Access to the AP 10th Class English Workbook Answers Words and Expressions Class 10 Solutions Unit 1 A Letter to God Questions and Answers are aligned with the curriculum standards.
AP 10th Class English Workbook Answers Unit 1 A Letter to God
Let’s Begin
Question 1.
You have read about Lencho In ‘A Letter to God’, First Flight, a textbook in English for Class X. HoWhas the story of Lencho moved you? What do you think about Lencho’s faith in God and his attitude towards the officials in the post office? Do you think he is right in asking God for support and then blaming the people at the post office? Discuss his actions with your friends. Why does he do so ?
Answer:
Lencho was an innocent, ignorant man. He was industrious, honest and sincere in his farming work. Moreover, he was spiritual and theistic. He sought the help of God only when all his industry was soiled by the act of God. I was indeed moved with the story of Lencho. When man is forced to fail only God can help him.
His child-like lily-white faith in God moved me exceedingly. His faith in God was so great that he felt God doesn’t let anyone die of hunger. He was so ignorant that he thought he could write a letter on the name of God. He was a true-blue pious. He was a steadfast devout because ‘ he not only wrote a letter to God seeking monetary help but waited to receive charity with an absolute assurance in him.
I think he was right in asking help from God because during natural calamities God only can help human beings. Government aid to farmers during natural calamities is only nominal. That was not sufficient to support the family throughout the year. But in this profane and sinful and modern world imploring God for help could be considered ridiculous and hilarious.
The officials at the post office, after seeing Lencho’s letter, reacted hilariously at the first instance. Later the postmaster wished that he had the faith of Lencho and started the correspondence bn the name of God. But they could hardly collect only seventy pesos.
Instead of 100 pesos he wanted on receiving only seventy pesos Lencho again wrote the letter to God earnestly requesting to send him the remaining thirty pesos since he was in a dire need of money, He thought earlier that God had sent him 100 pests but the officials at the post office crookedly taken away thirty pesos and requested God to send money directly to him through mail.
From this we can understand his ignorance, innocence and callowness. He was skeptical, cynical and skeptical in his attitude towards the postal officials – Gods in human form – to whom he should show his gratitude in reality.
Question 2.
The summary of the story of Lencho is given below. The sequence of the story is jumbled up.
Read the story again and rearrange the jumbled sentences to make a coherent story.
Answer:
Rearrangement of jumbled sentences :
1) Lencho felt desperate but believed that God would help him. (4)
2) He wrote a letter to God asking for a hundred pesos to sow his field again and to survive until the next crop came up. (7)
3) Lencho predicted it will rain and it did. He and his wife were happy. (3)
4) Their cornfield was longing for water. (5)
5) He wrote ‘To God’ on the envelope and posted it. (2)
6) After some days, Lencho went to the post office to receive the money as the postmaster watched him. (8)
7) The postman and the postmaster laughed at Lencho’s letter but were surprised by the faith of the man. (6)
8) Lencho, his wife, and their children lived in a lonely house in a valley. (10)
9) He opened the letter and was happy to find the money. He counted and found it was only seventy pesos. (12)
10) But it rained heavily and hailstorm thrashed his corn field and all the corn was destroyed. (1)
11) The postmaster collected about 70 pesos from his colleagues and sent it to Lencho.
12) When the postmaster opened the letter, it said “Oh! Thanks for sending the money. But I have received only seventy pesos. Next time you please send the money directly to me. The people at the post office are a bunch of crooks. They have taken the thirty pesos.” (11)
13) He immediately went to the counter and asked for a pen and paper, wrote a few lines and posted the letter. (9)
Question 3.
Create a graphic description based on the given summary of ‘A Letter to God’.
Answer:
(Student’s activity)
Reading Comprehension
Text I
Did you enjoy the story of ‘The Trader and the Tailor’? The story is summarised below. Read the story again with your friend and complete the paragraph using short sentences with the given hints.
Once there was a tailor who was known for ………(a)………….. (cheat and thievery). He could cheat anyone with his cunning way of deceiving people. A trader challenged that the tailor would not be able to cheat him. He ………….(b)………… (go) to the tailor with ………………..(c)………….. (satin). The tailor …………(d)………… (welcome). The trader ………………..(e)…………….(please) by the tailor’s praise. He told the tailor to make a coat for him. The tailor
……………(f)……………. (praise) the trader …………….(g)…………. (maximum). The trader ………….(h)…………. (joy). The tailor …………(i)……………… (recount) funny tales and the trader forgot ………………(j)…………… (bet). The tailor The tailor started snipping ……(k)………. and ………(I)…….. (hide). Eyes of the trader ……..(m)……….. (tears and joy) and yet the trader kept on asking for ……(n)……. (stories). At last, the tailor told the trader that …………. (o)………. (tight) and …….(p)……… (weep-blood).
Answer:
a) his cheating and thievery
b) went
c) a piece of satin cloth
d) welcomed him
e) was pleased
f) praised
g) to the maximum
h) closed his eyes in joy
i) went on recounting
j) about his bet
k) the satin cloth
l) hid them away
m) were full of tears of and joy
n) more funny stories
o) he should leave at once and if not, his coat would become too tight to wear
p) would have to weep tears of blood
Vocabulary
1. In this story you have come across a word “light-fingered” which means inclined to steal things. Some such words are given below. Use appropriate words and fill in the blanks.
a) The ………….is a unit of distance used to measure distance in space.
b) The farmer bought a ………….truck to transport their produce, as it uses less diesel.
c) We had a fairly ………….discussion with our colleagues.
d) Rita felt dizzy and ………….after sky diving.
e) He is a …………., a slightest noise wakes him.
Answer
a) light year
b) light-duty
c) light-hearted
d) light-headed
e) light-sleeper
Grammar
1. You have come across Relative Clauses in the lesson ‘A Letter to God’. Read about the relative clauses again. Complete the sentences given below in the table by adding the most suitable clause from the box and make it a relative clause. The first one has been done for you.
a) A tailor is a person who stitches clothes.
b) A dictionary is a book ………….
c) The book is about a scientist ………….
d) What is the name of the player ………….
e) I don’t like people ………….
f) What is the name of the actor ………….
g) Students …………. should meet the principal in her office.
h) Friends of the trader thought the tailor …………. and could cheat anyone.
i) Lencho …………. thought God would help him.
j) Those …………. will succeed.
k) God helps those ………….
Answer:
b) contains meaning of words.
c) who won the Nobel Prize
d) who hit a century?
e) who tell lies.
f) who won the best actor award this year?
g) who need to fill in the application
h) who was a crook
i) who was faithful
j) who believe in hard work
k) who help themselves
Editing
1. Suppose Lencho gets a hundred pesos in his envelope. He writes a letter to God expressing his gratitude. However, he has missed a word in each line. Help him with those words so that his letter is complete.
Dear God!
Thank for
(a) sending a hundred pesos help. as help
(b) I am very for this kind gesture. very thankful
(c) You were my only and your only hope
(d) help has my faith in you. has increased
(e) This money will help me until the crop the next crop
(f) and I promise to hard in the future. work hard
Sincerely yours,
lencho
Thank you for …………. very thankful …………. only hope …………. has increased …………. the next crop …………. work hard
Listening
1. Here is an interesting story. The story has been told in two ways. Story A has all the odd sentences (1,3,5,……………) and story B has the even sentences (2,4,6, …………). Working in pairs, one of you take up Story A and the other take up Story B. The person with Story A will read out the first sentence and the partner (person with story B) will write in the space provided.
Then the person with Story B will read sentence two and the partner will write in the space for sentence two. Likewise complete the whole story. Once the story is completed, both of you will read out to each other to check whether you have listened carefully to your partner and written the complete story.
Answer:
(Student’s activity)
Speaking
1. Lencho, the main character, in the story, is a farmer. He supports his family through farming. The conflict in the story happens when a hailstorm strikes the field and destroys his farm. All the hard work, for nothing! The entire land is wrecked by catastrophe. There is no one who can help. Lencho’s complete faith in God is amazing during the calamity.
So, one type of conflict dominating in the story is man versus nature. Discuss with your partner the natural calamities that play havoc in the lives of people. Collect photographs and make a visual presentation to share in the class.
Answer:
A natural disaster is an event caused by a natural hazard. The natural calamity can be defined as a natural process or phenomenon that may cause loss of life, injury, or other health impacts, property damage, loss of livelihoods and devastation of private and public properties.
Earthquakes, hurricanes or cyclones, floods, and drought are some kinds of natural calamities. Natural disasters are a common phenomenon. They have a devastating impact on large number of people annually. Earthquakes are also caused by other events such as volcanic activity, landslides, mine blasts and nuclear tests. ’
Earthquakes : An earthquake is caused by a sudden slip between two of the earth’s tectonic plates. When two tectonic plates press against one another, large amounts of pressure and energy are built up. When the plates suddenly slip this built-up of energy is released, creating seismic wavesi that cause the earth’s surface to shake. Earthquakes commonly occur along fault lines the areas where tectonic plates meet.
Earthquakes can range in intensity from those that are so weak that they cannot be felt to those violent enough to propel objects and people into the air, critical infrastructure and wreak destruction across entire cities. Earthquakes result in severe damage to buildings and other rigid structures.
The severity of earthquakes depends on the complex combination of the earthquake magnitude the distance from the epicentre. Earthquakes cause a major risk for large engineering structures such as dams, bridges’and nuclear power stations and so on.
Tsunami : Tsunami is a giant wave caused by a large and sudden displacement of the ocean usually the result of an earthquake, volcanic eruption, landslide or meteorite impact below the ocean floor. This force creates waves that radiate outward in all directions away from their source.
Tsunamis move through the entire water column, from the ocean floor to the ocean surface. Tsunami starts suddenly. The waves travel at a great speed; They can remove sand from beaches, destroy trees, toss and drag vehicles, houses and even destroy whole towns and cities. If the slope of the coast is not steep, the water may pull back for hundreds of meters.
The deadliest tsunami recorded in documented history was on 26 December 2004 and is known as the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami. The earthquake that caused 2004 Tsunami was said to have a magnitude of 9.1 on the magnitude scale. It was centered in the ocean near the coast of Sumatra, Indonesia. Over 2,30,000 people died from this disaster. The giant wave moved very quickly. Thousands of people in Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Thailand, India, Somalia and other nations were killed or injured by it.
Floods : Flooding is an overflowing of water on the land that is normally dry. Floods can happen during heavy rains, when ocean waves come on shore, when snow melts quickly, or when dams or levees break. Sometimes floods can reach to the heights of rooftops.
Floods are the most common and widespread of all weather related natural disasters. Flash floods are the most dangerous kind of floods, because they combine the destructive power of a flood with incredible speed. Flash floods occur when heavy rainfall exceeds the ability of the ground to absorb it.
Densely populated areas such as cities and towns are at a high risk of flash floods. Concrete construction of roads and buildings increases run off by reducing the amount of rain absorbed by the ground. This run off increases flash flood potential. Areas near rivers are at a risk from floods. Cities like Chennai, Hyderabad are often flooded when very intensive rainfall occurs.
On December 3 and 4 2023; the influence of Cyclone Michaung, Chennai, led to loss of lives and property damage due to flooding. Floods can threaten lives, inundate properties and business buildings, destroy infrastucture and prevent access to essential public services.
The effects of flood are long term and can be very costly, disruptive and distressing for communities involved. The most important impact of floods’ is the damage to, and distruction of homes and personal belongings and their life.
Cyclones or hurricanes: Cyclones are large revolving tropical storms caused by winds blowing around a central area of low atmospheric pressure. In the southern hemisphere these tropical storms are called cyclones and rotate in a clockwise direction, while in the northern hemisphere cyclones are called hurricanes or typhoons. Cyclones develop over warm waters in the tropical regions of the oceans where areas of very low pressure are created by air being heated by the sun.
Cyclones can damage houses, buildings and infrastructure. They çan damage transportation, power and communication services. They can cause flooding and landslides. The high winds and excessive rainfall that accompany tropical cyclones as
well as the resulting woods have significant impacts on agriculture and the lives of the farmers. Cyclones cause a setback in crop production. The crops ready to market are destroyed. Irrigation and storage infrastructure are damaged. The most impacted are small scale cash producers without access to insurance and credit.
Fires : Forest fires also known as wildfires, bush fires, are large, uncontrolled and potentially destructive fires that can affect both rural and urban areas. They can spread quickly, change direction and even jump across large distances when embers and sparks are carried by the wind. They are caused by a range of natural causes such as lightning or by human carelessness. Wildfires are increasing around the globe in frequency, severity and duration. The risk of wildfires grows in extremely dry conditions such as drought, hot waves and during high winds.
Wildfire smoke is mixture of hazardous air pollutants, such as PM2.5 ; NO2, Ozone, hydrocarbons or lead. Wildfires impact the climate by large quantities of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Wildfires reduce the quality of air and water. Wildfires effect the wildlife. Since the wildfires affect grazing lands they affect the life of herbivores.
Question 2.
Try writing a small poem on the topic man versus nature. Read aloud the poem with the required stress and intonation. Given below is a poem written by Norman Littleford, which may help you think and compose.
The heavens roared with thunder
as lightning filled the skies
was this God getting angry
or Nature’s big surprise.
Is Mother Nature telling us
the best way that she can
to stop the interference
and abuse she gets from man.
We marvel at her beauty
each time we look around
then dig up all her treasures
from their natural burial ground.
We forget that Nature gives us
all that keeps us living
we take it all and still want more
but never think of giving.
We build across the countryside
progressing every day
but Mother Nature can’t progress
for man is in the way.
Answer:
(Student’s activity)
Writing
Question 1.
The tailor here is a cheat, but Lencho in the story, ‘A Letter to God’, is naive and simple. He has immense faith in God. How do you distinguish between Lencho and the tailor? What makes them different? Working in pairs, list the actions and qualities of Lencho and the tailor and draw their character sketches.
Now, write the character sketch of Lencho and the tailor.
Answer:
Character sketch of Lencho: Lencho was a small farmer with a large family to support. He was uncorrupted, virtuous, honest and sincere. He was as industrious as an ox. He was innocent and ignorant man. He was optimistic. He was spiritual and theistic. He sought the help of God only when all his industry was soiled by the act of God since he felt when man is forced to fail God only can help him.
He was child-like and had lily-white faith in God. He was a true-blue pious. His faith in God was so strong that he felt God does not let anyone die of hunger. He was so ignorant that he thought he could write a letter to God. He was a steadfast devout because he not only wrote a letter to God seeking monetary help but waited to receive charity with an absolute assurance in him.
His faith in God was so pure and absolute that even the postmaster wished that he had the faith of Lencho. When he received only 70 pesos instead of 100, he wrote a letter to God earnestly requesting him to send the remaining 30 pesos since he was in dire need of money.
But Lencho was sceptical, cynical and skeptical because he suspected that the postal officials had taken away 30 pesos from the 100 pesos God had sent him. This shows his ignorance, innocence and callowness. Character sketch of the tailor: The tailor was adroit and adept in the art of thievery. He was well-known for his petty larceny.
He was so dexterous in thievery that even the most intelligent people could not nab him red handed. He was cheeky and pretentiously pleasant while speaking to his customers. He was dishonest, insincere in his speech to others. He pretentiously and cunningly springs from his seat, welcomes his customers, inquires about their health with exaggerating and hypocritic cordiality.
With this his customers got deceived with his hypocricy and pretentious cordiality. He speaks to the customers with utter humility and apparent modesty. His humility of his speech is superficial but not cordial. He is loquacious in his speech. He is a dodger and trickster.
He engages the customers in his garrulous verbose and chisel out small pieces of cloth dexterously when they are ecstatic and when they gleefully laugh. His talk makes the customers’ reason vanished and the tailor adroitly filches more of the beautiful cloth.
Question 2.
Writing a portrait or description of a person
Read the following description about two persons, Raavi and Mohini.
| Raavi | Mohini |
| A portrait or a picture of a handsome young man in full sleeves shirt. | A portrait or a picture of a middle aged lady who is a singer. |
| Raavi is an engineer in a many facturing firm | She studied music and became a playback singer. |
| He likes to make, fix, and repair things. | She likes to be with people and participates in social functions. |
| He loves to watch television and | She loves music and reading books. |
| goes to the movies thrice a month. He is congenial and supportive. | She is firm and a lady with a purpose. |
| He does not like to play, but goes for a morning walk everyday. | She does not, get time to exercise. |
Now, write a description of any one of the above based on the details given. You may follow the process approach to writing. First, you read the given information in the box and make a list of describable (adjectives) points used for each person, in your own words.
Secondly, take the help of these points to develop an outline in sentence form. Thirdly, use the outline and prepare the first draft of the description of the person and then edit the draft. Prepare the final copy after making all changes.
Answer:
Raavi is a handsome young man. He dresses himself in dignified attire. He is highly educated and an engineer by profession. He is an engineer in a manufacturing firm. He is sincere, honest and loyal in his work. He is punctual, industrious and disciplined in his job.
He is an innovative, adept and untainted and unadulterated professional. He is a dedicated, devoted and a stalwart in his profession. Since he is an engineer he likes to make, fix and repair things. After a hard day’s work he wants to recreate himself by watching films. He goes to movies thrice a month.
He loves to watch movies. He is amiable and known for his sociable and amicable nature. He is congenial and supportive. He helps his colleagues and his sub-ordinates in their work. Since his job is to supervise he needs to stand up all the day. So he goes to a morning walk every day for keeping himself fit. But he does not like to play games.
Project
Question 1.
You may have come across some people in your neighbourhood who might have inspired you with their actions. Talk to them about—
- their childhood, their education, job, their likes and dislikes
- their contribution to the enrichment of their village or town, job, country, etc.
- their interesting features and characteristics.
Request for their pictures. Based on the collected information, write their portraits and present it to the class.
Answer:
Mr R.A. Naidu, a retired communication engineer in ISRO is my neighbour. He is 72 years old. He lives with his wife who was retired as a teacher. He has two sons. His elder son is a doctor. He is a cardiologist and he has his own clinic. His wife is a gynaecologist. Both work in their own clinics.
His younger son is an IAS officer. He works as a collector in Hyderabad. Naidu hailed from an agricultural family. All his four brother settled as farmers in their own village. He completed his schooling in Tenali which is 10 kms away from his village. He used to go to school on his bicycle. He studied his intermediate in 1968 at Tenali himself with MPC.
He joined Bapatla Engineering College and studied engineering with Electronics and Communication. He completed his engineering in 1972 with distinction. He was a hard-working and clever student. He always used to top the class throughout his education. Later he joined Madras IIT and completed his M.Tech there. Later he was selected as a scientist in ISRO in 1974. Since then he had worked in ISRO with various disignations. He got retired in 2009 as the Project Director.
Mr Naidu was a dedicated, hard-working and disciplined person. He always used to update his knowledge. He was amiable, sociable, congenial and co-operative in his attitude. He used to advise, guide, direct and encourage the young scientists. He used to co-ordinate with all other scientists. He used to be sincere., honest and unadulterated in his attitude.
Mr Naidu was jovial with a subtle sense of humour. He used to make jokes when his colleagues were exhausted and tired of their work and made them recreate and refresh with his jovial nature. Even after his retirement he used to maintain cordial relations with all his neighbours.
He used to give suggestions to young students. He is the President of the Development Committee of our colony. I admire him for his amiable nature. I love him for his patriotism and loyalism. Everyone likes him for his adherence and alliance to our country. In one word he is a complete man with a good etiquette.