A Letter to God Questions and Answers Class 10

NCERT Solutions for Class 10 English First Flight Chapter 1, “A Letter to God,” provides a comprehensive understanding of the story and its themes. The chapter includes questions and answers designed to help students delve deeper into the text and develop critical thinking skills. The solutions are presented in an easy-to-understand format, making it easier for students to learn and excel in their English exams.

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

Question and Answer

Page no.5

Oral Comprehension Check

Q1. What did lencho hope for?

Ans. Launch hope for a downpour or at least a good shower for his field of ripe corn.

Q2. Why did Lencho see that the raindrops were like “new coins”?

Ans. Lencho compared the raindrops with new coins because raindrops would have helped him in getting a good harvest resulting in more and more profits. That’s why he compared raindrops as “new coins”.

Q3. How did the rain change? What happened to Lencho’s fields?

Ans. The rain changed into hailstones(small balls of ice that fall like rain from the sky) as a strong wind began to blow and along with the rain very large hailstones began to fall. All the crops of Lencho’s field were totally destroyed.

Q4. What were Lencho’s feelings when the hail stopped?

Ans. After the hail stopped, Lencho’s soul was filled with sadness because the crops of her field were totally destroyed.

Page no.6

Oral Comprehension Check

Q1. Who or what did Lencho have faith in? What did he do?

Ans. Lencho had faith in God. He believed that God sees everything, even what is deep in one’s conscience. He wrote a letter to god saying that he needs a hundred pesos to sow his field again and to live until the crops come.

Q2. Who read the letter?

Ans. The postmaster read the letter that was written by Lencho.

Q3. What did the postmaster do then?

Ans. The postmaster first laughed when he read the letter but Soon he became serious. He was moved by the writer’s faith in God. So, he decided to collect it and send it to Lencho on money and behalf of God.

Page no.7

Oral Comprehension Check

Q1. Was Lencho surprised to find a letter for him with money in it?

Ans. No, Lencho was not surprised to see the letter with money from God. As Lencho believed that God will help him.

Q2. What made him angry?

Ans. Lencho became angry when he counted the money because there were only seventy pesos. Whereas Lencho had demanded a hundred pesos. The difference in the amount made him angry and he thought that thirty pesos were stolen by the post office workers.

Think about the text

Q1. Who does Lencho have complete faith in? Which sentences in the story tell you this?

Ans. Lencho has complete faith in God as he is instructed that God knows everything and helps us in our problems. 

There are a few sentences which show this:

(1) But in the hearts of all who lived in that solitary in the middle of the valley, there was a single hope from God.

(2) 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.

(3) He wrote ‘To God’ on the envelope, put the letter inside and, still troubled, went to town.

(4) God, he wrote, if you don’t help me, my family and I will go hungry this year.

(5) It said: “God: Of the money that was asked for, only seventy pesos reached me. Send me the rest since I need it very much”.

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

Q2. Why does the postmaster send money to Lencho? Why does he sign the letter ‘God’?

Ans. The postmaster was overwhelmed by Lencho’s complete faith

in God and did not want Lencho’s faith to suffer a setback. After reading the letter addressed to God, the postmaster instantly decided to respond to the letter. He collected the money with contributions from the post office employees, his friends as well as himself. He then wrote a letter addressed to Lencho and signed it as ‘God’. The postmaster did all this because he did not want Lencho’s faith in God to be shaken.

Q3. Did Lencho try to find out who had sent the money to him? Why/Why not? 

Ans. Lencho had such unquestioning faith in God that he did not doubt the existence of God for even a moment. He was absolutely sure that it was none other than God who had responded to his letter and sent him the cash. Thus, he did not try to find out who had sent the money.

Q4. 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 had written to God asking him for a hundred pesos. However, he found only seventy pesos in the envelope he received from God. On seeing this, he immediately blamed the post office officials for having stolen his money. Lencho had this unshakeable faith in God that he couldn’t believe that God would send him less than what he had asked for. It is ironic that Lencho should suspect and blame all those who had actually gone out of their way to not just help him but also keep alive his faith in God. 

Q5. 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. It is very difficult to find another person like Lencho. He is a naïve man who has unquestioning faith in God. It would be unfair to say that Lencho is stupid. The fact that he posts a letter addressed to God and waits for a response from God shows his innocence and faith. Contrary to this, the majority of the people in the real world are greedy, selfish and ungrateful. Lencho stands apart with his loveable nature.

Q6. There are two kinds of conflicts in the story: between humans and nature and between humans themselves. How are these conflicts illustrated?

Ans. A Letter to God aptly illustrates our world and its various conflicts. The focus here is on the conflict between nature and humans on the one hand and between humans on the other.

Nature’s furious domination is seen in the sudden destruction of Lencho’s fields. The shower, which was so heartily welcomed by Lencho and his family, within no time, grew into a devastating hailstorm. It left Lencho helpless as the harvest was his only means of earning a livelihood for his family.

Human society is wrought with suspicion, anger, distrust and envy. On reading Lencho’s innocent letter addressed to God, the postmaster decided to help the poor farmer. He and his colleagues contributed whatever they could to collect hundred pesos for Lencho. Unfortunately, they could manage only seventy pesos. On receiving the envelope from God, Lencho accused the post office officials of being a bunch of crooks and stealing his money. Thus, his lack of faith in his fellow human beings illustrates the conflict among humans.

Back Exercises 

Thinking about Language 

I. Look at the following sentence from the story.

Suddenly a strong wind began to blow and along with the rain very large hailstones began to fall.

‘Hailstones’ are small balls of ice that fall like rain. A storm in which hailstones fall is a hailstorm’. You know that a storm is bad weather with strong winds, rain, thunder and lightning.

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

1. A violent tropical storm in which strong winds move in a circle:

_ _ C _ _ _ _

2. An extremely strong wind: _a_ _

3. A violent tropical storm with very strong winds : _ _ P _ _ _ _

4. A violent storm whose centre is a cloud in the shape of a funnel: _ _ _ n _ _ _

5. A violent storm with very strong winds, especially in the western Atlantic Ocean: _ _ r _ _ _ _ _ _

6. A very strong wind that moves very fast in a spinning movement and causes a lot of damage: _ _ _ _ l _ _ _ _

Ans. I (1) : cyclone

(2) gale

(3) typhoon 

(4) tornado 

(5) hurricane

(6) whirlwind

II. Notice how the word ‘hope’ is used in these sentences from the story:

(a) I hope it (the hailstorm) passes quickly.

(b) There was a single hope: help from God.

In the first example, ‘hope’ is a verb which means you wish for something to happen. In the second example it is a noun meaning a chance for something to happen.

Ans II : Match the sentences in Column A with the meanings of ‘hope’ in Column B.

III. Relative Clauses

Look at these sentences

(a) All morning Lencho – who knew his fields intimately looked at the sky.

(b) The woman, who was preparing supper, replied, “Yes, God willing.”

The italicised parts of the sentences give us more information about Lencho and the woman. We call them relative clauses. Notice that they begin with a relative pronoun who. Other common relative pronouns are whom, whose, and which.

The relative clauses in (a) and (b) above are called non-defining, because we already know the identity of the person they describe. Lencho is a particular person, and there is a particular woman he speaks to. We don’t need the information in the relative clause to pick these people out from a larger set.

A non-defining relative clause usually has a comma in front of it and a comma after it (some writers use a dash (-) instead, as in the story). If the relative clause comes at the end, we just put a full stop.

Join the sentences given below using who, whom, whose, which, as suggested.

1. I often go to Mumbai. Mumbai is the commercial capital of India. (which)

Ans III : Ans (1) : I often go to Mumbai which is the commercial capital of India.

2. My mother is going to host a TV show on cooking. She cooks very well. (who)

Ans (2) : My Mother, who cooks very well, is going to host a TV show on cooking.

3. These sportspersons are going to meet the President. Their performance has been excellent. (whose)

Ans (3) : These sportspersons, whose performance has been excellent, are going to meet the President.

4. Lencho prayed to God. His eyes see into our minds. (whose)

Ans (4) : Lencho prayed to God, whose eyes see into our minds.

5. This man cheated me. I trusted him. (whom)

Ans (5) : This man whom I trusted cheated me.

IV. Using Negatives for Emphasis

We know that sentences with words such as no, not or nothing show the absence of something, or contradict something. For example:

(a) This year we will have no corn. (Corn will be absent)

(b) The hail has left nothing. (Absence of a crop)

(c) These aren’t raindrops falling from the sky, they are new coins. (Contradicts the common idea of what the drops of water falling from the sky are)

But sometims negative words are used just to emphasise an idea. Look at these sentences from the story:

(d) Lencho…had done nothing else but see the sky towards the north east. (He had done only this)

(e) The man went out for no other reason than to have the pleasure of feeling the rain on his body. (He had only this reason)

(f) Lencho showed not the slightest surprise on seeing the money. (He showed no surprise at all)

Now look back at example (c). Notice that the contradiction in fact serves to emphasise the value or usefulness of the rain to the farmer.

Find sentences in the story with negative words, which express the following ideas emphatically.

1. The trees lost all their leaves.

………………………………………..

2. The letter was addressed to God himself.

…………………………………………

3. The postman saw this address for the first time in his career.

…………………………………………

Ans IV (1) : Ans: Not a leaf remained on the trees.

Ans (2) : It was nothing less than a letter to God.

Ans (3) : Never in his career as a postman had he seen that address.

V. Metaphors

The word metaphor comes from a Greek word meaning ‘transfer. Metaphors compare two things or ideas: a quality or feature of one thing is transferred to another thing. Some common metaphors are

the leg of the table: The leg supports our body. So the object that supports a table is described as a leg.

the heart of the city: The heart is an important organ in the centre of our body. So this word is used to describe the central area of a city.

Ans V : Metaphors

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