UP Board class 10 English chapter 1 – “A Letter To God” solutions are available on this page. It covers all the question answers of this chapter. This solution is aligned with the latest syllabus of 2024-25 session.
Chapter 1 of the UP Board Class 10 English book, A Letter to God, is a heartwarming story by G.L. Fuentes that centers around Lencho, a poor farmer with unshakable faith in God. After a devastating hail storm destroys his crops, Lencho, in his desperation, writes a letter to God seeking financial help. The story beautifully portrays the simplicity and innocence of Lencho’s faith, as well as the compassion of the postmaster and his colleagues, who decide to help him.
UP Board Class 10 English Chapter 1 Solutions
Contents
| Subject | English |
| Class | 10th |
| Chapter | 1. A Letter To God |
| Author | G.L. Fuentes |
| Board | UP Board |
Oral Comprehension Check
Page No: 5
1. What did Lencho hope for?
Answer: Lencho hoped for rain to nourish his mature cornfield, as it was the only thing his crops needed to ensure a successful harvest.
2. Why did Lencho say the raindrops were like ‘new coins’?
Answer: Lencho compared raindrops to new coins because the rain would lead to a bountiful harvest, bringing wealth and prosperity to his family.
3. How did the rain change? What happened to Lencho’s fields?
Answer: The gentle rain suddenly turned violent with strong winds and large hailstones, completely destroying Lencho’s crops and ruining his entire harvest.
4. What were Lencho’s feelings when the hail stopped?
Answer: When the hail stopped, Lencho felt deep sadness and despair, worrying about his family’s future and how they would survive without food in the coming year.
Page No: 6
1. Who or what did Lencho have faith in? What did he do?
Answer: Lencho had unwavering faith in God, believing He sees everything. He wrote a letter to God requesting 100 pesos to replant his field and feed his family for the year.
2. Who read the letter?
Answer: The postmaster read Lencho’s letter addressed to God, as it arrived at the post office.
3. What did the postmaster do then?
Answer: Initially amused, the postmaster soon felt moved by Lencho’s faith and decided to collect money from his staff and himself to send to Lencho, preserving the farmer’s belief in divine intervention.
Page No: 7
1. Was Lencho surprised to find a letter for him with money in it?
Answer: No, Lencho wasn’t surprised by the letter with money, as his deep faith in God led him to fully expect a response to his request.
2. What made him angry?
Answer: Lencho became angry when he found only 70 pesos instead of the 100 he requested, believing God couldn’t make mistakes or deny his plea, and thus suspecting the post office employees of theft.
Thinking about the Text
1. Who does Lencho have complete faith in? Which sentences in the story tell you this?
Answer: Lencho has complete faith in God, as evidenced by several sentences in the story. For instance, “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” shows his unwavering belief. Additionally, Lencho’s actions, such as writing a letter addressed “To God” and his firm belief that “God could not have made a mistake,” further illustrate his deep faith. His expectation of divine intervention in his time of need demonstrates the extent of his trust in God.
2. Why does the postmaster send money to Lencho? Why does he sign the letter ‘God’?
Answer: The postmaster sends money to Lencho out of compassion, deeply moved by the farmer’s unshakeable faith in God. He signs the letter ‘God’ to preserve Lencho’s belief and avoid shattering his trust in divine intervention. This act demonstrates the postmaster’s kindness and respect for Lencho’s faith, as he goes to great lengths to maintain the illusion that the help came directly from God, rather than revealing the human source of the assistance.
3. Did Lencho try to find out who had sent the money to him? Why/Why not?
Answer: No, Lencho did not attempt to discover the source of the money because his faith in God was absolute and unquestioning. He firmly believed that God had responded to his plea, leaving no room for doubt or suspicion about the money’s origin. Lencho’s unwavering confidence in divine intervention prevented him from considering any other possibility, showcasing the depth of his religious conviction.
4. Who does Lencho think has taken the rest of the money? What is the irony in the situation?
Answer: Lencho believes that the post office employees have stolen the remaining money, which creates a deeply ironic situation. The irony lies in the fact that these very same post office workers, led by the kindhearted postmaster, were actually the ones who collected and sent the money to Lencho. This unexpected twist – where Lencho accuses his benefactors of theft – highlights the stark contrast between his unshakeable faith in God and his mistrust of fellow humans, creating a situation that is both amusing and thought-provoking.
5. 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 |
Answer
I don’t think there can be any such people in the real world. Lencho is literate and yet he dosen’t know how his letter will reach God without any address. He probably would be naive and unquestioning.
6. There are two kinds of conflict in the story: between humans and nature, and between humans themselves. How are these conflicts illustrated?
Answer
The story illustrates two types of conflicts effectively. The conflict between humans and nature is vividly portrayed through the devastating hailstorm that destroys Lencho’s crops, leaving him in despair and uncertainty about his family’s future. This natural disaster highlights humanity’s vulnerability to environmental forces. On the other hand, the conflict between humans is subtly depicted through Lencho’s misplaced suspicion towards the post office employees. Despite their generous act of collecting and sending money anonymously, Lencho accuses them of theft, demonstrating a lack of faith in fellow humans. This ironic situation underscores the complex dynamics of human relationships and the barriers of mistrust that often exist even in the face of kindness.
Thinking about the Language
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 in the blanks? You may use a dictionary to help you.
gale, whirlwind, cyclone, hurricane, tornado, typhoon
- A violent tropical storm in which strong winds move in a circle: _ _ c _ _ _ _
- An extremely strong wind: _ a _ __
- A violent tropical storm with very strong winds: _ _ p _ _ _ _
- A violent storm whose centre is a cloud in the shape of a funnel: _ _ _ n _ _ _
- A violent storm with very strong winds, especially in the western Atlantic ocean: _ _ r _ _ _ _ _ _
- A very strong wind that moves very fast in a spinning movement and causes a lot of damage: _ _ _ _ l _ _ _ _
Answer
- Cyclone
- Gale
- Typhoon
- Tornado
- Hurricane
- Whirlwind
2. Match the sentences in Column A with the meanings of ‘hope’ in Column B.
Answer
| A | B |
| 1. Will you get the subjects you want to study in college? I hope so. | wanting something to happen (and thinking it quite possible) |
| 2. I hope you don’t mind my saying this, but I don’t like the way you are arguing. | showing concern that what you say should not offend or disturb the other person: a way of being polite |
| 3. This discovery will give new hope to HIV/AIDS sufferers. | a feeling that something good will probably happen |
| 4. We were hoping against hope that the judges would not notice our mistakes. | wishing for something to happen, although this is very unlikely |
| 5. I called early in the hope of speaking to her before she went to school. | thinking that this would happen (It may or may not have happened.) |
| 6. Just when everybody had given up hope, the fisherman came back, seven days after the cyclone. | stopped believing that this good thing would happen |
3. 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)
2. My mother is going to host a TV show on cooking. She cooks very well. (who)
3. These sportspersons are going to meet the President. Their performance has been excellent. (whose)
4. Lencho prayed to God. His eyes see into our minds. (whose)
5. This man cheated me. I trusted him. (whom)
Answer
- I often go to Mumbai, which is the commercial capital of India.
- My mother, who cooks very well, is going to host a TV show on cooking.
- These sportspersons, whose performance has been excellent, are going to meet the President.
- Lencho prayed to God, whose eyes see into our minds.
- This man, whom I trusted, cheated me.
4. 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.
Answer
- The trees lost all their leaves.
Not a leaf remained on the trees. - The letter was addressed to God himself.
It was nothing less than a letter to God. - The postman saw this address for the first time in his career.
Never in his career as a postman had he known that address.
5. 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
| Object | Metaphor | Quality or Feature Compared |
|---|---|---|
| Cloud | Huge mountains of clouds | The mass or ‘hugeness’ of mountains |
| Raindrops | A curtain of rain | The draping or covering of an area by a curtain |
| Hailstones | The frozen pearls | The resemblance in colour and hardness of a pearl |
| Locusts | A plague of locusts | The consequences (destruction) of plague |
| Locusts | A plague of locusts | An epidemic (a disease) that spreads very rapidly and leaves many people dead |
| Man | An ox of a man | The working of an ox in the fields (hard work) |
