A bunch of cherries
Fifty paise, and a half-hour walk.
Rakesh is six, walking home from the Mussoorie bazaar with cherries that came from the Kashmir Valley.
📚 Chapter Learning Kit
The Cherry Tree · Class 8 English · Poorvi
English 3 topics 105 leveled MCQs 51 flashcards 5 games Free
Shared by a Veda teacher · Generated with Veda AI · Oct 2026
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Where he lived
Stony soil, and dry cold winds.
The foothills have stony soil and dry cold winds, so few fruit trees grow. Oak and deodar hold the sheltered slopes.
Two households
A cottage, and a village fifty miles off.
He lives with his grandfather on the outskirts of Mussoorie, because his parents’ village has no school.
The scythe
One sweep, and it was cut in two.
A woman cutting grass swept her scythe through the foliage, and the cherry tree was cut in two.
After the scythe
Maybe it will die now. Maybe.
Grandfather scolded her, but nothing could be mended. Maybe it will die now, said Rakesh.
No intention of dying
Several new shoots by summer.
The tree had no intention of dying. By summer it had sent out several shoots with tender green leaves.
📖 Smart notes
What you'll study, topic by topic
1
The Seed: a Boy, his Grandfather and One Cherry Stone
Rakesh is six, walking home from the bazaar with a bunch of cherries. His grandfather tells him that nothing kept aside is lucky, so the last seed goes into a shady corner of the garden and is forgotten.
- Rakesh is six, and walks home from the Mussoorie bazaar eating cherries that came from the Kashmir Valley.
- In the Himalayan foothills the soil is stony and dry cold winds stunt most plants, so there are few fruit trees.
- Oak and deodar forests grow on the more sheltered slopes.
~32 min · full explanation, examples & memory tricks in the app
2
The Tree: Cut in Two, and Growing Anyway
A scythe cuts the cherry tree in half and it refuses to die. Over four years it outgrows Rakesh and then his grandfather. It carries its first pale pink blossom, and ends by shading the man who told a boy to plant a seed…
- A woman cutting grass swept her scythe through the foliage and cut the cherry tree in two.
- Grandfather scolded her, but the damage could not be repaired.
- The tree had no intention of dying, and by summer it had sent out several new shoots with tender green leaves.
~34 min · full explanation, examples & memory tricks in the app
3
How the Story is Written: Tenses, Punctuation and Word Choice
Three ways of writing about the past, nine punctuation marks with the job each one does, and the careful choosing of words. Every example comes from a sentence in this story.
- The simple past states one finished action: Rakesh bought the cherries.
- The past progressive describes action going on at the time: he was looking for Grandfather.
- The past perfect describes action finished before another past action: as if it had performed a miracle.
~34 min · full explanation, examples & memory tricks in the app
❓ Leveled MCQ practice
Try the smart MCQs from this kit
105 questions laddered from warm-up to topper-level, each with an explanation. A taste:
Read these statements about the seed and the seedling. I. The seedling stood about four inches high the next spring. II. Rakesh circled it with pebbles to give it some privacy. III. Grandfather told him to water it generously every day. Which statements are correct?
Advanced
A I and II only
B II and III only
C I and III only
D I, II and III
Show answer & explanation
I and II only
The height in the spring and the ring of pebbles are both as the story has them. Grandfather warns him not to drown the seedling, so the third statement reverses the advice he was actually given.
Few fruit trees grow near Mussoorie, so the cherries Rakesh is eating have been carried a long way to the bazaar. The cherries had come all the way from ______.
Beginner
A a garden in Mussoorie
B the Kashmir Valley
C his parents’ village
D a shop in the plains
Show answer & explanation
the Kashmir Valley
All the way, as the story puts it.
Rakesh buys a bunch of cherries in the Mussoorie bazaar on his way home. What did he pay for the bunch of cherries?
Beginner
A Fifty paise
B Five rupees
C Fifteen paise
D One rupee
Show answer & explanation
Fifty paise
A small sum, carefully noted.
The slopes around Mussoorie carry oak and deodar but almost nothing at all that bears fruit. Why are there few fruit trees in the Himalayan foothills?
Intermediate
A Nobody plants them there
B The slopes are too steep to climb
C The soil is stony and cold winds stunt plants
D Goats eat every single seedling that appears there
Show answer & explanation
The soil is stony and cold winds stunt plants
Which is what makes this one tree remarkable.
🃏 Flashcards
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51 flashcards in this kit — the app reviews them with spaced repetition so the right card returns on the right day.
🎮 Learning games
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Word Match
Categorization
Fact Or Myth
Sequence Builder
Memory Match
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