A Letter to God

Extra Questions and Answers

Extract Based Questions

Read the following extracts carefully and answer the
questions that follow.
Question 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. “Now we’re really
going to get some water, woman.
” The woman who was preparing supper, replied, “Yes, God
willing”.
(a) Where was Lencho’s house located?
(b) What was Lencho’s wife preparing?
(c) Find the word from the passage which means ‘very
closely’.
(d) What does ‘Crest’ means?
Answer:
Lencho’s house was located on the crest of a low hill.
(b) Lencho’s wife was preparing supper.
(c) The word is ‘Intimately’.
(d) Crest means the top part of a hill.
Question 2.
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. [CBSE 2012]
(a) What could be seen approaching in the North-East?
(b) Why did Lencho go out?
(c) Give an antonym of the word Big.
(d) Which word in the passage is a synonym of ‘forecast’.
Answer:
(a) Huge mountains of clouds could be seen approaching in
the North-East.
(b) Lencho went out to have the pleasure of feeling the rain on
his body.
(c) The word is ‘small’.
(d) The word ‘predict’ is a synonym of forecast.
Question 3.
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 alongwith 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.
(a) What happened to the rain suddenly?
(b) ‘The frozen pearls’ refers to which thing in the paragraph.
(c) Find the similar meaning-of ‘contented’ in the paragraph.
(d) Find from the passage a word which means ‘to take after’.
Answer:
(a) The rain suddenly changed into hailstones.
(b) ‘The frozen pearls’ refers to hailstones.
(c) The word is ‘Satisfied’.
(d) The word is ‘Resemble’.
Question 4.
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.
(a) Describe Lencho’s feeling as shown in the passage.
(b) What happened to the crop when the storm had passed?
(c) Find the word that means the opposite of ‘restored’ as used
in the passage.
(d) What do you mean by ‘hail’ in the last line?
Answer:
(a) Lencho was filled with sadness when the storm had
passed.
(b) The crop was completely destroyed when the storm had
passed.
(c) The word is ‘destroyed’.
(d) ‘Hail’ is balls of ice that falls from the sky in the form of
rain.
Question 5.
“That’s what they say: no one dies of hunger.” 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. [CBSE 2014]
(a) What was Lencho’s only hope?
(b) How did Lencho work in the field?
(c) Find the exact word of similar meaning ‘moral sense’
given in the passage.
(d) Explain ‘an or of a man’.
Answer:
(a) Lencho’s only hope was the help of God.
(b) Lencho worked as an ‘ox’ in the field.
(c) The word is ‘conscience’.
(d) It means a man working hard like an ox or animal.
Question 6.
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!”
So, in order ndt 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 vreie
obliged io give something ‘for an act of charity’.
(a) What kind of a person the postmaster was?
(b) How did the postmaster help Lencho?
(c) Find the exact word in similar meaning ‘without delay’
given in the passage.
(d) Determination is synonymous with …………….
Answer:
(a) The postmaster was a fat, amiable and helpful fellow.
(b) The postmaster helped Lencho by collecting money from
his employees and friends.
(c) The word is ‘Immediately’.
(d) Determination is synonym with Resolution.
Question 7.
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 did Lencho come earlier to the post office?
(b) Why wasLencho angry when he counted money?
(c) Find the word which means the opposite of permitted from
the passage.
(d) Which word in the passage gives the meaning ‘that one
will be successful one day’.
Answer:
(a) Lencho came earlier to the post office to know if there was
a letter for him.
(b) Lencho was angry when he counted money as it was not
the full amount that he had demanded from God.
(c) The word is ‘denied’.
(d) The word is ‘confidence’.
Question 8.
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.” [CBSE 2016]
(a) What did Lencho do wijh the stamp?
(b) What did the postmaster do when the letter fell into the
mailbox and why?
(c) Find out the word which has the similar meaning as
‘attached’ used in the passage.
(d) Which word in the passage denotes a dishonest person?
Answer:
(a) Lencho licked and affixed the stamp to the envelope with a
blow of his fist.
(b) The postmaster immediately opened the letter to know
Lencho’s feeling for the money he had received.
(c) The word is ‘affixed’.

Nelson Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom

Extra Questions and Answers
Extract Based Questions

Read the following extracts carefully and answer the questions that follow.

Question 1.
10th May dawned bright and clear. For the past few days 1 had been
pleasantly besieged by dignitaries and world leaders who were coming to pay
their respects before the inauguration. The inauguration would be the largest
gathering ever of international leaders on South African soil. The ceremonies
took place in the lovely sandstone amphitheater formed by the Union
Buildings in Pretoria. For decades this had been the seat of white supremacy,
and now it was the site of a rainbow gathering of different colours and nations
for the installation of South Africa’s first democratic, non-racial
government. [CBSE2015]
(a) Who were coming and for what before the inauguration?
(b) What happened on the inauguration?
(c) Find out the word that means the same ‘commencement’ from the passage.
(d) Find the word from the passage which means ‘an open space surround by
sloping land’.
Answer:
(a) Dignitaries and world leaders were coming to pay their respects before the
inauguration.
(b) On the inauguration the first ever democracy, a non-racial government was
installed as a victory of good or evil.
(c) The word is ‘inauguration’.
(d) The word is ‘ampitheater’.

Question 2.
On that lovely autumn day I was accompanied by my daughter Zenani. On the
podium, Mr de Klerk was first sworn in as second Deputy President. Then
Thabo Mbeki was sworn in as first Deputy President. When it was my turn, I
pledged to obey and uphold the Constitution and to devote myself to the
well-being of the republic and its people.
(a) Who accompanied Nelson Mandela on the inauguration?
(b) Who took the oath before Mandela? For what?
(c) Find out the word from the passage that has the same meaning as
‘maintain’.
(d) ……. means a small platform that a person stands on when giving a speech
etc.
Answer:
(a) Zenani, the daughter of Nelson Mandela accompanied him on the
inauguration.
(b) Mr Deklerk and Mr Thabo Mbeki took oath before Nelson Mandela as the
second and first deputy president respectively.
(c) The word is ‘uphold’.
(d) The word is ‘podium’.

Question 3.
We, who were outlaws not so long ago, have today been given the rare
privilege to be host to the nations of the world on our own soil.
We thank all of our distinguished international guests for having come to take
possession with the people of our country of what is after all a common
victory for justice, for peace, for human dignity.
We have, at last, achieved our political emancipation. We pledge ourselves to
liberate all our people from the continuing bondage of poverty, deprivation,
suffering, gender and other discrimination.
(a) What does ‘we’ refer in the first line of the passage?
(b) What did the people of South Africa achieve at last?
(c) The word ‘bondage’ means …… in the passage.
(d) Give a synonym of ’emancipation’.

Answer:
(a) ‘We’ refers to the people of South Africa in the first line of the jpassage.
(b) The people of South Africa achieved their political emancipation at last.
(c) The word bondage means slavery in the passage.
(d) ‘Freedom/liberation’ is a synonym of emancipation.

Question 4.
A few moments later we all lifted our eyes in awe as a spectacular array of
South African jets, helicopters and troop carriers roared in perfect formation
over the Union Buildings.
It was not only a display of pinpoint precision and military force, but a
demonstration of military’s loyalty to democracy, to a new
government that had been freely and fairly elected. Only moments before, the
highest generals of South African defence force and police, their chests
bedecked with ribbons and medals from days gone by, saluted me and
pledged their loyalty. I was not unmindful of the fact that not so many years
before they would not have saluted but arrested me. Finally a chevron of
Impala jets left a smoke Trail of the black, red, green, blue and gold of the new
South African flag.
(a) What did the highest generals do in the event?
(b) What did the smoke trail of Impala symbolise?
(c) Pick out the word from the passage that means the same as adorned.
(d) is a line or pattern in the shape of ‘V’ signifying victory.
Answer:
(a) The highest generals of defence and police saluted Mandela and pledged
their loyalty to him.
(b) The smoke trail of Impala symbolised the new national flag of South Africa.
(c) The word is ‘bedecked’.
(d) Chevron.

Question 5.
On the day of the inauguration, I was overwhelmed with a sense of history. In
the first decade of the 20th century, a few years after the bitter Anglo-Boer
war and before my own birth, the white-skinned people’s of South Africa
patched up their differences and created a system of racial domination against
the dark-skinned people of their own land. The structure they created formed
the basis of one of the harshest, most inhumane societies the world has ever
known. Now, in the last decade of the 20th centuryrand my own eighth
decade as a man, that system had been overturned for ever and replaced by
one that recognised the rights and freedoms of all peoples, regardless of the
colour of their skin. That day had come about through the unimaginable
sacrifices of thousands of my people, people whose suffering and courage can
never be counted or repaid.
(a) What happened after Anglo-Boer war?
(b) On what basis the structure of new government created?
(c) Pick the word in the passage which has the same meaning as ‘submerged’.
(d) What is the meaning of the phrase ‘to patch up the differences’?

Answer:
(a) After Anglo-Boer war, the white people of South Africa erected a system of
racial discrimination against the black people of their own land.
(b) New government was created as the recognition of the rights and
freedoms of all peoples regardless of the colour of their skin.
(c) The word is ‘overwhelmed’.
(d) The meaning is ‘to settle some dispute’.

Question 6.
The policy of apartheid created a deep and lasting wound in my country and
my people. All of us will spend many years, if not generations, recovering from
that profound hurt. But the decades of oppression and brutality had another,
unintended, effect, ‘ and that was that it produced the Oliver Tambos, the
Walter Sisulus, the Chief Luthulis, the Yusuf Dadoos, the Bram Fischers, the
Robert Sobukwes of our time-men of such extraordinary courage, wisdom and
generosity that their like may never be known again. Perhaps it reguires such
depths of oppression to create such heights of character. My country is rich in
the minerals and gems that lie beneath its soil, but I have always known that
its greatest wealth is its people, finer and truer than the purest diamonds.
(a) What did the policy of apartheid create?
(b) According to Mandela, what is the greatest wealth?
(c) Find out the word in the passage which means ‘large-heartedness.’
(d) Pick out the word from the passage which means to treat
somebody/something cruelly and unfairly.

Answer:
(a) The policy of apartheid created a deep and lasting wound in the country
and its people.
(b) According to Mandela the people of his nation are the greatest wealth, not
the gems or minerals.
(c) The word is ‘generosity’.
(d) The word is ‘to oppress’.

Question 7.
“I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it.
The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that
fear. No one is born hating another person because of the colour of his skin or
his background or his religion. People must learn to hate and if they can learn
to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the
human heart than its opposite. Even in the grimmest times in prison, when my
comrades and I were pushed to our limits, I would see a glimmer of humanity
in one of the guards, – perhaps just for a second, but it was enough to
reassure me and keep me going. Man’s goodness is a flame that can be
hidden but never extinguished.”
(a) How does Mandela define the brave?
(b) Which was the grimmest time for Mandela?
(c) Find a word similar in meaning to ‘victory’.
(d) Explain Man’s goodness is flame that can be hidden but never
extinguished.
Answer:
(a) Mandela defines the brave as the one who has the courage to conquer
fear.
(b) When Mandela and his comrades were pushed to their limit behind the
bars, it was the grimmest time for him.
(c) The word is ‘triumph’.
(d) It means goodness flows through the human heart constantly: under
compulsion, the shadow of selfishness may stop it for a while but it can never
be altogether removed.

Question 8.
In life, every man has twin obligations- obligations to his family, to his parents,
to his wife and children; and he has an obligation to his people, his
community, his country. In a civil and humane society, each man is able to
fulfil those obligations according to his own inclinations and abilities. But in a
country like South Africa, it was almost impossible for a man of my birth and
colour to fulfil both of those obligations. In South Africa, a man of colour who
attempted to live as a human being was punished and isolated. [CBSE
2014 ]
(a) What are the obligations that every man has in life?
(b) Why was it impossible for a coloured man to discharge his obligations?
(c) Find the word in the passage which has same meaning as ‘duty’.
(d) A word synonymous with intentions’ is ……… in the passage.
Answer:
(a) Every man has two obligations one is to his family and second to his
community and country.
(b) In South Africa if a coloured man tried to fulfil his obligations, he was
punished and isolated.
(c) The word is.‘obligation’.
(d) Inclinations.

Question 9.
“I was not born with a hunger to be free. I was born free — free in every way
that I could know. Free to run in the fields near my mother’s hut, free to swim
in the clear stream that ran through my village, free to roast mealies under the
stars and ride the broad backs of slow-moving bulls. As long as I obeyed my
father and abided by the customs of my tribe, I was not troubled by the laws
of man or God. It was only when I began to learn that my boyhood freedom
was an illusion, when I discovered as a young man that my freedom had
already been taken from me, that I began to hunger for it. At first, as a
student, I wanted freedom only for myself, the transitory freedoms of being
able to stay out at night, read what I pleased and go where I chose. Later, as a.
young man in Johannesburg, I yearned for the basic and honourable freedoms
of achieving my potential, of earning my keep, of marrying and having a
family—the freedom not to be obstructed in a lawful life.”
(a) In what ways was Mandela free?
(b) What kind of freedom did Mandela yearn for as a man?
(c) Give the meaning of the word ‘illusion’?
(d) What do you mean by ‘transitory’.

Answer:
(a) Mandela was free to run in the fields, free to swim in the stream, free to
roast mealies and ride the backs of slow moving bulls.
(b) Mandela yearned for the basic and honourable freedoms of achieving his
potential of earning his life, of marrying and having a family.
(c) Something which appears to be real but isn’t actually so.
(d) Transitory means ‘momentary or impermanent’

Question 10.
“But then I slowly saw that not only was I not free, but my brothers and sisters
were not free.
I saw that it was not just my freedom that was curtailed, but the freedom of
everyone who looked like I did. That is when I joined the African National
Congress and that is when the hunger for my own freedom became the
greater hunger for the freedom of my people.
It was this desire for the freedom of my people to live their lives with dignity
and self-respect that animated my life, that transformed a frightened young
man into a bold one, that drove a law-abiding attorney to become a criminal,
that turned a family-loving husband into a man without a home, that forced a
life-loving man to live like a monk. I am no more virtuous or self-sacrificing
than the next man, but I found that I could not even enjoy the poof and
limited freedoms I was allowed when I knew my people were not free.
Freedom is indivisible; the chains on anyone of my people were the chains on
all of them, the chains on all of my people were the chains on me.”
(a) Why did Mandela join the African National Congress?
(b) Why did Mandela say that freedom was indivisible?
(c) Find out the word in the passage with the same meaning ‘worthy’.
(d) Which word of English can replace the word ‘animated’ given is the
passage without altering its sense.
Answer:
(a) Mandela joined the african national congress because he wanted to fight
for the freedom of his people.
(b) Mandela knew that freedom is indivisible because the chains on anyone of
his people were chains on all of them.
(c) the word is ‘virtuous’.
(d) the word is compelled/forced.

A Triumph of Surgery
Extra Questions and Answers
Extract Based Questions

Question 1.
‘And did you cut down on the sweet things as I told you?’
(a) What sweet things are being referred to in the extract?
(b) Why does the speaker enquire if the sweet things have been cut down?
(c) What is the meaning of the phrase ‘cut down’?
(d) What is the opposite of ‘sweet’?
Answer:
(a) The sweet things mentioned in the extract are cream cakes and chocolates.
(b) The speaker enquires if the sweet things have been cut down because
these were spoiling Tricki’s health and he needed to be put on a strict diet.
(c) The phrase ‘cut down’ means ‘to reduce the quantity of something’.
(d) ‘Sour’ is its opposite.

Question 2.
I tried to sound severe: “Now ! really mean this. If you don’t cut his food right
down and give him more exercise he is going to be really ill. You must harden
your heart and keep him on a very strict diet”. [CBSE 2014]
(a) Why did the speaker try to sound severe?
(b) For whom was the advice given and why?
(c) Find the word in the extract which is a synonym of the word ‘serious’.
(d) What is the antonym of ‘hardened’?
Answer:
(a) The speaker tried to sound severe to make Mrs Pumphrey take his advice
seriously and act on it.
(b) The advice was giverf’for Tricki because he had become obese and listless.
He was unwell and the speaker wanted him to be on a strict diet.
(c) The word is ‘severe’.
(d) Its antonym is ‘softened’.

Question 3.
As I moved off, Mrs Pumphrey, with a despairing cry, threw an armful of the
little coats through the window. I looked in the mirror before I turned the
corner of the drive; everybody was in tears.
(a) Where was the speaker going and with whom?
(b) Why was everybody in tears? ‘
(c) Find the word in the extract which is an antonym of the word ‘cheerful’.
(d) What is the opposite of ‘before’?
Answer:
(a) The speaker was going to the hospital with Tricki.
(b) Everybody was in tears because Tricki was being hospitalised as he was ill.
Everyone was worried about his health.
(c) The word is ‘despairing’.
(d) ‘After’ is its opposite.
Question 4.
“Poor old lad”, I said. “You haven’t a kick in you but I think I know a cure for
you”. [CBSE 2012]
(a) Why does the speaker say “poor old lad”.
(b) What cure did the speaker know?
(c) What is the meaning of ‘a kick’ in the extract?
(d) Write a synonym of ‘cure1.
Answer:
(a) The speaker addresses Tricki as a poor old lad because he is unwell and
listless.
(b) The speaker knew that the cure for Tricki’s illness is to put him on a strict
diet.
(c) The phrase means ‘any alertness’.
(d) ‘Heal’ is a synonym of‘cure’.