30 multiple-choice (MCQ / objective) questions from this chapter, in the common exam-style shapes. Every question comes with an explanation along with the answer, so you remember why the option is correct, not just which one it is.
1 Direct Questions
Direct Questions
- 1 markWhere exactly did Lencho’s house stand, according to the opening of the story?
(A) On the crest of a low hill, the only house in the entire valley(B) At the foot of a high mountain near the town(C) Beside the river in a busy farming village(D) In the middle of the cornfield, close to the post office - 1 markThroughout the morning, Lencho kept watching the sky in which direction?
(A) Towards the north-east(B) Towards the north-west(C) Towards the south-west(D) Towards the east - 1 markLencho called the big raindrops ten cent pieces. What did he call the little ones?
(A) Ones(B) Fives(C) Twenties(D) Fifties - 1 markFor how long did the hail keep falling on Lencho’s house, field and valley?
(A) For a few minutes(B) For three days(C) For the whole night(D) For an hour - 1 markHow did Lencho’s field look once the hailstorm had finally stopped?
(A) Green, as if nothing had happened(B) White, as if covered with salt(C) Brown, as if eaten by locusts(D) Black, as if burnt by fire - 1 markHow much money did Lencho ask God for in his first letter?
(A) Fifty pesos(B) Two hundred pesos(C) A hundred pesos(D) Seventy pesos - 1 markWhat two purposes did the farmer give, in writing, for the help he wanted?
(A) To buy a new ox for ploughing his field(B) To pay back a loan he owed the postmaster(C) To sow his field again and to live until the crop came(D) To repair his house damaged by the hailstorm - 1 markSince the collection fell short, what did the postmaster finally put in the envelope for the farmer?
(A) Exactly the full amount the farmer wanted(B) More than the farmer wanted, with something extra(C) No money at all, only a letter of comfort(D) Only a little more than half the amount asked - 1 markWho actually handed the letter with the money to Lencho at the post office?
(A) The postman(B) Lencho’s eldest son(C) A friend of the postmaster(D) The postmaster - 1 markHow did Lencho fix the stamp on his second letter, showing his anger?
(A) He forgot to put any stamp on it(B) He asked the postman to stick it for him(C) He stuck it on carefully with glue(D) He affixed it to the envelope with a blow of his fist - 1 markAfter helping Lencho, the postmaster felt ‘contentment’. What does contentment mean here?
(A) Regret(B) Satisfaction(C) Anxiety(D) Surprise - 1 markWhat does the book’s description of Lencho as ‘an ox of a man’ tell us?
(A) He was slow-witted and could not write(B) He was rich and owned many oxen(C) He worked very hard in the fields, like an animal(D) He was stubborn and refused all advice - 1 markWho replied “Yes, God willing” when Lencho said they would get some water?
(A) The woman who was preparing supper(B) Lencho’s eldest son, working in the field(C) The postmaster, reading the letter(D) Lencho himself, talking to his sons - 1 markWhat is the main irony at the very end of the story ‘A Letter to God’?
(A) Lencho wrote his second letter at the post office(B) Lencho knew how to write even though he was a farmer(C) Lencho calls the very people who helped him a bunch of crooks(D) The postmaster laughs when he first reads Lencho’s letter - 1 markWhich pair correctly names the two kinds of conflict the book points out in this story?
(A) Between humans and animals, and between humans and God(B) Between humans and nature, and between humans themselves(C) Between the rich and the poor, and between the young and the old(D) Between the town and the village, and between farmers and traders - 1 markWhich metaphor does the story use for the hailstones that the boys run out to collect?
(A) Huge mountains(B) Frozen pearls(C) A plague of locusts(D) A curtain of rain - 1 markWhich sentence from the story uses a negative word only to emphasise an idea, not to show absence?
(A) The hail has left nothing.(B) This year we will have no corn.(C) There’s no one who can help us.(D) Lencho showed not the slightest surprise on seeing the money.
2 Assertion-Reason
Assertion-Reason
- 1 markAssertion (A): The postmaster decided to answer Lencho’s letter to God himself.
Reason (R): The postmaster did not want to shake the writer’s faith in God.
(A) Both A and R are true, and R is the correct explanation of A(B) Both A and R are true, but R is not the correct explanation of A(C) A is true, but R is false(D) A is false, but R is true - 1 markAssertion (A): Lencho was greatly surprised to find money inside the letter addressed to him.
Reason (R): Lencho had complete confidence that God would answer his letter.
(A) Both A and R are true, and R is the correct explanation of A(B) Both A and R are true, but R is not the correct explanation of A(C) A is true, but R is false(D) A is false, but R is true - 1 markAssertion (A): Lencho went out of the house when the rain began to fall.
Reason (R): When the rain came, the air was fresh and sweet.
(A) Both A and R are true, and R is the correct explanation of A(B) Both A and R are true, but R is not the correct explanation of A(C) A is true, but R is false(D) A is false, but R is true - 1 markAssertion (A): Lencho wrote his second letter at the public writing-table in the post office.
Reason (R): Lencho could not write, so the postman wrote the letter for him.
(A) Both A and R are true, and R is the correct explanation of A(B) Both A and R are true, but R is not the correct explanation of A(C) A is true, but R is false(D) A is false, but R is true
3 Match the Following
Match the Following
- 1 markMatch the words in List I with their meanings in List II, as the book gives them.
List I: (i) crest (ii) amiable (iii) conscience (iv) peso
List II: (a) friendly and pleasant (b) currency of several Latin American countries (c) top of a hill (d) an inner sense of right and wrong
(A) i-a, ii-c, iii-d, iv-b(B) i-b, ii-a, iii-c, iv-d(C) i-c, ii-a, iii-d, iv-b(D) i-c, ii-d, iii-a, iv-b
4 Arrange in the Correct Order
Arrange in the Correct Order
- 1 markArrange these events of the story in the order in which they happen.
1. Very large hailstones begin to fall
2. Lencho writes a letter to God
3. Big drops of rain fall during dinner
4. The postmaster collects money for Lencho
(A) 1-3-2-4(B) 3-2-1-4(C) 3-1-4-2(D) 3-1-2-4
5 Passage-Based Questions
Passage-Based Questions
Passage
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.” With a satisfied expression he regarded the field of ripe corn with its flowers, draped in a curtain of rain.
- 1 markWhat does Lencho’s comparison of the raindrops to new coins show about him?
(A) He thinks the rain is made of silver hail(B) He has found real coins lying in his field(C) He is afraid the rain will ruin his ripe corn(D) He sees the rain as a promise of money from a good harvest - 1 markChoose the word from the extract that means ‘covered (with cloth)’.
(A) draped(B) regarded(C) exclaimed(D) satisfied - 1 markAccording to the extract, why did Lencho go out into the rain?
(A) Because his wife asked him to call the boys in(B) To collect the hailstones for his sons(C) To check his corn for damage from the storm(D) Only for the pleasure of feeling the rain on his body
Passage
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!”
- 1 markWhat feeling does the postmaster’s remark ‘Starting up a correspondence with God!’ mainly express?
(A) Wonder at a man writing to God by post(B) A belief that a child had written the letter(C) Anger at a farmer misusing the post office(D) A plan to report the letter to his seniors - 1 markWhy did the postmaster turn serious almost immediately after laughing?
(A) He was moved by the faith of the man who wrote the letter(B) He thought the postman had written the letter as a joke(C) He felt the writer was making fun of God(D) He was afraid of being punished for opening letters
Passage
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 markChoose the option that best explains why Lencho was not surprised on seeing the money.
(A) He had expected no money at all(B) The postman had already told him about it(C) He was fully confident that God would answer him(D) He had watched the postmaster put it in - 1 markComplete the sentence: Lencho became angry because, in his view, God ______.
(A) had posted the money to the wrong address(B) wanted him to work harder for the rest(C) could neither have made a mistake nor have denied his request(D) had sent the money too late for sowing
Answer Key and Explanations
Direct Questions
- (A) The story opens: the house, “the only one in the entire valley”, sat “on the crest of a low hill”.
- (A) Lencho “had done nothing else but see the sky towards the north-east”, where the clouds later came from.
- (B) “The big drops are ten cent pieces and the little ones are fives.”
- (D) “For an hour the hail rained on the house, the garden, the hillside, the cornfield, on the whole valley.”
- (B) “The field was white, as if covered with salt.”
- (C) “I need a hundred pesos in order to sow my field again…”
- (C) His letter says he needs the money “in order to sow my field again and to live until the crop comes”.
- (D) “It was impossible for him to gather together the hundred pesos, so he was able to send the farmer only a little more than half.”
- (A) “It was the postman himself who handed the letter to him while the postmaster… looked on from his office.”
- (D) He licked the stamp “and then affixed to the envelope with a blow of his fist”, a sign of his anger.
- (B) The book’s glossary gives contentment = satisfaction: “the contentment of a man who has performed a good deed”.
- (C) “Lencho was an ox of a man, working like an animal in the fields, but still he knew how to write.”
- (A) “The woman who was preparing supper, replied, ‘Yes, God willing’.”
- (C) The employees collected money for him, yet his second letter calls them “a bunch of crooks”: the opposite of what we expect.
- (B) Thinking about the Text Q6: “between humans and nature, and between humans themselves” (the hailstorm; Lencho against the post office staff).
- (B) “The boys, exposing themselves to the rain, ran out to collect the frozen pearls.” Huge mountains describes the clouds.
- (D) The book explains that “not the slightest surprise” means he showed no surprise at all: the negative stresses the idea. The other three state that something is absent.
Assertion-Reason
- (A) Both are true, and R explains A: “So, in order not to shake the writer’s faith in God, the postmaster came up with an idea: answer the letter.”
- (D) A is false: Lencho “showed not the slightest surprise on seeing the money”. R is true: “such was his confidence”.
- (B) Both are true, but R does not explain A: the book says he went out “for no other reason than to have the pleasure of feeling the rain on his body”.
- (C) A is true: “On the public writing-table, he started to write”. R is false: the book says Lencho “knew how to write” and wrote it himself.
Match the Following
- (C) crest = top of a hill (c); amiable = friendly and pleasant (a); conscience = an inner sense of right and wrong (d); peso = currency of several Latin American countries (b).
Arrange in the Correct Order
- (D) Rain at dinner (3), then the hail (1), then the letter on Sunday (2), then the postmaster’s collection (4).
Passage-Based Questions
- (D) For a farmer, rain means a good crop and so money; his “satisfied expression” shows his joy.
- (A) The book’s glossary gives draped = covered (with cloth): the corn was “draped in a curtain of rain”.
- (D) He “went out for no other reason than to have the pleasure of feeling the rain on his body”.
- (A) He has just said “What faith!”; the remark shows his amazement that someone writes to God by post, as one writes to a person.
- (A) He comments, “What faith! I wish I had the faith of the man who wrote this letter.”
- (C) “Lencho showed not the slightest surprise on seeing the money; such was his confidence”.
- (C) “God could not have made a mistake, nor could he have denied Lencho what he had requested.”
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