NCERT Solutions for Class 8 English Honeydew Chapter 1 The Best Christmas Present in the World
NCERT Solutions for Class 8 English Honeydew Chapter 1 The Best Christmas Present in the World are provided below. These solutions contain answers to all the textbook questions. All the questions are solved by experts with a detailed explanation that help students to complete their assignments and homework. NCERT Solutions for Class 8 English Honeydew Chapter 1 The Best Christmas Present in the World are prepared as per the latest CBSE syllabus and curriculum. Students of Class 8th can study the answers provided here to score well in their school exams.
The Best Christmas Present in the World Class 8 NCERT Questions and Answers
Comprehension Check (Page 10)
Question 1: 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.
Question 2: What did he find in a secret drawer? Who do you think had put it in there?
Answer: The author found a small black tin box in the secret drawer. There was a paper sello-taped to its top. It said, ‘Jim’s last letter, received January 25, 1915. To be buried with me when the time comes.’
Most likely, it was put there by Mrs Jim Macpherson, who was Jim’s wife. Her name and address were on the envelope inside the box.
Comprehension Check (Page 14)
Question 1: Who had written the letter, to whom, and when?
Answer: John Macpherson, a captain in the British army, had written that letter, dated Dec. 26, 1914, to his wife Connie.
Question 2: Why was the letter written — what was the wonderful thing that had happened?
Answer: The letter described a wonderful event. The two armies-the British and the German-fighting against each other celebrated Christmas together.
Question 3: What jobs did Hans Wolf and Jim Macpherson have when they were not soldiers?
Answer: Before joining the armed forces, Hans Wolf from Dusseldorf used to play the cello in an orchestra and Jim Macpherson was a school teacher from Dorset.
Question 4: Had Hans Wolf ever been to Dorset? Why did he say he knew it?
Answer: No, Hans had never been to Dorset. He had only read about Dorset in Hardy’s novel ‘Far from the Madding Crowd’.
Question 5: Do you think Jim Macpherson came back from the war? How do you know this?
Answer: No, it appears that Jim Macpherson never returned home from the war. Perhaps, due to this reason his wife Connie had preserved all his letters carefully.
Comprehension Check (Page 15)
Question 1: Why did the author go to Bridport?
Answer: The author went to Bridport to meet Mrs Jim Macpherson and deliver to her Jim’s letter.
Question 2: How old was Mrs. Macpherson now? Where was she?
Answer: Macpherson was 101 years old. She was in a nursing home.
Comprehension Check (Page 16)
Question 1: Who did Connie Macpherson think her visitor was?
Answer: Connie thought that the visitor was her own husband, Jim Macpherson.
Question 2: Which sentence in the text shows that the visitor did not try to hide his identity?
Answer: That sentence is, “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.
Working with the Text
Question 1: For how long do you think Connie had kept Jim’s letter? Give reasons for your answer.
Answer: Connie had kept Jim’s last letter till January 25, 1915. The letter was dated Dec. 26, 1914.
Question 2: Why do you think the desk had been sold, and when?
Answer: 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 3: Why do Jim and Hans think that games or sports are good ways of resolving conflicts? Do you agree?
Answer: Both Jim and Hans were soldiers. Both were warm-hearted. They had seen the sufferings of war. So, it was natural for them to hate war. They favoured a peaceful solution to settle disputes. Games or sports, they said, were good ways of resolving conflicts. I also quite agree with them.
Question 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.
Answer: 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 5: 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 soldiers belonged to different camps. They were enemies in war time. But after all they were human beings and therefore they had similar feelings. They shared the festive spirit of the Christmas. They got over hatred and played games, feasted and drank like good friends. Both hated war. Both were anxious to go back to their families at the end of war.
Question 6: What is Connie’s Christmas present? Why is it the best Christmas present in the world?
Answer: When the narrator came to see Connie and gave her the box, she mistook him for her husband Jim. She thought that Jim had kept his promise and 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 and truly believed that he would one day return to her. Now that he was finally there with her, and she could hear his voice again she was extremely happy.
Question 7: Do you think the title of the story is suitable for it? Can you think of any other title(s)?
Answer 7: Decidedly the title of the story is most suitable. For the old Connie, no other present could have given her such joy as the coming home of Jim, her husband. Her presumption might be wrong, but she got the greatest happiness of her life. Since the story revolves around Christmas, the alternate title of the story could be War and Peace’ or ‘Christmas Gift’. But neither can be a match to the present title.
