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Class 6 English · Original EZT practice

A Friend's Prayer (Class 6 English Chapter 5): a poem about being a true friend

May my friendships always be the most important thing to me. In this short prayer-poem from Poorvi Unit 2, Jill Wolf asks for the wisdom to be a true friend - to give her best, share hopes and plans, help friends' wishes come true, see with the heart, and love friends the way they are. Below: a stanza-wise explanation, word meanings and practice questions. (Note: this is original practice, not a textbook exercise key.)

6 original worked examples, 6 fresh self-check questions and 4 mixed questions, with explained answers. These are not copied textbook exercises, an official chapter index or a full answer key. No affiliation with NCERT is claimed.

Official sources for topic and edition context, checked 22 October 2026:

1. Poem summary and central idea

The speaker prays that her friendships always matter most to her. She wants to give her very best, do all a friend can do to make friends' wishes come true, and accept friends without judging them.

2. Stanza-wise explanation

Stanza 1 - friendship should be the most important thing, and she feels blessed. Stanza 2 - she wants to do much more than share hopes and plans, and help friends' wishes come true. Stanza 3 - she wants to see with her heart, not judge from afar, and love friends as they are.

3. Word meanings and friendship qualities

The chapter builds feeling-words around friendship - blessed (grateful, thankful) - and lists the qualities of good friends: loyal, helpful, kind, caring, honest.

4. Reading a poem - practice

The poem uses short rhyming couplets (be/me, blessed/best, share/care). Reading aloud in pairs helps students feel the rhythm and pick the lines they agree with.

Choose, solve, check, then try a fresh question.

Before calculating, read the method prompt and name the condition that makes it useful. Write your own attempt. Open the steps only when you need them, and use the check to catch a wrong sign, unit or interpretation. Finish with the fresh question before reading its answer.

State the central idea

Choose the method: A promise to be a good friend.

EZT practice question

What is the central idea of 'A Friend's Prayer'?

Show the worked solution
  1. The poet prays to value friendship above everything.
  2. She wants to give her best and help friends' wishes come true.
  3. And she wants to love friends the way they are, without judging from afar.

Answer: The poem is a promise to be a good friend - to value friendship above everything, give one's best to friends, and love them the way they are without judging from afar.

Check: Every stanza serves this one promise - value, give, accept - which is what makes it a prayer.

Watch for this: Do not describe the poem as a story about friends - nothing happens in it; it is a prayer about being one.

Now try it yourself

Which line shows that friendship comes first for the poet?

Check your answer

'May my friendships always be / The most important thing to me.'

The opening couplet states the poem's whole wish.

Back to topic index

Interpret a key line

Choose the method: Ask what seeing with the heart means.

EZT practice question

What does the poet mean by 'Let me use my heart to see'?

Show the worked solution
  1. Seeing with the eyes alone can mislead.
  2. She wants to understand her friends with love and empathy - to 'realise what friends can be'.
  3. That means not judging by appearances or from a distance.

Answer: She wants to understand her friends with love and empathy - to realise what friends can be - rather than judging them by appearances or from a distance.

Check: The next line completes the thought: love my friends the way they are - acceptance, not judgement.

Watch for this: Do not take 'heart to see' literally - it is a way of saying understand with love.

Now try it yourself

How does the poet want to love her friends?

Check your answer

'The way they are' - without trying to change them.

Acceptance is the poem's closing wish.

Back to topic index

Choose the closest meaning

Choose the method: Test each option against the poem.

EZT practice question

From excited, grateful, understood, thankful, relaxed - which words are closest in meaning to 'blessed' in the poem?

Show the worked solution
  1. The poet says, 'With special friends I feel I'm blessed.'
  2. She is counting her good fortune in having such friends.
  3. Grateful and thankful match that feeling of lucky gratitude.

Answer: Grateful and thankful - the poet feels lucky and full of gratitude for her special friends.

Check: Excited and relaxed describe moods, not gratitude - they do not fit the line's feeling.

Watch for this: Do not pick 'understood' - the line is about her friends being a gift, not about being understood.

Now try it yourself

What does the poet call herself in 'With special friends I feel I'm blessed'?

Check your answer

Blessed - lucky and thankful to have special friends.

The word carries the poem's grateful tone.

Back to topic index

Complete the poet's wish

Choose the method: Read the couplet whole.

EZT practice question

What does the poet want to do 'much more than share'?

Show the worked solution
  1. Find the line: 'I want to do much more than share.'
  2. Read on to the next line for what is shared.
  3. 'The hopes and plans of friends who care.'

Answer: The hopes and plans of friends who care.

Check: Sharing hopes and plans is only the start - the stanza goes on to making wishes come true.

Watch for this: Do not stop at the first line - the answer lives in the line that completes it.

Now try it yourself

What will the poet try to do for her friends' wishes?

Check your answer

'All that a friend can do / To make their wishes come true.'

The couplet turns sharing into active help.

Back to topic index

Pick the rhyming pairs

Choose the method: Read the line endings aloud.

EZT practice question

Pick the rhyming pairs from the poem's first four lines.

Show the worked solution
  1. Line endings: be, me, blessed, best.
  2. be rhymes with me.
  3. blessed rhymes with best.

Answer: be - me; blessed - best.

Check: The poem is built of such couplets - share/care is another pair later in the poem.

Watch for this: Do not pair be with blessed - rhyme works on line endings, not on where words sit in the stanza.

Now try it yourself

Find the rhyming words in 'I want to do much more than share / The hopes and plans of friends who care.'

Check your answer

share - care.

Same ending sound, classic couplet.

Back to topic index

Name the qualities of a good friend

Choose the method: Five words the chapter lists.

EZT practice question

What qualities of good friends does the chapter list?

Show the worked solution
  1. The chapter asks students to think about what makes a good friend.
  2. It lists five qualities.
  3. Loyal, helpful, kind, caring, honest.

Answer: Loyal, helpful, kind, caring and honest.

Check: The poem lives these out - giving one's best is helpful and kind; not judging is honest care.

Watch for this: Do not add qualities from other lessons - the question asks for the chapter's own list.

Now try it yourself

Make a sentence with 'loyal'.

Check your answer

A loyal friend stands by you in difficult times.

Loyalty shows most when times are hard.

Back to topic index

Try a mixed set

Choose a method or explanation before opening each answer.

  1. 1. Central idea of the poem?

    Show answer and reason

    A promise to be a good friend - value friendship, give your best, love friends as they are.

    Every stanza serves that promise.

  2. 2. 'Blessed' in the poem means?

    Show answer and reason

    Grateful and thankful.

    She feels lucky to have special friends.

  3. 3. Qualities of a good friend?

    Show answer and reason

    Loyal, helpful, kind, caring, honest.

    The chapter's own list.

  4. 4. Rhyming pairs in the first four lines?

    Show answer and reason

    be - me; blessed - best.

    The poem works in rhyming couplets.

Try it yourself

Work these on paper before checking any notes. Answers are deliberately not shown here.

  1. Who wrote 'A Friend's Prayer'?
  2. What does the poet want to do 'much more than share'?
  3. What would you pray for your friend?

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Questions about this practice page

What is 'A Friend's Prayer' about?
It is a poem in which the speaker prays to be the best friend possible - giving her best, helping friends' wishes come true, and loving friends the way they are.
Who is the poet of 'A Friend's Prayer'?
Jill Wolf.
What does 'blessed' mean in the poem?
Lucky and thankful - the poet feels grateful to have special friends (closest words: grateful, thankful).
What qualities do good friends have, per this chapter?
Loyal, helpful, kind, caring and honest.
Are these the NCERT exercise questions for Class 6 English Chapter 5?
No. EZT pages are original practice following the chapter's section order - use them to prepare for the textbook exercises, not as a substitute for your book.