The Best Christmas Present in the World - Worksheets

CBSE WorkSheet 01
The Best Christmas Present in the World
  1. What did the author find in the small black tin box? Answer in the context of The Best Christmas Present in the World.
  2. Who, of the two armies, took the initiative for celebrating the Christmas together? How did they begin it?
  3. How old was Mrs. Macpherson now? Where was she? Answer in the context of The Best Christmas Present in the World.
  4. What was Jim’s mood while writing the letter? Why?
  5. What had happened to Mrs. Macpherson? Describe her condition.
  6. Did the soldiers on both sides want the war? How do you know?
  7. What did the author find in a secret drawer? Answer in the context of The Best Christmas Present in the World.
  8. Read the passage carefully and answer the questions that follow:
    I’d prefer cricket, I told him. Then we Tommies could be sure of winning, probably. We laughed at that, and together we watched the game. Sad to say, Connie, Fritz won, two goals to one. But as Hans Wolf generously said, our goal was wider than theirs, so it wasn’t quite fair. 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. I wished Hans well and told him I hoped he would see his family again soon, that the fighting would end and we could all go home.
    1. Who was Hans Wolf?
    2. The time came, and all too soon when the game was finished.
      1. What was the game?
      2. Why did he feel that it was too soon?
    3. What did Jim hope?
CBSE WorkSheet 01
The Best Christmas Present in the World
Solution
  1. The author found a letter in the small black tin box.
  2. The Germans took the initiative. One German soldier waved a white flag. Then they were calling out to the English from the “no man’s land”.
  3. Jim's wife, Connie Macpherson was now a hundred and one-year-old. She was living in a nursing home in Burlington House, on the Dorchester road, on the other side of town as her house had burned down.
  4. Jim was in a very happy frame of mind while writing his letter. It was because of an incident that had just happened.
  5. Mrs. Macpherson lived alone after her husband (Jim Macpherson) went to join the British army during the First World War. One day her house caught fire. But she was saved by the firemen. From then she had been in a nursing home for treatment. She had grown extremely old and couldn’t walk on herself. So her life got confined to a wheelchair.
  6. The soldiers on both sides did not want the war. Hans Wolf, the German officer told Jim Macpherson, the British Officer that they should resolve the war by a football match because unlike war, people are not killed in a match.
  7. In a secret drawer of a roll-top desk, the author found a small tin box. There was a piece of lined notepaper sello-taped to its top. It had, ‘Jim’s last letter, received January 25, 1915. ''To be buried with me when the time comes” written on it.
    1. Hans Wolf was the Fritz Officer.
      1. It was a game of cricket.
      2. He felt that it was too soon because the men from both sides were enjoying the game. It was a good chance for them because they were away from their families.
    3. Jim hoped that he would see his family again soon, that the fighting would end and they could all go home.