The First Christmas-Tree quiz

Questions and answers

1. 1

   Question 1. What kind of story is The First Christmas-Tree?

   • Fable: a short animal story with a lesson at the end
   • Correct answer: Legend: an old story that tells how something began
   • Tall tale: a funny story full of big, silly boasts
   • True story: a report of what really happened to people

   Legend is the best fit. A legend is an old story that tells how something began. This one tells how the first Christmas tree grew, from a branch of the fir-tree by the door. Lucy Wheelock, a kindergarten teacher, retold it for children.

   Read the passage
2. 2

   Question 2. Who is outside when one of the children opens the door?

   • Correct answer: A child with no shoes, in thin and ragged clothes
   • An old man with a lantern, asking for the way
   • A lost puppy, shaking in the cold and the dark
   • A neighbor with a basket of bread for supper

   Outside "stood a child with no shoes upon his feet and clad in thin, ragged garments." He was shaking from the cold. "He was shivering with cold, and he asked to come in and warm himself."

   Read the passage
3. 3

   Question 3. Where do the two children sleep that night?

   • In their own bed, right next to the stranger
   • Up in the loft, on a pile of soft, dry hay
   • Correct answer: On a hard bench, after giving up their bed
   • On the floor by the fire, under a blanket

   The children gave the stranger their own bed. "They drew the little stranger to their warm seat and shared their supper with him, and gave him their bed, while they slept on a hard bench."

   Read the passage
4. 4

   Question 4. Match the word to its meaning in the story: "All at once they heard a timid knock at the door"

   • Loud and bold, not shy at all
   • Quick and happy, full of fun
   • Slow and tired, half asleep
   • Correct answer: Quiet and shy, not bold

   Timid means quiet and shy. A timid knock is soft and gentle, not loud and bold.

   Read the passage
5. 5

   Question 5. What wakes the children up in the night?

   • A second loud knock at the door
   • Correct answer: Sweet music in the night air
   • The stranger crying with cold
   • Bells ringing from far away

   "In the night they were awakened by strains of sweet music." When they looked out, "they saw a band of children in shining garments, approaching the house." The children "were playing on golden harps and the air was full of melody."

   Read the passage
6. 6

   Question 6. Match the word to its meaning in the story: "no longer cold and ragged, but clad in silvery light"

   • Correct answer: Dressed, as if in clothes
   • Glad, as if full of joy
   • Hidden, as if behind a wall
   • Soaked, as if from the rain

   Clad means dressed. At first the stranger was "clad in thin, ragged garments." Now he is "clad in silvery light," as if the light were his clothes.

   Read the passage
7. 7

   Question 7. The Christ-Child names three ways he felt when he came to the door. What are they?

   • Lost, sad and lonely
   • Cold, sick and sleepy
   • Correct answer: Cold, hungry and tired
   • Hungry, wet and very afraid

   He says: "I was cold and you took Me in. I was hungry and you fed Me. I was tired and you gave Me your bed." Each one matches a gift: the place by the fire, the supper and the bed.

   Read the passage
8. 8

   Question 8. Which of these events actually happened in the story?

   • One of the children ran to open the door.

     Happened

     When they heard the knock, "one ran to open it." The story does not say which child it was.

   • The children's parents sent the stranger away.

     Didn't happen

     No grown-ups are in this story at all. Both children cried, "Yes, come in," and let him in.

   • The children shared their supper with the stranger.

     Happened

     The children "shared their supper with him." Later he says, "I was hungry and you fed Me."

   • The children gave the stranger a pair of shoes.

     Didn't happen

     He came with "no shoes upon his feet," but the story never says they gave him shoes. They gave him their place by the fire, a share of their supper and their bed.

   • The Strange Child stood before them in silvery light.

     Happened

     "Suddenly the Strange Child stood before them: no longer cold and ragged, but clad in silvery light."

   • The Christ-Child put candles on the tree.

     Didn't happen

     The story has no candles. He broke a branch, planted it in the ground and disappeared. The tree "bore wonderful fruit," and the story does not say what kind.

   • The Christ-Child broke a branch from the fir-tree near the door.

     Happened

     "He broke a branch from the fir-tree that grew near the door, and He planted it in the ground."

   • The children cut down a tree and carried it inside.

     Didn't happen

     Nobody cuts down a tree. The branch was planted in the ground outside, and "the branch grew into a great tree."

   Read the passage
9. 9

   Question 9. What happens to the branch the Christ-Child plants in the ground?

   • It turns to gold and shines by the door all night
   • It is carried inside and hung with bright lights
   • It grows into a small bush that blooms each spring
   • Correct answer: It grows into a great tree that bears fruit every year

   The story ends: "And the branch grew into a great tree, and every year it bore wonderful fruit for the kind children." The story does not say what the fruit was.

   Read the passage
10. 10

    Question 10. Many readers see a lesson in this story. Which lesson fits it best?

    • Never open your door to a stranger at night
    • Correct answer: Kindness to a stranger comes back to you
    • Keep your warm bed and supper for yourself
    • Only grown-ups should help people in need

    The story never states a lesson in so many words, but many readers see this one. The children gave a cold stranger their warm seat and their bed, and they shared their supper with him. Then he said, "As you have given to Me, so may this tree every year give rich fruit to you." Their kindness came back to them.

    Read the passage