The sentence which shows that the visitor did not try to hide his identity is, ‘I explained about the desk, about how I had found it, but I don’t think she was listening.’

Question - 12 : -
For how long do you think Connie had kept Jim’s letter? Give reasons for your answer.

Answer - 12 : -

Connie must have kept Jim’s letter for a long time. This is because she told the narrator how she read it quite often every day so that she could feel that Jim was near her.

Question - 13 : -
Why do you think the desk had been sold, and when?

Answer - 13 : -

The desk must have been sold when the house in which Connie Macpherson lived had caught fire. She was taken to a nursing home. All the burnt up things must have been sold by the neighbours after that.

Question - 14 : -
Why do Jim and Hans think that games or sports are good ways of resolving conflicts? Do you agree?

Answer - 14 : -

Jim and Hans thought that games or sports are good ways of resolving conflicts because nobody dies in matches. No children are orphaned and no wives become widows.

Due to these reasons, games are good ways for resolving conflicts. Wars only lead to death and devastation.

Question - 15 : -
Do you think the soldiers of the two armies are like each other, or different from each other? Find evidence form the story to support your answer.

Answer - 15 : -

The soldiers of the two armies were like each other. Both the troops celebrated Christmas with each other. They shared each other’s food. All of them were smoking, laughing, talking, drinking and eating. They even talked about the books they liked. They agreed about everything. They also played a game of football for which both Hans and Jim cheered, clapped hands and stamped feet. They also exchanged carols at night. Moreover, they had the same view that wars only brought death and destruction, and they hoped that each would be alive to see his family. All these instances show that the soldiers of the two armies were similar to each other.

Question - 16 : -
Mention the various ways in which the British and the German soldiers become friends and find things in common at Christmas.

Answer - 16 : -

The British and the German troops celebrated Christmas with each other. They enjoyed each other’s food. All of them were smoking, laughing, talking, drinking and eating. Hans Wolf and Jim Macpherson shared the cake Connie had baked. They talked about Bathsheba, Gabriel Oak, Sergeant Troy and Dorset. They even talked about the books they liked. They agreed about everything. Both the troops played a game of football for which both Hans and Jim cheered, clapped hands and stamped feet. They also exchanged carols at night. In this way, they celebrated Christmas together, finding a lot in common between them.

Question - 17 : -
What is Connie’s Christmas present? Why is it “the best Christmas present in the world”?

Answer - 17 : -

When the narrator came to see Connie and gave her the box, she mistook him for her husband Jim. She thought that Jim had come home for Christmas. This was Connie’s Christmas present. It was the best Christmas present in the world for her because Jim had written in the letter that he would come home on Christmas. She had read that letter several times everyday to feel that he was near her. Now that he was finally there with her, she was extremely happy.

Question - 18 : -
Do you think the title of this story is suitable for it? Can you think of any other title(s)?

Answer - 18 : -

Yes, the title of the story is suitable for it. The spirit of Christmas is the theme that prevails throughout the story. It was on a Christmas day, in the middle of a raging war, that two warring troops made peace. The moment of peace that the soldiers shared with each other was the best Christmas present for them.

Again, it was on a Christmas day that the narrator went to see Mrs Macpherson. He went to return her husband’s letter to her. The letter was precious to her, but even more precious was her delusion that the narrator was her husband Jim, who she believed had returned as promised on a Christmas day. This was the best Christmas present in the world for her.

Question - 19 : -
(i) Read the passage below and underline the verbs in the past tense.

A man got on the train and sat down. The compartment was empty except for one lady. She took her gloves off. A few hours later the police arrested the man. They held him for 24 hours and then freed him.

(ii) Fill in the blanks using the correct form of the verbs in brackets.

My little sister is very naughty. When she __________ (come) back from school yesterday, she had _________ (tear) her dress. We ________ (ask) her how it had _________ (happen). She _______________ (say) she ____________ (have, quarrel) with a boy. She __________ __________ (have, beat) him in a race and he ________ _______ (have, try) to push her. She _____________ ____________ (have, tell) the teacher and so he ______________ ______________ (have, chase) her, and she ____________ ____________ (have, fall) down and _____________ _____________(have, tear) her dress.

(iii) Underline the verbs and arrange them in two columns, Past and Earlier past.

(a) My friends set out to see the caves in the next town, but I stayed at home, because I had seen them already.
(b) When they arrived at the station, their train had left. They came back home, but by that time I had gone out to see a movie!
(c) So they sat outside and ate the lunch I had packed for them.
(d) By the time I returned, they had fallen asleep!

Past

Earlier past

Answer - 19 : -

(i)

A man got on the train and sat down. The compartment was empty except for one lady. She took her gloves off. A few hours later the police arrested the man. They held him for 24 hours and then freed him.

(ii)

My little sister is very naughty. When she __came__ (come) back from school yesterday, she had __torn__ (tear) her dress. We __asked__ (ask) her how it had __happened__ (happen). She __said__ (say) she __had__ quarrelled (have, quarrel) with a boy. She __had beaten__ (have, beat) him in a race and he __had tried__ (have, try) to push her. She __had told__ (have, tell) the teacher and so he __had chased__ (have, chase) her, and she __had fallen__ (have, fall) down and __had torn__ (have, tear) her dress.

(iii)

(a) My friends __set out__ to see the caves in the next town, but I __stayed__ at home, because I __had seen__ them already.

(b) When they __arrived__ at the station, their train __had left__. They __came__ back home, but by that time I __had gone__ out to see a movie!

(d) By the time I __returned__, they __had fallen__ asleep!

Past	Earlier past
set out	had seen
stayed	had left
arrived	had gone
came	had packed
sat	had fallen
ate
returned

Question - 20 : -
Find these phrasal verbs in the story.

burn out light up look on run out keep out

Write down the sentences in which they occur, consult a dictionary and write down the meaning that you think matches the meaning of the phrasal verb in the sentence.

Answer - 20 : -

(i) burn out

House number 12 turned out to be nothing but a burned-out shell, the roof gaping, the windows boarded-up.

(ii) light up

That was the moment her eyes lit up with recognition and her face became suffused with a sudden glow of happiness.

(iii) look on

Hans Wolf and I looked on and cheered, clapping our hands and stamping our feet, to keep out the cold as much as anything.

(iv) run out

The time came, and all too soon, when the game was finished, the schnapps and the rum and the sausage had long since run out, and we knew it was all over.

(v) keep out

Hans Wolf and I looked on and cheered, clapping our hands and stamping our feet, to keep out the cold as much as anything.

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Chapter 1 The Best Christmas Present in the World Solutions

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