The Gift of the Magi
By. O Henry
1
Jim and Della Dillingham Young are a husband and wife hying m a rented room.
New York. They were quite poor and recently Jim has had his salary cut back to only
$20 from the $30 a week he used to make After rent and groceries the couple had
hardly any money left.
2
Now Jim and Della had two possessions m which they both took great pride.
One was Jim’s gold watch that had been his father s and grandfather’s The other was
Dell’s long beautiful hair.
3
It was Christmas the next day and Deila wanted to buy Jim a present a gold
watch cha n for his watch. She felt bad because she only had $1.87 So she decided to
sell her hair to a woman who makes wigs and other hair articles The woman paid Della
$20 for her hair . The net chain cost $21 so she now had enough money. She bought
the chain to give to Jim. She went home and prepared Jim’s Dinner and waited for him
to come. She was bit worried that Jim would be shocked when he sees her with all her
beautiful hair cut off.
4
When Jim came home he looked shocked when he saw Delia with short hair. He
stared at her in a strange way and it scared her. She explained to Jim, how she sold her
hair to buy a nice Christmas present Jim told her not to worry. And that nothing could
change his love for her. The reason he was shocked to see her without her long hair was
that he also wanted to get a nice Christmas present for Della. Then he gave her the
present wrapped in paper and Della unwrapped it Jim had bought her a set of
beautiful combs for her beautiful hair.
5
Della had seen the combs in a shop before out they were so expensive. How
was Jim able to afford them? Suddenly, she remembered Jim s gift. She gave him the
gold chain. The chain was beautiful but when Della asked Jim to pull in on his watch
Jim had a surprise to- Delia too. He sold his gold watch to buy Delia her nice combs.
6
The Magi were wise men who brought gifts to the Christ Child. They were the first
to give presents at Christmas time. In a way, Delia and Jim were like the Magi. They sold
their greatest treasures to buy gifts for one another. It didn’t even matter now that
presents were useless. For with the combs and the chain watch they gave each other
their love— and that was the wisest gift of all
Answer the questions correctly, Write the letter of the correct answer on the blank.
_______1. Where was the story set?
A. Los Angeles
B. New York
C. New Jersey
D. San Francisco
_______2. What can we infer about Jim and Della’s gift giving plans?
A. They kept their plans secret from each other.
B. They had a big budget for their gifts.
C. They look for shops with Christmas sales.
D. They consulted others for the best gift idea.
_______3. The following details are stated from the paragraph 4, EXCEPT?
A. Jim came home he looked shocked when he saw Delia with short hair.
B. Jim stared at her in a strange way and it scared her.
C. Jim works for that day.
D. Jim still loved Della even with short hair.
_______4. Based on the story what can we infer to Della?
A. did not care much about cutting his hair.
B. did not care what Jim could think of her short hair.
C. kept asking for Jim to buy her combs.
D. the one that took care of the household.
_______5.What was the twist of the story?
A. They bought gifts that turned out to be useless.
B. They ended up having a sad Christmas.
C. They had even less money than before.
D. They sold the gifts again to get their money back.
Short responses.
Who are the characters in the story?
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What was the problem in the story?
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If you were Della, would you do the same for Jim? Why?
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What was the best gift you received?
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What is the moral of the story?
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