CBSE

CHAPTER 1 ENGLISH SAMPLE

Class 10 - English Language and Literature

Question No. 1 to 5 are based on the given text. Read the text carefully and answer the questions: [5]
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.
1. Why did Lencho get angry?
a. Because his letter was misplaced by the postal service
b. Because there was no reply from God to Lencho's letter
c. Because there was less money than he asked for in the letter
d. Because God's response to Lencho's letter was brief
2. Why was Lencho not surprised?
3. According to Lenccho ________ could not have made a mistake, nor could he have denied Lencho what he had
requested.
4. Which word means the same as faith?
a. Confidence
b. Angry
c. Requested
d. Surprise
5. Lencho was not surprised on:
a. seeing the letter
b. seeing an empty envelope
c. seeing the money
d. seeing the postmaster

Question No. 6 to 10 are based on the given text. Read the text carefully and answer the questions: [5]
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.
6. Why were the raindrops like new coins for Lencho?
a. Because he thought that the rain will yield a good harvest
b. Because Lencho thought he could practice rain water harvesting
c. Because it saved him from the cost of irrigation
d. Because it cusured better weather for the transportation of goods
7. How did these new coins ultimately bring disaster to his cornfield?
a. They over-watered his crops
b. They blocked the irrigation canals

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 c. They turned into hailstones and destroyed all his crops
d. They flooded the roads, halting any transportation
8. The hailstones truly resemble new ________.
9. How did these hailstones bring disaster to Lencho?​
10. How did Lencho feel after the storm?
a. Lencho was utterly unhappy and distressed.
b. He was in a frenzy.
c. He was sad but relieved.
d. He felt suicidal.

Question No. 11 to 15 are based on the given text. Read the text carefully and answer the questions: [5]
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.
11. Who was satisfied?
a. Lencho
b. The postmaster
c. The post office employees
d. Lencho's wife
12. Why was he satisfied?
a. Due to raindrops
b. Because of the hailstorm
c. Because of his pet
d. As he found money
13. The word ________ in the extract means the same as covered.​​
14. What happened suddenly?​​
15. What crop was ready to be harvested in Lencho's field?
a. Tomatoes
b. Potatoes
c. Corn
d. Rice

Question No. 16 to 20 are based on the given text. Read the text carefully and answer the questions: [5]
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.
16. Why did the postmaster open the mailbox immediately after Lencho had point his letter?
a. Because he wanted to hide that letter from his staff
b. Because the postmaster wanted to check Lencho's response
c. Because Lencho had given him a stink-eye
d. Because Lencho had asked him to
17. Why did Lencho not want God to send the rest of the money through the mail?
18. Lencho writes a letter to God asking for a ________ pesos to sow his field.
19. What did Lencho believe would happen to his family if God doesn't help him?

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 a. They would be bankrupt.
b. They would go hungry the whole.
c. They will lose their farm.
d. They will stay depressed.
20. Why did no leaf remain on the trees?
a. Because it was fall season
b. Because the hailstorm left the field bare
c. Because of a lethal storm
d. Because there was a plague of locusts

Question No. 21 to 25 are based on the given text. Read the text carefully and answer the questions: [5]
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 goodwill, ink and paper. But he stuck to
his resolution: He asked money from his employees.
21. Who decided to answer the letter?
a. The postmaster
b. Lencho himself
c. a post office employee
d. God
22. How did the postmaster help the writer of the letter?​​
23. The word ________ in the extract means the same as a firm decision.
24. Write an antonym for unnoticeable from the passage?
a. evident
b. faith
c. resolution
d. goodwill
25. What kind of a person was the postmaster?
a. cunning
b. arrogant
c. amiable
d. lethargic
26. What does Lencho's faith reveal about his character? [1]

a) He was a staunch believer of the almighty. b) He was greedy.

c) He was a pessimist. d) He was an atheist.

27. What were Lencho’s feelings when the hailstorm hoped? [1]

a) Delightful b) Utter Sadness

c) Utter Sorrow d) Utter Happy

28. What else did the reply demand apart from goodwill, ink and paper? [1]

a) God's signature b) Lost crop

c) New seeds d) Money

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29. Why was Lencho not surprised on seeing the money in the envelope? [1]

a) He was too sad to acknowledge it b) He was an ungrateful man

c) He was a grateful man d) He had unwavering faith in God

30. A Letter to God was written by [1]

a) Lokesh Abrol b) G.L. Fuentes

c) The Postmaster d) Ruskin Bond

31. Why did the postmaster help Lencho? [1]

a) He knew Lencho personally. b) He was threatened by Lencho.

c) He was a philanthropist. d) He didn't want Lencho's faith in God to

diminish.
32. Who read Lencho’s letter to God? [1]

a) The postmaster b) None of these.

c) The postman d) God

33. Why did the postmaster decide to help Lencho? [1]

a) Because Lencho had asked him for help. b) Because he always helped people in need

c) So as not to shake Lencho’s faith in God d) Because he knew Lencho

34. What did the hailstones resemble initially in the chapter A Letter to God? [1]

a) Gold coins b) 10 cent pieces

c) New silver coins d) 5 cent pieces

35. What was the only hope left in the hearts of Lencho’s family? [1]

a) Help from farmer’s association b) Help from God

c) Compensation from government d) There was no hope left

36. How did the postman feel when he found the letter? (A Letter to God) [1]

a) Amazed b) Generous

c) Amused d) Sympathetic
37. Lencho compared the quantum of damage with [1]

a) attack by crows b) plague of locusts

c) attack by rats d) Attack by pests

38. The postmaster was a fat, amiable man. What is the meaning of amiable? (A Letter to God) [1]

a) Friendly b) Helpful

c) Rude d) Enthusiastic
39. Who were addressed as "bunch of crooks" in lencho's second letter? [1]

a) Policemen. b) His fellow farmer friends.

c) Post office employees. d) His family members.

40. How much money did Lencho find in the envelope? [1]

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 a) Half of what he had asked. b) A hundred pesos.

c) Seventy pesos d) Eighty pesos

41. Where was Lencho’s house situated? [1]

a) Top of a plateau b) Top of a hill

c) In a city d) Bottom of the hill

42. What did Lencho think of the post-office employees? (A Letter to God) [1]

a) Rude b) Unhelpful

c) Bunch of crooks d) Proud

43. Lencho’s actions in the first paragraph show that he was ________. [1]

a) Alarmed b) Concerned

c) Baffled d) Encouraged
44. Why did Lencho go out in the rain? [1]

a) To fed the fish b) To have the pleasure of feeling the rain on

his body

c) To harvest the crops d) To protect the crops

45. Lencho was an ox of a man, working like an animal in the fields, but still he knew how to write. [1]
What attitude does this sentence highlight?

a) Tolerance b) Appreciation

c) Prejudice d) Scepticism
46. Lencho was an ox of a man, working like an animal in the fields, but still he knew how to write. What does this [1]
line tell us about the norm amongst such farmers, then?
47. Lencho waited eagerly for a reply to his letter to God. Do you think the postmaster was also very keen to know [1]
Lencho's reaction upon receiving the 'reply'?
48. People get support from family and friends during bad times. How does Lencho's family behave after the harvest [1]
is ruined?
49. What, according to you would have been the likely reaction of Lencho's wife upon knowing about him writing [1]
an actual letter to God?
50. What type of man was the postmaster? How did he react to reading the letter? [3]
51. What did Lencho hope for? [3]
52. How was Lencho’s life affected by the rain? [3]
53. What did Lencho call the raindrops? How did he value them? [3]
54. What were Lencho’s feelings when the hail stopped? [3]
55. Where were Lencho and his family in distress? Who did he ask for help? [3]
56. Did Lencho try to find out who had sent the money to him? Why/Why not? [3]
57. The field was white, as if covered with salt. This is how the field is described after the hailstorm. The pelting [3]
hailstones could have been easily seen as sugar cubes. Do you think comparing it with sugar would have been
more appropriate? Why/Why not?
58. Who does Lencho think has taken the rest of the money? What is the irony in the situation? (Remember that the [3]
irony of a situation is an unexpected aspect of it. An ironic situation is the strange or amusing situation.)

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59. There are two kinds of conflict in the story: between humans and nature and between humans themselves. How [3]
are these conflicts illustrated?
60. Did the letter reach to God? Why did the postmaster send a reply to Lencho? [3]
61. Where was Lencho's house situated? Why did he sit seeing the sky? [3]
62. What was the postman’s reaction to see the letter addressed to God? What did he do with the letter? [3]
63. Why did Lencho keep looking towards the northeast in the sky? [3]
64. Was Lencho surprised to find a letter for him with money in it? [3]
65. What did Lencho write in his second letter? [3]
66. Are there people like Lencho in the real world? What kind of a person would you say he is? [3]
67. Why does the postmaster send money to Lencho? Why does he sign the letter as 'God'? [3]
68. Who does Lencho have complete faith in? Which sentences in the story tell you this? [3]
69. Why did Lencho call the post office employees crooks? [3]
70. Why and how did the postmaster and post office employees help Lencho? What was Lencho’s reaction? [6]
71. The Post Master represents the people who still believe in helping others. Mention those values of the Post [6]
Master which you would like to emulate. Write it in about 80-100 words.
72. Write a character sketch of Lencho. [6]
73. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow: [5]
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. This year we will have
no corn.” That night was a sorrowful one. “All our work, for nothing.” “There’s no one who can help us.” “We'll
all go hungry this year.” 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. “Don’t be so upset, even though this seems like a total loss. Remember no
one dies of hunger.” “That’s what they say: no one dies of hunger.”
i. State TRUE or FALSE. None of the terms (a)-(d) below, can be applied to the question - What was totally
destroyed in the rain?
a. The crop was totally destroyed in the rain.
b. Lencho became stressed and disappointed as everything went against the plan.
c. The trees had shed their leaves, corns were smashed and the flowers had also fallen from their plants.
d. All their hard work had gone in vain.
ii. The night was sorrowful for Lencho’s family. Elaborate in about 40 words, with reference to the extract.
iii. Which phrase would correctly substitute 'solitary' in the given sentence from the extract? 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.
iv. Which of the following is NOT an answer to the question: What made them feel sorrow? What was their
hope?
A. Storm of hailstones destroyed their field and made them sorrowful.
B. They had faith on God and hoped to get help from God.
C. He felt helpless as no corn had been left and feared, that they might have to starve this time.
D. These raindrops would ensure a good crop which would eventually get them a lot of money.
74. Read the passages given below and answer the questions that follow: [5]
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.

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 i. State TRUE or FALSE. None of the terms (a)-(d) below, can be an answer to the question - Who was
satisfied?
a. Lencho's wife
b. The postmaster
c. Lencho
d. Lencho's children
ii. With a satisfied expression, he regarded the field of ripe corn with its flowers, draped in a curtain of rain.
Elaborate in about 40 words, with reference to the extract.
iii. Which phrase/word would correctly substitute 'draped' in the given sentence from the extract. With a
satisfied expression, he regarded the field of ripe corn with its flowers, draped in a curtain of rain.
iv. Which of the following is NOT an answer to the question- What happened suddenly?
A. Suddenly strong wind began to blow.
B. Huge hailstones began to fall.
C. Soil started reaping the crop.
D. Raindrops began to fall on the ground.
75. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow: [5]
All through the night, Lencho thought only of his one hope: the help of God, whose eyes, as he had been
instructed, see everything, to 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. The following Sunday, at daybreak, he began to write a
letter which he himself would carry to town and place in the mail. It was nothing less than a letter to God.
“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 field again and to live until the crop comes because of the hailstorm...”
a. Why Lencho thought only of his one hope: the help of God? Answer in about 40 words.
b. Read the following descriptions (a)-(c) and identify which one correctly corresponds to the extract.
a. Lencho worked in fields like an ox of a man. He worked like an animal in the fields.
b. Lencho became stressed and disappointed as everything went against the plan.
c. He felt helpless as no corn had been left and feared, that they might have to starve this time.
c. What would be the word if a word were to be replaced with the phrase ‘the inner sense of right or wrong’?
d. Fill the blank with one word. Lencho wrote the letter to God, and he himself carried the letter to town and
dropped in the ________.

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