Comprehension Check – Part I
Q1. What did the author find in a junk shop?Answer: The author found a nineteenth-century oak roll-top desk in a junk shop in Bridport.
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 containing an envelope with a letter dated 26 December 1914. It was likely kept there by Mrs. Jim Macpherson to be buried with her.
Comprehension Check – Part II
Q1. Who had written the letter, to whom, and when?Answer: Captain Jim Macpherson wrote the letter to his wife, Connie, on 26 December 1914.
Q2. Why was the letter written — what was the wonderful thing that had happened?
Answer: The letter described a spontaneous ceasefire on Christmas Day 1914, where British and German soldiers celebrated together in no man’s land.
Q3. What jobs did Hans Wolf and Jim Macpherson have when they were not soldiers?
Answer: Hans Wolf was a cellist in an orchestra, and Jim Macpherson was a schoolteacher in Dorset, England.
Q4. Had Hans Wolf ever been to Dorset? Why did he say he knew it?
Answer: No, Hans Wolf had never been to Dorset; he knew about it from books and from studying English.
Q5. Do you think Jim Macpherson came back from the war? How do you know this?
Answer: It is unlikely that Jim returned, as Connie was still waiting for him even many decades later and mistook the narrator for him.
Comprehension Check – Part III
Q1. Why did the author go to Bridport?Answer: The author went to Bridport to deliver the letter to Mrs. Macpherson.
Q2. How old was Mrs Macpherson now? Where was she?
Answer: She was 101 years old and staying in Burlington House Nursing Home on Dorchester Road.
Comprehension Check – End of Story
Q1. Who did Connie Macpherson think her visitor was?Answer: She thought the 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 is: “I found this. I think it’s yours.”
Working with the Text
Q1. For how long do you think Connie had kept Jim’s letter? Give reasons for your answer.Answer: She had kept it for about 70 years, ever since 1914, because it was addressed to her and she treasured it as Jim’s last message.
Q2. Why do you think the desk had been sold, and when?
Answer: The desk was probably sold after the fire at Mrs. Macpherson’s house, possibly by someone clearing the damaged property.
Q3. Why do Jim and Hans think that games or sports are good ways of resolving conflicts? Do you agree?
Answer: They felt games like football or cricket allow competition without death or suffering. Yes, because sports promote friendship and understanding rather than violence.
Q4. 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: They are very similar — both longed for peace, enjoyed sharing food and drink, and had families waiting for them.
Q5. Mention the various ways in which the British and the German soldiers become friends and find things in common at Christmas.
Answer: They greeted each other, shared food and drinks, talked about home, exchanged Christmas cake, played football, and sang carols together.
Q6. What is Connie’s Christmas present? Why is it “the best Christmas present in the world”?
Answer: Her present was the return of Jim’s letter and the belief that Jim had come back. It was “the best” because it fulfilled her deepest wish.
Q7. Do you think the title of this story is suitable for it? Can you think of any other title(s)?
Answer: Yes, it is suitable because the story revolves around Connie receiving the “best” present in her eyes. Another title could be A Letter from the Trenches.
