8 Best Christmas Answers

In text Questions

Comprehension Check (Page 10)

Q. 1. What did the author find in a junk shop?

Ans. The author found an old roll-top desk in a junk shop. It was made of oak wood in the early 19th
century.

Q. 2. What did he find in a secret drawer? Who do you think had put it in there?

Ans. He found a tin box containing a letter in it. The note on the box said that it was Jim’s last letter
received on 25th Jan, 1915. The receiver of the letter, Mrs. Macpherson must have kept the letter in
the box.

Comprehension Check (Page 14)

Q. 1. Who had written the letter, to whom, and when?

Ans. Jim had written the letter for Connie when he was in war.

Q. 2. Why was the letter written—what was the wonderful thing that had happened?

Ans. The letter was written by Jim to share with his wife a pleasant incident that had occurred during
the war. In the midst of the war, the soldiers of the two enemy countries fighting the war, i.e. The
British and the German soldiers came together to celebrate Christmas. They shared their foods and
drinks and played with each other.

Q. 3. What jobs did Hans Wolf and Jim Macpherson have when they were not soldiers?

Ans. Hans Wolf was a cello player in the Orchestra and Jim was a school teacher from Dorset when
they were not soldiers.

Q. 4. Had Hans Wolf ever been to Dorset? Why did he say he knew it?

Ans. Hans Wolf had never been to Dorset. He said this because he had learned all he knew of
England from school and from reading books in English.

Q. 5. Do you think Jim Macpherson came back from the war? How do you know this?

Ans. No, Jim never came back from the war because we see Connie waiting till the end of her life for
him to come back and read that last letter to her. Her wait never ended. Jim probably died during
the war.

Comprehension Check (Page 15)

Q. 1. Why did the author go to Bridport?

Ans. The author went to Bridport to meet Mrs. Macpherson and hand over Jim’s letter to her.
Q. 2. How old was Mrs. Macpherson now? Where was she?

Ans. Mrs. Macpherson was hundred and one years old. She was in a nursing home.

Comprehension Check (Page 16)

Q. 1. Who did Connie Macpherson think her visitor was?

Ans. Connie Macpherson thought that her visitor was Jim, her husband.

Q. 2. Which sentence in the text shows that the visitor did not try to hide his identity?

Ans. The following sentence showed that the visitor did not try to hide his identity: “I found this. I
think it’s yours.”

Textbook Questions

Working with the Text

Q. 1. For how long do you think Connie had kept Jim’s letter? Give reasons for your answer?

Ans. Connie had kept Jim’s letter till her old age because she was waiting for Jim to come and read
the letter to her.

Q. 2. Why do you think the desk had been sold, and when?

Ans. The desk was not in good condition. Perhaps it was sold after Connie’s home caught fire and she
was taken to the nursing home.

Q. 3. Why do Jim and Hans think that games or sports are good way of resolving conflicts? Do you
agree?

Ans. Jim and Hans thought that games or sports are good ways of resolving conflicts because no one
dies in a game or sport and no children will be orphaned and no wives become widows. I agree with
what they think.

Q. 4. Do you think the soldiers of the two armies are like each other, or different from each other?
Find evidence from the story to support your answer.

Ans. I think the soldiers of the two armies are like each other because they shared their drinks,
sausage (meat), sang and even played football match together.

Q. 5. Mention the various ways in which the British and the German soldiers become friends and find
things in common at Christmas.

Ans. The British and the German soldiers became friends by sharing smoking, laughing, talking,
drinking and eating and by sharing Christmas cake. All these things were common between them.

Q. 6. What is Connie’s Christmas present? Why is it “the best Christmas present in the world”?
Ans. Jim’s letter is Connie’s Christmas present. It is the best Christmas present in the world for her
because she loved Jim very much. Although he never came back, she had kept the letter very
carefully till her old age.

Q. 7. Do you think the title of this story is suitable for it? Can you think of any other title(s)?

Ans. I think the title of this story is apt and suitable. Other title can be “Jim’s present for Connie”.

OTHER IMPORTANT QUESTIONS

Short Answer Type Questions

Q. 1. Where did the author find the letter? (3 marks)

Ans. The author had bought a very old roll-top desk. Inside its drawer there was a secret drawer. The
author found the letter inside it.

Q. 2. How did the German and the British soldiers celebrate Christmas? (3 marks)

Ans. The German and the British soldiers forgot their enmity. They smoked, drank and ate together,
they sang and played a match of football with each other and finally went to their trenches.

Extract Based Questions

Q. 1. Read the passage given below and answer the questions that follow:

One of the Germans was waving a bottle above his head. ‘‘It is Christmas Day, Tommy. We have
Schnapps. We have sausage. We meet you? Yes ?’’ By this time there were dozens of them walking
towards us across no man’s land and not a rifle between them. Little Private Morris was the first up.
‘‘Come on, boys. What are we waiting for ?’’

(i) Whom does the word ‘Tommy’ refer to? (1 mark)

Ans. The word Tommy refers to the British soldiers.

(ii) Who started walking towards whom? (1 mark)

Ans. German soldiers started walking towards the British soldiers.

(iii) What was the occasion to celebrate? (1 mark)

Ans. It was Christmas.

Q. 2. Read the following passage and answer the questions that follow:

Suddenly she reached out and took my hand. Her eyes were filled with tears. ‘‘You told me you’d
come home by Christmas, dearest’’ she said, ‘‘And here you are, the best Christmas present in
the world. Come closer Jim dear, sit down.’’

(i) Whom does the word ‘she’ refer to? (1 mark)

(ii) Who was Jim? (1 mark)

Ans. Jim was Connie’s husband and a soldier in the British Army.

(iii) Whom did the speaker think to be Jim? (1 mark)

Ans. The Speaker thought the narrator to be Jim.