Class 10th English First Flight Chapter 1 A Letter To God Questions and Answers Gujarat Board

A Letter To God Class 10 Question Answer GSEB

Oral Comprehension Check (Textbook Page No. 5)
Question 1. What did Lencho hope for?
Answer:
Lencho hoped that there would be a good shower of rain for his crop.

Question 2. Why did Lencho say the raindrops were like ‘new coins’ ?
Answer:
Lencho hoped that these drops of rain would give him a good crop and then he would have a rich store of corn for his family. That was why he called the raindrops ‘new coins’.

Question 3. How did the rain change? What happened to Lencho’s fields ?
Answer:
The rain turned into hailstorm and it destroyed Lencho’s crop completely.

Question 4. What were Lencho’s feelings when the rain / hail stopped ?
Answer:
Lencho was filled with sadness aft§r the rain / hail had stopped. His corn was totally destroyed. He said to his sons that they would have no corn that year. But he was hopeful of getting help from God.

(Textbook Page No. 6)
Question 5. Who or what did Lencho have faith in ? What did he do ?
Answer:
Lencho had faith in God. He wrote a letter to God requesting Him to send money as his crop had failed completely.

Question 6. Who read the letter?
Answer:
The postmaster read the letter.

Question 7. What did the postmaster do then ?
Answer:
In order to not break Lencho’s firm belief / faith in the Almighty / God, the postmaster decided to answer the letter as God himself. He collected money from his employees, friends and contributed a part of his salary to send to Lencho. He put the money in an envelope and sent it.

(Textbook Page No. 7)
Question 8. Was Lencho surprised to find a letter for him with money in it ?
Answer:
Lencho was not the least surprised to find a letter for him with money in it. He was totally sure that it came from God. Such was his faith in God.

Question 9. What made him angry ?
Answer:
Lencho was angry after opening the letter because he found only seventy pesos inside the envelope. He had demanded a hundred pesos from God. Instead of getting angry on God, he got angry on the post office employees because he thought that they must have misappropriated the money.

Thinking about the Text

Question 1. Who does Lencho have complete faith in ? Which sentences in the story tell you this ?
Answer:
Lencho has complete faith in God as he is instructed that God knows everything and helps us in our problems. There are few sentences which show this:

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.

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.

“God”, he wrote, “if you don’t help me, my family and I will go hungry this year”.
He wrote ‘To God’ on the envelope, put the letter inside and, still troubled, went to town.
God could not have made a mistake, nor could he have denied Lencho what he had requested.

Question 2. Why does the postmaster send money to Lencho ? Why does he sign the letter ‘God’?
Answer:
The postmaster sends money to Lencho in order to keep Lencho’s faith in God alive and firm as he was completely moved by it. When postmaster reads the letter of Lencho to God, he becomes serious and does not want to shake his faith and decides to answer the letter. He gathers money with the help of his post office employees and friends on behalf of God and signs the letter ‘God’ so that Lencho’s faith does not get shaken.

Question 3. Did Lencho try to find out who had sent the money to him ? Why or why not ?
Answer:
Lencho did not try to find out who had sent the money to him because he never suspected the presence of God and had complete faith in God. He could not believe that it could be – anybody else other than Him who would send him the money.

His faith in God was so strong that he believed that He had sent money to him for his help in his problem.

Question 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 ironTc situation is strange or amusing because it is the opposite of what is expected).
Answer:
Lencho thinks that the post office employees have taken the rest of the money as he had demanded a hundred pesos from God arid in the envelope there was only seventy pesos and God cannot make such a mistake. So, he assumes that they have stolen the money.

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

Question 5. Are there people like Lencho in the real world ? What kind of a person would you say he is ? You may select appropriate S words from the box to answer the question.
[greedy, naive, stupid, ungrateful, selfish, comical, unquestioning]
Answer:
It is almost impossible to find a person like Lencho as he is an unquestioning and naive kind of person. He is not stupid if he doesn’t know who has sent him money or a letter will reach God without any address. It is Lencho’s faith in God. In real world, people are selfish and greedy and Lencho is totally lovable and different.

Question 6. There are two kinds of conflict in } the story between humans and nature and / between humans themselves. How are these conflicts illustrated ? ,
Answer:
Conflict between Humans and i Nature:
The conflict between humans and nature ( is illustrated by the destruction of Lencho’s crop by the hailstorm as Lencho was expecting a c good rain to have good harvest as that was the only hope he had for his earning. He worked ;; so Hard to feed his family, but nature turned violent and destroyed everything.

Conflict between Humans and Humans:
The story also illustrated another conflict, between humans themselves as the postmaster along with his friends and staff sent Lencho money that Lencho demanded from God although they didn’t know Lencho. Lencho blamed them for ) taking away some amount of money. He called them ‘a bunch of crooks’. This shows that man S does not have faith in other man, thereby giving rise to this conflict.

Thinking about Language 
Question 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 s 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 – cyclone
(2 An extremely strong wind – gale
(3) A violent tropical storm with very strong winds – typhoon
(4) A violent storm whose centre is a cloud in the shape of a funnel – tornado
(5) A violent storm with very strong winds, especially in the western Atlantic Ocean – hurricane
(6) A very strong wind that moves very fast in a spinning movement and causes a lot of damage – whirlwind

Question 2. Match the sentences in column ‘A’ with the meaning of ‘hope’ in column ‘B’:

Answer:
(1 – b), (2 – e), (3 – a), (4 – f), (5 – d), (6 – c).

Join the sentences given below using who, whom, whose, which, as suggested: 
Question 1. I often go to Mumbai. Mumbai is the commercial capital of India, (which)
Answer:
I often go to Mumbai which is the commercial capital of India.

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

Question 3. These sportsperson are going to meet the President. Their performance has been excellent. (whose)
Answer:
These sportspersons, whose performance has been excellent, are going to meet the President:

Question 4. Lencho prayed to God. His eyes see into our minds, (whose)
Answer:
Jbencho prayed to God, whose eyes see into our minds.

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

Find sentences in the story with negative words, which express the following ideas emphatically:
Question 1. The trees lost all their leaves.
Answer:
Not a leaf remained on the trees.

Question 2. The letter was addressed to God himself.
Answer:
It was nothing less than a letter to God.

Question 3. The postman saw this address for the first time in his career.
Answer:
Never in his career as a postman had he seen that address.

In pairs, find metaphors from the story to complete the table below. Try to say what qualities are being compared. One has been done for you:
Answer:

Class 10th English First Flight Poem Chapter 1 Dust Of Snow Questions and Answers Gujarat Board

Dust Of Snow Class 10 Questions and Answers GSEB

Thinking about the Poem
Question 1. What is a ‘dust of snow’ ? What does the poet say has changed his mood ? How has thdi poet’s mood changed ? (August 20)
Answer:
The dust of snow means the fine particles of snow. The falling of snow on the poet changes his mood. The soft and cold touch of snow changed the poet’s mood from sad to happy. Now he feels revived and obliged to the beauty of nature.

Question 2. How does Frost present nature in this poem ? The following questions may help you to think of an answer:
(1) What are the birds that are usually ‘ named in poems ? Do you think a crow is \ often mentioned in poems ? What images ; come to your mind when you think of a crow ?
(2) Again, what is ‘a hemlock tree’ ? Why doesn’t the poet write about a more ‘beautiful’ tree such as a maple, or an oak, ? or a pine ?
(3) What do the ‘crow’ and ‘hemlock’ represent joy or sorrow ? What does the dust <; of snow that the crow shakes off a hemlock tree stand for ?
Answer:
(1) Frost presents nature in a very different manner in the poem. Generally poets take the birds and trees which are known for their beauty and good qualities like peacock, parrot, cuckoo, mynah and trees full of beautiful flowers and fruits, etc.

But here Frost has taken a totally different line, he chooses crow, a bird which is black in colour with very harsh voice and believed to be the symbol of bad omen.

(2) Hemlock tree is a poisonous plant with white flowers. Robert Frost didn’t choose to use an oak, maple or pine tree. No, instead he chose the hemlock tree which is usually associated with poison and toxicity. Anyway, the beautiful snow that adorns the poisonous hemlock tree’s branches is shaken off by a scary crow. It means he has left all the^ beautiful colours present in the world and has chosen black and white.. Actually the poet has done so to present his mood and feelings.

(3) The crow and hemlock tree represent sorrow and depression felt by him in this materialistic world. On the other hand, the dust of snow is the symbol of natural joy and energy. It means passing through the sad and depressing moments the poet is entering into the time full of joy and optimism.

Question 3. Have there been times when you felt depressed or hopeless ? Have you experienced a similar moment that changed your mood that day ?
Answer:
I was feeling very depressed because I didn’t get satisfactory result in annual examination and I was weeping a lot. Then I put my head in my mother’s lap being greatly upset. She consoled me lovingly and made me sleep in the bed caressing my head softly. After waking up next morning, I found that all the negative thoughts had vanished from my mind and I decided to work harder in the next class.






 

Class 10th English First Flight Poem Chapter 2 Fire and Ice Questions and Answers Gujarat Board

Fire and Ice Class 10 Questions and Answers GSEB

Thinking about the Poem
Question 1. There are many ideas about how the world will ‘end’. Do you think the world will end some day ? Have you ever thought what would happen if the sun got so hot that it ‘burst’, or grew colder and colder?
Answer:
Yes, I believe that this world will end some day; but when, nobody knows. Whether the sun gets hot and bursts, or it grows colder s and colder-in both of these situations, end of ? this world is sure.

Question 2. for Frost, what do ‘Fire’ and ‘Ice.’ stand for ? Here are some ideas:
greed, avarice, cruelty, lust, conflict, fury, intolerance, rigidity, insensitivity, coldness, indifference, hatred
Answer:
‘Fire’ stands for: greed, avarice, lust, conflict, fury, intolerance
‘Ice’ stands for: cruelty, rigidity, insensitivity, coldness, indifference, hatred

Question 3. What is the rhyme scheme of the poem ‘Fire and Ice9 ? How does it help in bringing out the contrasting ideas in the poem ?
Answer:
The rhyme scheme of the poem is : a, b, a, a; b. c, b, c, b. The two contrasting ideas ‘Fire’ and ‘Ice’ are aptly supported by the rhyme scheme of the poem as different letters of the alphabet carry different ideas expressed in the poem.