A Letter to God Class 10: Words and Expressions 2 Unit 1

Unit 1 of the NCERT Class 10 English workbook Words and Expressions 2 is built on the story “A Letter to God” from First Flight. It is a 16-page practice unit, not a new story: every activity assumes you have already read and understood Lencho’s tale.

The unit runs through reading, vocabulary, grammar, editing, listening, speaking, writing and a project. The official PDF is right below, and the rest of this page walks through every activity in it.

Download the Official Words and Expressions 2 Unit 1 PDF

NCERT publishes this unit as a standalone file on its official site. Download the A Letter to God Class 10 Words and Expressions 2 Unit 1 PDF to read the full 16-page unit with its original layout, activity tables and illustrations — useful when you want to check an answer against the printed page.

If you need other units of the book, browse the whole NCERT textbook portal instead.

Chapter at a Glance

The unit table on this page shows how much of each kind of material the unit holds. In plain terms, the unit is a set of skill blocks, each practising one thing:

• Warm-up reading: Let’s Begin reopens the First Flight story and rebuilds it from a jumbled summary (NCERT, pp. 1–3).
• A second reading text: the Rumi tale The Trader and the Tailor, with its own vocabulary set (NCERT, pp. 4–5).
• Word play: the Using Notice box and the light words exercise (NCERT, p. 6).
• Grammar: relative clauses, practised through a matching table (NCERT, p. 7).
• Editing and proofreading: editor’s symbols and a missing-word letter (NCERT, pp. 7–8).
• Listening: a paired dictation story, The Race (NCERT, pp. 8–9).
• Speaking: a man-versus-nature discussion and a short poem (NCERT, pp. 10–11).
• Writing: a character sketch and a portrait of a person (NCERT, pp. 11–14).
• Project: interview an inspiring person and write their portrait (NCERT, pp. 15–16).

What This Unit Covers, Activity by Activity

This map follows the unit front to back, with the page numbers from the printed book, so you can jump straight to the exercise you are stuck on.

• Let’s Begin (NCERT, pp. 1–3). Opens with a discussion of Lencho’s faith and his attitude to the post office staff. Then a jumbled 13-sentence summary of the story to reorder, and an extrapolation task that asks for a four-panel graphic description, starting with “Lencho in his corn field”.
• Text I: The Trader and the Tailor (NCERT, pp. 4–5). A Rumi tale in which a boastful trader loses a wager to a light-fingered tailor. Read it in pairs or groups of four, then complete a summary paragraph from hints.
• Look Up and Understand (NCERT, pp. 4–5). Two vocabulary sets: five words from the opening of the tale and four from its ending.
• Using ‘Notice’ (NCERT, p. 6). A one-line word-play box built on the two meanings of notice.
• Vocabulary (NCERT, p. 6). The light words exercise — five compounds built on the word light.
• Grammar (NCERT, p. 7). A relative clause table with eleven sentences to complete.
• Proofreading Marks and Editing (NCERT, pp. 7–8). Four editor’s symbols, a cross-reference to pages 140–141, and Lencho’s thank-you letter with one word missing per line.
• Listening: The Race (NCERT, pp. 8–9). A paired dictation about a rabbit and a rat.
• Speaking: Man vs Nature (NCERT, pp. 10–11). A discussion of natural calamities, a visual presentation, and a poem to write, with Norman Littleford’s poem as the model.
• Writing (NCERT, pp. 11–14). A character sketch comparing Lencho and the tailor, then a portrait of Raavi or Mohini using the six-stage process approach.
• Project (NCERT, pp. 15–16). Interview an inspiring person in your neighbourhood, collect pictures, write their portrait and present it.

Let’s Begin: The Correct Order of the Summary Sentences

The activity students most often want a check for is the jumbled summary. The book gives 13 sentences out of order and asks you to renumber them so the story reads correctly (NCERT, pp. 1–3). This is the story order:

1. Lencho, his wife, and their children lived in a lonely house in a valley.
2. Their corn field was longing for water.
3. Lencho predicted it will rain and it did. He and his wife were happy.
4. But it rained heavily and hailstorm thrashed his corn field and all the corn was destroyed.
5. Lencho felt desperate but believed that God would help him.
6. He wrote a letter to God asking for a hundred pesos to sow his field again and to survive until the next crop came up.
7. He wrote ‘To God’ on the envelope and posted it.
8. The postman and the postmaster laughed at Lencho’s letter but were surprised by the faith of the man.
9. The postmaster collected about 70 pesos from his colleagues and sent it to Lencho.
10. After some days, Lencho went to the post office to receive the money as the postmaster watched him.
11. He opened the letter and was happy to find the money. He counted and found it was only seventy pesos.
12. He immediately went to the counter and asked for a pen and paper, wrote a few lines and posted the letter.
13. When the postmaster opened the letter, it said: “Oh! Thanks for sending the money. But I have received only seventy pesos. Next time you please send the money directly to me. The people at the post office are a bunch of crooks. They have taken the thirty pesos.”

Two details hold the sequence together. The first letter asks for a hundred pesos before any money exists. The second letter, written after the seventy arrive, complains about the missing thirty. Keep those two letters apart and the rest of the order falls into place.

The extrapolation task that follows asks you to turn this summary into a graphic description. The book supplies the first panel — “Lencho in his corn field” — and leaves panels B, C and D for you to draw, choosing the moments of the story that matter most.

The Trader and the Tailor: The Rumi Tale Paired with Lencho

Text I is a second reading text — a short tale by the Sufi poet Rumi (NCERT, pp. 4–5). It gives the unit its central contrast: the tailor’s cunning is the exact opposite of Lencho’s innocence.

• A tailor is famous for being light-fingered — he steals from everyone.
• A boastful trader swears the tailor could not take even a coil of thread without his knowledge, and wagers an Arab horse on it.
• The trader brings a piece of satin and asks for a coat — wide below the navel, and tight above to show off his figure.
• The tailor flatters him, chats about other noblemen, and tells joke after joke until the trader is laughing helplessly with his eyes shut.
• All the while he snips extra cloth, tucks pieces under his thighs, and stitches a swatch of satin to the hem of his own clothes.
• The closing verse warns: whoever becomes the slave of the jest is the most laughable person of all.
• The tailor ends the visit with a threat — one more tale and the coat will be too tight, and the trader will weep tears of blood.

The pairing does the teaching. Lencho is cheated by nature and answers with faith; the trader is cheated by a sharper man and answers with foolishness. Page 11 makes the comparison explicit, and the writing task asks you to draw both character sketches.

Vocabulary: New Words in the Text and the Light Words Exercise

Two vocabulary tasks run through pages 4–6: the Look Up and Understand sets that follow the tale, and the light words exercise. Here are plain definitions, then the completed blanks.

The first set comes from the opening of the tale (NCERT, p. 4):

• Beguiling — charming in a way that makes you drop your guard.
• Cordiality — warm friendliness.
• Hamper — to restrict movement.
• Snipping — cutting with quick, small cuts.
• Wagered — bet (past tense).

The second set comes from the ending of the tale (NCERT, p. 5):

• Filching — stealing, usually bit by bit.
• Incredible — so surprising it is hard to believe.
• Swatch — a small sample of cloth.
• Unhinged — thrown off balance, mentally or emotionally unsettled.

Page 6 adds light-fingered, meaning inclined to steal things — the word that introduces the whole tale. Then comes the light words exercise, which tests how one root word shifts meaning in different compounds. The completed answers (NCERT, p. 6):

Before that exercise, the unit has a one-line word-play box: “Thank you for noticing this notice. Your noticing has been noted.” It plays on the two meanings of notice — to observe, and a written announcement — and it is worth reading aloud to catch the joke (NCERT, p. 6).

Grammar: Relative Clauses, Completed

A relative clause is a group of words that joins two ideas about the same person or thing, using who, which or that. The grammar task on page 7 gives eleven half-sentences and a box of clauses (NCERT, p. 7). Here they are matched:

Use who for people and which for things; that can serve for both. The clause exists to identify which person or thing you mean — “the scientist who won the Nobel Prize” is a particular scientist, not any scientist.

Editing and Proofreading: Symbols and Missing Words

Editing means reading your own writing the way an editor reads someone else’s. The unit gives four proofreading marks on page 7: give space, put a full stop, insert comma, and insert new word. It also tells you that more such symbols appear on pages 140–141 (NCERT, p. 7).

The editing task on page 8 imagines Lencho actually receiving a hundred pesos and writing a thank-you letter to God, with one word missing from each line (NCERT, p. 8). The book gives no answer key, so treat these as suggested completions:

The tone matters as much as the missing words. This letter is written after the money has arrived, so Lencho writes as a grateful man — thanking, not demanding or accusing.

Figure Walkthrough: The Raavi and Mohini Portraits

Page 13 is the only illustrated page in the unit, and both images are the raw material for the second writing task (NCERT, p. 13).

The first image sets out two columns of bare facts. Raavi is an engineer in a manufacturing firm who likes to make, fix and repair things, is congenial and supportive, watches television, goes to the movies three times a month and walks every morning.

Mohini is a playback singer who loves music and reading, likes being with people and joining social functions, and is firm and a lady with a purpose.

The second image is the instruction that follows: choose one of the two and write a description, using the process approach. Together the two images teach the central idea of the task — a portrait is not a list of facts. You must turn the facts into a flowing description by choosing adjectives, ordering the points and revising.

The process approach table on page 14 gives the six stages (NCERT, p. 14):

The distinction to remember: drafting focuses on content, proofreading on form. That separation is the whole point of the process approach.

Writing in This Unit: Character Sketch and Portrait

The writing section holds the two longest tasks in the unit — a character sketch and a portrait. They test the same skill from two directions.

Task one: the character sketch (NCERT, pp. 11–12). The book’s method is shown in its first example row: Lencho lost all his crops, so he is helpless and prays to God. Every row works the same way — an action on the left, the quality it reveals on the right. The table then prompts you: How does he manage the situation?

Does he harm anyone by his action? How do others think of him? What is your judgement of him?

One reasonable way to finish Lencho’s rows:

And for the tailor:

Put the two side by side and the contrast writes itself. Lencho is naive with immense faith; the tailor is a cunning thief. Lencho’s loss drives him to trust God; the trader’s boast lets the tailor rob him. That exact contrast is what your two-column sketch should show.

Task two: the portrait (NCERT, pp. 13–14). Use the six stages from the process approach. Pick Raavi or Mohini, brainstorm descriptive adjectives from the table — congenial, supportive, firm, purposeful — then outline, draft, revise, proofread and write the final copy. The two figures above show both pages of raw material and instruction.

Listening, Speaking and the Project: The Skill Blocks

Three shorter blocks finish the unit. Each can be done with a partner, and each feeds into the next.

Listening: The Race (NCERT, pp. 8–9). This is a paired dictation. The story is split into 16 sentences — Story A holds the odd numbers and Story B the even ones. Partner A reads sentence 1 aloud while Partner B writes it down; then Partner B reads sentence 2, and so on until the story is complete.

Finally each partner reads their written half back to check.

The story is a fable set in Machlipatti. Every evening the animals sit under the banyan tree. One day Kho-Kho, the rabbit, is bored and challenges the others to a race; Choo-Choo, the rat, accepts. The route runs from the peepul tree to the neem tree, Coocku the cock starts the race, and Kho-Kho runs far ahead.

Near the finishing point, Choo-Choo jumps over Kho-Kho’s shoulder and touches the neem tree first, and everyone cheers for him.

The surprise ending matters here. Just as the tailor beats the boastful trader with a trick, the small rat beats the fast rabbit with a smarter move — a pattern worth noticing for the discussion tasks.

Speaking: Man vs Nature (NCERT, pp. 10–11). The speaking block names the story’s central conflict. The hailstorm that destroys Lencho’s crop is nature overwhelming human effort, so the unit asks you to discuss other natural calamities with a partner, collect photographs and prepare a visual presentation.

Then you write a short poem on man versus nature and read it aloud with proper stress and intonation.

Norman Littleford’s poem is the model. It wonders whether thunder and lightning are “God getting angry” or “Nature’s big surprise”, then turns critical of humanity — digging up Nature’s treasures, taking everything and never giving back, building across the countryside while Mother Nature cannot progress. You can borrow that two-part structure for your own poem.

Project (NCERT, pp. 15–16). The project asks you to find an inspiring person in your neighbourhood and interview them about their childhood, education, job, likes and dislikes, their contribution to their village, town or country, and their interesting features. You request their pictures, write their portrait and present it to the class.

The unit also explains how to run project work: read books and newspapers, listen to the radio, watch television, consult websites and encyclopedias, talk to people, observe events, interview, record audio or video, and collect pictures. It tells you to write field notes, bring your ideas to class discussion, and use language meaningfully.

One warning is firm — learners should do the project themselves, not ask parents to do it or buy readymade products from the market, though they may seek information and help from family. Once the material is collected, plan it, organise it, write the draft and edit it before presenting.

Common Mistakes Students Make in This Unit

Each of these is a mistake the unit’s design almost invites. Name it before you make it (NCERT, pp. 1, 4, 7, 8, 11, 14):

Exam Notes: What Carries Over from This Unit

The skills trained here — relative clauses, vocabulary, proofreading discipline and descriptive writing — transfer directly to grammar and writing questions. The character sketch and portrait tasks belong to the same family as the descriptive and analytical paragraph writing in the board’s writing section: the transferable skill is organising details into a flowing description rather than a list.

No marks are promised here, and no question can be guaranteed. Textbook contents and the examinable syllabus are not always identical, so check the current official syllabus for your session. The Class 10 English notes hub collects the First Flight chapters this unit draws on.

Revision Summary: This Unit in One Sitting

This ten-minute plan follows the unit’s own order, so you always know what remains:

1. Reread the First Flight story of Lencho; the unit reuses it from page 1.
2. Rebuild the sequence from the jumbled summary, keeping the two letters apart.
3. Read the Rumi tale and contrast the tailor with Lencho.
4. Run the two vocabulary sets — text words and light words.
5. Complete the relative clause table; remember person = who, thing = which.
6. Edit Lencho’s letter using the proofreading symbols from page 7.
7. Try The Race listening activity with a partner.
8. Speak on man versus nature and read the Littleford poem aloud.
9. Write either the character sketch or the portrait using the six stages.
10. Decide on a project and start collecting material.

Related Resources and Source

This listing is maintained for the 2026-27 academic session using the NCERT textbook information available to us. NCERT remains the authority for confirming the latest edition.

This page covers the workbook unit, not the First Flight story itself. For the chapter that this unit practises, see the Class 10 English notes. The Class 10 notes hub holds study material across subjects, and the Nelson Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom Class 10 notes offer a useful comparison — a speech-based narrative against Lencho’s letter-based one.

Everything on this site is listed in the main CBSE notes index.

The official source is NCERT: browse the whole book on the NCERT textbook portal, or download the unit PDF directly from ncert.nic.in.

Reference: NCERT Class 10 English textbook — Words and Expressions 2, Unit 1, official edition on ncert.nic.in.

Sources and Data Verification

• This page describes the NCERT Class 10 English workbook Words and Expressions 2, Unit 1, A Letter to God.
• The unit runs 16 pages in the official NCERT PDF, published on ncert.nic.in.
• The listing is maintained for the current academic session using the NCERT book as published; it has not been reviewed by external subject experts.
• NCERT settles textbook editions and PDFs; CBSE settles the syllabus and examinations.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Unit 1 of Words and Expressions 2 the same as the A Letter to God chapter in First Flight?

No — it is the workbook unit built on that story. First Flight carries the original story of Lencho, while Words and Expressions 2 Unit 1 practises it through vocabulary, grammar, editing, listening, speaking and writing. Read the First Flight chapter first, then work through the unit.

What is the story The Trader and the Tailor about and why is it in this unit?

It is a Rumi tale about a boastful trader who bets that a tailor cannot steal from him, and loses when the tailor distracts him with flattery and jokes. The unit places it next to Lencho’s story so the tailor’s cunning contrasts with Lencho’s innocence — and the writing task on page 11 asks you to draw both characters.

What are the answers to the light words exercise in the vocabulary section?

(a) light year, (b) light-duty, (c) light-hearted, (d) light-headed, (e) light sleeper. The exercise shows how one word changes meaning when combined with different words.

What words are missing in the editing exercise in Lencho’s letter?

The book gives no answer key, but the natural completions are: (a) to, (b) grateful, (c) hope, (d) strengthened, (e) comes, (f) work. Keep the tone grateful — the money has arrived.

What is the process approach to writing explained on page 14?

It is a six-stage method: brainstorming, outlining, drafting, revising, proofreading and final draft. Drafting focuses on content, proofreading on form — that separation is the core idea.

Where can I download the official Words and Expressions 2 Unit 1 PDF?

From NCERT’s official site: the unit PDF at ncert.nic.in/ncerts/l/jewe201.pdf, or browse the whole book on the NCERT textbook portal.