Working with the text

 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 January 25, 1915. The letter was dated Dec. 26, 1914.

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

Ans:- The desk must have been sold when Connie’s house had Burnt. The table had been damaged by fire as well as water.

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

A ns:- I agree this, because both soldiers were warm hearted . They had seen the sufferings of war. So it was natural or them to hate the war. They favored a peaceful solution to settle disputes.

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:- All human beings are like in many ways. They want to live together . They were calling out to us from across no man’s land. “Happy Christmas Tommy” when we had got.

 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 solders belonged different camps. They were enemies in war time but after they were human beings and therefore friends. Both hated war and love peace. Both were anxious to go back to their families at the end of war.

 6. What is Connie’s Christmas present? Why is it “the best Christmas present in the world”?

Ans:- Jim Machperson as her Christmas gift. She thought that this letter had been brought by her husband Jim himself. So she said that in the form o Jim she had received the best Christmas gift in the world.

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

Ans:-Yes, Because for the old connie no other present could have given her such joy as the coming of her husband. The alternative tittle of the story could be Christmas event.

Comprehension Check I

Q1. What did the author find in a junk shop?

Ans:-The author found a roll- top desk.

Q2. What did he find in a secret drawer? Who do you think had put it in there?

Ans:- He found a small black tin box in a secret drawer. Mrs Connie Machperson had put it in there.

Comprehension Check II

Q1. Who had written the letter, to whom, and when?

Ans:- Mrs Jim Machperson had written the letter to his wife, Mrs Connie Machperson  whe he was fighting a war against the Germans.

Q2. Why was the letter written — what was the wonderful thing that had happened?

Ans:- The letter described wonderful the British and the German fighting against each other celebrated together.

Q3. What jobs did Hans Wolf and Jim Macpherson have when they were not soldiers?

Ans:- Before joining army Hans played the cello in the orchestra and Jim was a teacher.

Q4. Had Hans Wolf ever been to Dorset? Why did he say he knew it?

Ans:-  No, Hans had never been to dorset in Hardy novel ‘far from the madding crowd’.

Q5. Do you think Jim Macpherson came back from the war? How do you know this?

Ans:- No, Jim never came back from . Perhaps therefore his wife connie had preserved his letters.

Comprehension Check III

Q1. Why did the author go to Bridport?

Ans:- The Author went to Bridpot to meet Mrs Jim Machperson and diliver Jim’s letter.

Q2. How old was Mrs Macpherson now? Where was she?

Ans :- Mrs Machperson  was 101 years old she was in a nursing home.

Comprehension check IV

Q1. Who did Connie Macpherson think her visitor was?

Ans:- Connie thought that the visitor was her own husband, Jim Machperson.

Q2. Which sentence in the text shows that the visitor did not try to hide his identity?

Ans:- In the sentence, “I said I was a friend came to visit Mrs Machperson to bring her a chritsmas present”, the visitor did not try to hide his identity.