A Letter to God - Extract Based Questions

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EXTRACT BASED COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS

1. 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.

a. Who is the person described here?

Lencho, the farmer is described here.

b. Why did he go out in the rain?

He went out in the rain to feel the happiness of rain on his body.

c. Why were the raindrops like -new coins‘ for Lencho?

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.

d. How did raindrops bring disaster to his crops?

The raindrops soon turned into a hailstorm and destroyed his crops and ruined his hopes.

2. 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.

a) Why was Lencho satisfied?

He was satisfied because his fields got good rains.

b) What does he compare the raindrops to?

He compared them to coins.

c) What do the ‗frozen pearls‘ refer to?

The frozen pearls refer to hail stones.

d) Trace the word in the passage which means ‗covered with‘.

 Draped

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

a) Who is the speaker of the above lines?

The postmaster

b) Why did the man write a letter to God?

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.

c) Starting up a correspondence with God.‖ What does it tell you about the man‘s character?

The man is simple, innocent and straight forward. He has strong belief in God

d) Give the verb form of the word Correspondence‘.

 Correspond

4. On the public writing-table, he started to write, with much wrinkling of his brow, caused by the effort he hadto make to express his ideas.

(a) Who is'he' inthe above extract? Where is'he' atthemoment?

'He' in the above extract is Lencho. At this moment, he is in the postoffice.

(b) What is'he' writingandwhy?

Lencho is writing another letter to God. He is writing it to ask Him to send the remaining thirty pesos and to warn Him not to send it through the mail.

(c) Why does'he' have to make an 'effort' to express hisideas?

He has to make an effort to express his ideas because he is a simple farmer who works like an animal in the fields and knows only how to write.

(d) Who reads what'he'writes?Why?

The postmaster reads the second letter to God written by Lencho because he thinks Lencho will thank God for sending him seventy pesos.

5. 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.

(a) Who was Lencho? Where did he live?

Lencho was a simple farmer who lived in a village in the valley.

(b) Why was Lencho looking at the sky?

Lencho was looking at the sky because he expected a downpour or a showerforhis crop.

(c) Explain:" knew his fields intimately."

This expression means that Lencho was an intelligent farmer. He was an expert in farming.

(d) Why did the earth need a downpour or a shower?

The earth needed a downpour or a shower because that would ' have give a good harvest of corn to Lencho.

6. But in the hearts of all who lived in that solitary house in the middle of the valley, there was a single hope:

(a) Where was the 'solitary house'?

The solitary house was on a crest of a low hill in the valley.

(b) Who all lived in that 'solitary house'?

Lencho, his wife and their sons lived in the 'solitary house.

(c) What was the 'single hope' of the people in the 'solitary house'?

God was the 'single hope' of the people in Lencho's house.

(d) Why did the people inthe 'solitary house' look for hope?

Lencho's family looked for hope as they had lost the entire crop of ripe corn to hailstorm. They had to be hungry for rest of the days