Not a leaf remained on the trees. The corn was totally destroyed. The flowers were gone from the plants. Lencho's soul was filled with sadness. When the storm had passed, he stood in the middle of the field and said to his sons, ''A plague of locusts would have left more than this. The hail has left nothing. This year we will have no corn.''
That night was a sorrowful one.
''All our work, for nothing.''
''There's no one who can help us.''
''We'll all go hungry this year.''
Read the following extract and answer the questions.
Generated by claude-sonnet-4-6 · 2026-06-14 11:18 · grounding stimulus+chapter
Model Answer
(i) C — There was a hailstorm.
(ii) Lencho felt devastated when he saw his destroyed corn fields.
(iii) Lencho refers to all the hard labour he and his family had put in throughout the farming season — ploughing, sowing, and tending the crops. The violent hailstorm destroyed the corn completely, making all their effort utterly worthless. They would earn nothing and face hunger.
(iv) Lencho says a plague of locusts would have left more than the hail because locusts eat only the crops but do not destroy every single leaf, flower, or plant entirely. The hailstorm, however, left absolutely nothing — stripping the trees bare and wiping out the corn completely. A locust attack would have caused less total devastation than the hailstorm did.
Source: A Letter to God, First Flight (Chapter 1)
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Explanation
- (i) The extract clearly states "Not a leaf remained on the trees" due to the hailstorm — option C is directly supported.
- (ii) "Devastated" fits because "Lencho's soul was filled with sadness." "Jubilant" means joyful — the opposite.
- (iii) 2-mark answer needs ~40 words: identify what work (farming labour) and why it is wasted (hailstorm destroyed everything). Don't just restate the quote.
- (iv) Key contrast to draw: locusts damage crops partially; the hailstorm left nothing at all — use Lencho's own words as evidence. One crisp paragraph is enough for 1 mark.