We have Provided the CBSE Solutions chapter-wise. Class 8 English Honeydew Prose Chapter 1 The Best Christmas Present in the World with Answers by expert subject teacher for latest syllabus and examination. Students can take a free CBSE Solutions of The Best Christmas Present in the World. Each question has right answer Solved by Expert Teacher.
CBSE Solutions Class 8 English Beehive Prose
Page No. 10
Comprehension Check
Q1. What did the author find in a junk shop?
Answer: The author found a roll-top desk for sale in a junk shop. It was made of oak wood, but it was in a very bad condition.
Q2. What did he find in a secret drawer? Who do you think had put it in there?
Answer: He found a small black tin box in the secret drawer. A woman by the name of Mrs Jim Macpherson might have put it in there.
Page No. 14
Q1. Who had written the letter, to whom, and when?
Answer: Jim Macpherson had written the letter to his wife, Connie Macpherson on December 26, 1914, when he was fighting a war against the Germans.
Q2. Why was the letter written-what was the wonderful thing that had happened?
Answer: Jim wrote the letter to tell his wife about a wonderful thing that had happened on Christmas day. The British and the Germans were engaged in a war, yet on this day, both the troops met in no man’s land. It was a thing of wonder because right in the middle of a war, the warring soldiers were making peace.
Q3. What jobs did Hans Wolf and Jim Macpherson have when they were not soldiers?
Answer: Jim Macpherson was a school-teacher whereas Hans Wolf used to play a cello in the orchestra.
Q4. Had Hans Wolf even been to Dorset? Why did he say he knew it?
Answer: No, Hans Wolf had never been to Dorset. He had learned all about England from school and from reading books in English.
Q5. Do you think Jim Macpherson came back from the war? How do you know this?
Answer: The sellotaped note paper was the last that was written by Jim last letter. Hence it was likely that he didn’t come back from the war. His wife never received any more letters from him after that. She lived alone, as told by her neighbour and the nurse said that no member of her family has ever visited her to date.
Page No. 15
Q1. Why did the author go to Bridport?
Answer: The author went to Bridport to meet Connie Macpherson and which had her address – Mrs. Jim Macpherson, 12 Copper Beeches, Bridport and Dorset. He wanted to deliver the letter to her written by her husband, which the author had mistakenly opened and read the contents of.
Q2. How old was Mrs. Macpherson now? Where was she?
Answer: Macpherson was 101 years old. She was in a nursing home.
Page No. 16
Q1. Who did Connie Macpherson think her visitor was?
Answer: Connie Macpherson thought that her visitor was her husband Jim Macpherson.
Q2. Which sentence in the text shows that the visitor did not try to hide his identity?
Answer: The sentence in the text is—“I explained about the desk, about how I found it.”
Working with Text
Q1. For how long do you think Connie had kept Jim’s letter? Give reasons for your answer.
Answer: 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.
Q2. Why do you think the desk had been sold, and when?
Answer: The desk must have been sold when Connie’s house had burnt. The table had been damaged by fire as well as water.
Q3. Why do Jim and Hans think that games or sports are good ways of resolving conflicts? Do you agree?
Answer: Jim and Hans think that games or sports are good ways of resolving conflicts because they are harmless ways of doing so. Playing sports and games will not lead to orphan children or bereaved widows. It will help stop all the killings that happen in a war and destroy families. Yes, I completely agree with them. We need to find a peaceful way of resolving conflicts, and sports can help us do so.
Q4. 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: The soldiers of the two armies were like each other and they are not at all different. Following are some instances from the story to prove:
(i) Both of them wanted peace, longed for the war to be over and wanted to go home to
meet their families.
(ii) Both the armies celebrated Christmas and wished Merry Christmas to each other.
(iii) Both the armies shared their sausages, schnapps and Christmas cake with each other.
(iv) They played a football match and at night shared Christmas carols and hope to unite with the families again.
Q5. Mention the various ways in which the British and the German soldiers become friends and find things in common at Christmas.
Answer: 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.
Q6. What is Connie’s Christmas present? Why is it “the best Christmas present in the world?
Answer: Jim’s last letter was Connie’s Christmas present. He was away on the front. She had been waiting for his return. Unfortunately her house caught fire and she had lost everything. So, after so many years when she got her husband’s letter on the Christmas Eve, she lost in memory. So it is the best Christmas present in the world ‘for her’.
Q7. Do you think the title of this story is suitable for it? Can you think of any other title(s)?
Answer: 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.
Working with Language
Q1. (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.
Answer:
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 (a)——(come) back from school yesterday, she had (b)——-(tear) her dress. We (c)——(ask) her how it had (d)——(happen). She (e)—–(say) she (f)—– (have, Quarrel) with a boy. She (g)—–(have, beat) him in a race and he (h)—–(have, try) to push her. She (i)—–(have, tell) the teacher and so he (j)—— (have, chase) her, and she (k)—–_(have, fall) down and (l) ——-(have, tear) her dress.
Answer:
(a) came
(b) torn
(c) asked
(d) happened
(e) said
(f) had Quarreled
(g) had beaten
(h) had tried
(i) had told
(j) had chased
(k) had fallen
(l) had torn.
(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!
Answer: (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!
Q2. Find these phrasal verbs in the story.
burn out light up look on run out keep outWrite 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:
(i) burn out
House number 12 turned out to be nothing but a burned-outshell, 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.
Q3. The table below contains a list of nouns and some adjectives. Use as many adjectives as you can to describe each noun. You might come up with some funny descriptions!
Answer :
1) a wild, large elephant.
2) a cheerful, round chubby face.
3) a cheerful, circular, multicoloured large brick building.
4) enormous, multicoloured, cold water.
We Think the given CBSE Solutions for class 8 English Beehive book, Chapter 1 The Best Christmas Present in the World with Answers Pdf free download will assist you. If you’ve got any queries regarding CBSE Class 8 English The Best Christmas Present in the World CBSE Solutions with Answers, drop a comment below and that we will come back to you soons.