:

“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 the hailstorm....”. He wrote ‘To God’ on the envelope, put the letter inside and, still troubled, went to town. At the post office, he placed a stamp on the letter and dropped it into the mailbox. 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 ….
(G.L. Fuentes: A letter to God)

Question. Why did Lencho say “if you don’t help me, my family and I will go hungry this year...”?
(1) Lencho was a farmer and his crops were destroyed by a hailstorm.
(2) There was a famine in Lencho’s town.
(3) The authorities in Lencho’s town raised taxes.
(a) Only (1)
(b) (1) and (3)
(b) (2) and (3)
(d) (1) and (3)
Answer. (a)

Question. Select the most appropriate option for (1) and (2)
(1) “God,” he wrote, “if you don’t help me, my family and I will go hungry this year.”
(2) Lencho did not have any faith in God.
(a) (1) is true, (2) is false.
(b) (2) is opposite of (1).
(c) (1) furthers the meaning of (2).
(d) Both (1) and (2) can’t be inferred from the text .
Answer. (a)

Question. What was the initial response of the post office staff on seeing Lencho’s letter?
(a) Post office staff took the letter very seriously from the moment they received it.
(b) Post office staff threw the letter into the dustbin.
(c) Post office staff ignored the letter.
(d) Post office staff initially laughed.
Answer. (d) 

Question. Select the option which displays best example of “having faith in God”.
(a) Daniel believes that Earth is flat.
(b) Aditya thinks that black cats are bad omens.
(c) Seema knows that God is always there to guide and help her in difficult times.
(d) Natasha strongly thinks that God will help her destroy people she dislikes.
Answer. (c)

Short Answer Questions :

Question. What does the postmaster do to answer Lencho’s Letter?
Answer. The postmaster decided to answer the letter, but as Lencho very badly needed some money, he asked for money from his employees. He himself gave part of his salary and several of his friends joined him. He could gather only seventy pesos. He put the money in an envelope addressed to Lencho and with it a letter containing only one word as signature: God.

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. How did the rain change? What happened to Lento’s fields?
Answer. The rain began on a pleasant note. The air was fresh and sweet. But suddenly a strong wind began to blow and along with the rain very large hailstones began to fall. It did not pass quickly. For an hour the hail rainedon the field and the corn was total.

Questions for Revision

Question. What were Lencho’s feelings when the hail stopped? 
Answer. Lencho was filled with sadness and despair because the hailstorm had destroyed the crops in the field. He was restless at the thought that his family would go Hungary
that year.

Question. Did the letter reach to god? Why did the postmaster reply to Lencho’s letter? 
Answer. Literally, the letter did not reach as God is an abstract idea or belief having no concrete address in wordily connotations. If we see from an angle of faith then it can be contended that the God helped Lencho through men at the post office.

Question. In the ‘A letter to God’ what moral values does the Post Master display in his behaviour? 
Answer. The Post Master is an exemplary display of human values that rest on menhelping- men selflessly. He shows the values of empathy and compassion even in a comical situation as he had laughed first. He is sensitive to feels the innocence of Lencho. He had good relations with the employees and very efficiently he leads in getting others contribute to keep the faith of Lencho as pure and intact as he could do. It can also be said that he himself had great faith in God and would have thought that doing anything in the name of God to help the needy is the duty of other fellow beings.

Question. What was the cause behind the sudden change of mood of Lencho from that of happiness to that of sorrow and despair?
Answer. The cause was the hailstorm that destroyed the standing crop in the fields. He was happy at the rains and called the rain drops as ‘new coins’ but the haling changed the atmosphere and now there were lying hails as ‘frozen pearls’ in place of ‘new coins’.

Question. Why and how did the postmaster help Lencho?
Answer. The Post Master helped Lencho to keep his faith in God intact and also, he could see how innocence Lencho was. To help Lencho he himself contributed a part of his salary and convinced his post office employees to donate some amount. This way, they were able to collect 70 pesos that was 30 pesos short of Lencho’s demand.

Question. Why did Lencho write his second letter? 
Answer. Lencho was angry to see only 70 pesos and thought that the post office employees had stolen the rest of the amount.

Question. Did God really help Lencho?
Answer. God is an abstract entity in the minds of people with huge literary and oral accounts spread around this abstract entity God. So, to see from the angle of description of
God, it can be contended that God helped Lencho in his need through men at post office. If we think logical way then it was help from post office employees and the letter was received by them who could easily throw it away.

Question. Was Lencho justified in calling the post office employees ‘a bunch of crooks’?
Give reasons.
Answer. Yes , as if we see from lencho’s point of view he was justified in calling the post office employees ‘a bunch of crooks’.
In the world today there are such peoples who take up any other’s commodities without caring that what will that mean to the real owner.And so was lencho’s feeling , when he saw just 70 pesos instead of 100 in the envelope. He was so firm in his believe that according to him god wouldn’t have made such a mistake. 

Question. 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. “
(a) Who is ‘he’ here ? Why did ‘he’ go out in the rain?
(b) What have the raindrops been compared to? Why?
Answer.
(a) ‘he’ here is Lencho. He was very excited when it started raining. So he went out in the rain to have the pleasure of feeling the rain on his body.
(b) The raindrops have been compared to new coins because they were round in shape. Moreover a good rain meant good money

Question. The moment the letter fell into the mail box, the post master 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.
(a) Who is ‘I’ here? What did ‘I’ mean by the ‘rest’?
(b) Who have been denoted as a bunch of crooks in these lines? Why?
Answer.
(a) ‘I’ here is Lencho. He had asked for a hundred pesos as help from God. When he received the letter, there were only seventy pesos. So he wrote another letter to God
asking for the rest of the pesos i.e. thirty pesos.
(b) The post office employees have been denoted as a bunch of crooks in these lines because Lencho though that they had taken out thirty pesos from the letter sent by God.

Question. “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 the hail storm…..”
(a) Why did the speaker need money?
(b) How much money did he need? Did he get it?
Answer.
(a) The hail storm had damaged Lencho’s crop of corn. He needed money to saw his fields again and to save his family from starvation.
(b) He needed hundred pesos but he received only seventy pesos collected and contributed by the post office employees.

Question. So, in order to 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 good will, ink and paper. But he stuck to his resolution : He asked money from his employees.
(a) What did the postmaster do in order not to shake the writer ’s faith?
(b) What did the postmaster find after opening the letter ?
Answer.
(a) The postmaster decided to open the letter which was addressed to God.
(b) After opening the letter the postmaster found that it was written for financial help.

Question. 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 was Lencho not surprised on seeing the money?
(b) What was Lencho’s belief?
Answer.
(a) Lencho was not surprised on seeing the money because he was confident of getting the money. He had firm faith in God which made him think that God would definitely send him a hundred pesos.
(b) Lencho strongly believed that neither God could make a mistake in counting the money nor could he deny Lencho what he had requested. So how could he find only seventy pesos and not hundred in the letter from God