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NCERT Solutions Poorvi Chapter 4 –169The Cherry Tree (Ruskin Bond) — Let us learn

Book page 166 Updated on2026-09-05

Q1.
I. Each word list has one word that does not match with the other words. Identify the odd word. — 1. chop, trim, slice, mince (example)
Answer

The odd word is trim.

The book's reason: 'chop', 'slice' and 'mince' are words used for cutting with a knife; whereas 'trim' is to cut a part with a pair of scissors.

Read the example carefully — it tells you the rule of the whole exercise. You are not looking for the word with a different meaning. You are looking for the word that does not belong to the same group as the other three. Here all four mean 'cut', but three of them share a tool and a purpose (a knife, in the kitchen) and one does not.
Q2.
I. 2. plodded, galloped, scrambled, trudged
Answer

The odd word is galloped.

Why: 'Plodded', 'trudged' and 'scrambled' all describe movement that takes effort — heavy, slow or awkward going. Rakesh 'plodded to and from school in raincoat and chappals' through the monsoon, and the grass-cutter 'scrambled down the hillside'. 'Galloped' is the opposite: it is fast, free and easy running, used chiefly of a horse.
Tip: Do not be tricked by speed. 'Scrambled' is quick too — but it is quick with difficulty, which is why it keeps company with 'plodded' and 'trudged'.
Q3.
I. 3. tender, delicate, soft, smooth
Answer

The odd word is smooth.

Why: 'Tender', 'delicate' and 'soft' all suggest something easily damaged — the tree's 'tender green leaves', a delicate blossom, soft yielding earth. 'Smooth' describes only the surface of a thing: it means having no roughness or bumps. Rakesh touches 'the smooth bark of the tree', and that bark is not fragile at all.
Q4.
I. 4. stared, peered, pecked, gazed
Answer

The odd word is pecked.

Why: 'Stared', 'peered' and 'gazed' are all ways of looking — looking fixedly, looking with difficulty, looking with admiration. 'Pecked' is not a way of looking at all: it is what a bird does with its beak. In the story, 'tiny birds pecked at the blossoms and broke them off'.
Q5.
I. 5. growing, blossoming, progressing, planting
Answer

The odd word is planting.

Why: 'Growing', 'blossoming' and 'progressing' all name a process of development that continues by itself once it has begun. 'Planting' is a single deliberate act performed by a person — and it is the act that starts the others off. That is exactly the shape of this story: Rakesh plants once, and the tree does the growing.
Q6.
II. Choose the most suitable taste words given in the box below and write against the food items that follow. [sweet, sour, tangy, bitter, spicy, salty, bland (tasteless)] — 1. tamarind 2. jaggery 3. neem leaves 4. paneer (cottage cheese) 5. lemon 6. pickle 7. a dish of vegetables. Now, use any five taste words and make sentences of your own.
Answer

There are seven food items and seven taste words, so each word is used once:

Food itemTaste wordWhy
1. tamarindtangysharp and mouth-puckering, but with a fruity edge — the word Bond uses for the cherry is the same family: 'until all the tang had gone'
2. jaggerysweetunrefined cane sugar
3. neem leavesbitterthe standard example of bitterness in Indian kitchens
4. paneer (cottage cheese)bland (tasteless)plain paneer has almost no taste of its own — that is why it takes on masala so well
5. lemonsourpure acidity, no sweetness behind it
6. picklespicyachaar is loaded with chilli and mustard
7. a dish of vegetablessaltya cooked sabzi is seasoned with salt as its base taste
Check it yourself: Several of these could swap — tamarind is also called sour, pickle is also salty and tangy. If your teacher allows more than one word per item, say which and why. But if each word may be used only once, the table above is the arrangement that leaves no word unused and no item badly matched.

Now, five sentences of my own:

  1. Sweet: Amma stirred a lump of jaggery into the payasam until it turned sweet and golden.
  2. Sour: The raw mango was so sour that my eyes watered at the first bite.
  3. Bitter: My grandmother says the bitter taste of karela is exactly what makes it good for you.
  4. Spicy: The bhel at the corner stall is far too spicy for my little brother.
  5. Bland: Hospital food is deliberately bland so that it is easy to digest.
Q7.
III. Choose the correct antonyms for the textual words given below from the box. There are two extra words that you will not need. [growing, ordinary, unprotected, cheerful, hard, wide, fasting, shaky, fussing, coldness] — 1. tender 2. sturdy 3. narrow 4. warmth 5. feasting 6. grumpy 7. sheltered 8. special
Answer
Word from the textAntonymWhere the word appears in the story
1. tenderhard'several new shoots with tender green leaves'
2. sturdyshaky'a sturdy boy with curly black hair'
3. narrowwide'narrow terraced fields on the lower slopes'
4. warmthcoldnessGrandfather came out 'to let some warmth get into my bones'
5. feastingfastingthe bulbuls and minivets 'feasting on the cherries'
6. grumpycheerful'this made Grandfather quite grumpy'
7. shelteredunprotected'on the more sheltered slopes there were forests of oak and deodar'
8. specialordinary'What's so special about this tree?'

The two extra words not needed are growing and fussing.

Why 'hard' and not 'sturdy' for tender: Both look possible at first. But 'sturdy' is already the answer-word for line 2, and an antonym must match the word's sense in the text. There, 'tender' describes new leaves that are soft to the touch — so its opposite belongs to the same scale of touch, which is 'hard'.
Q8.
IV. Read the following lines from the text and underline all the verbs and identify the form of tense. 1. Rakesh was on his way home from school when he bought the cherries. 2. Rakesh was looking for Grandfather without finding him in any of his favourite places around the house. 3. Rakesh and Grandfather gazed at the tree as though it had performed a miracle.
Answer
SentenceVerbs (underlined)Tense
1. Rakesh was on his way home from school when he bought the cherries.was, boughtSimple Past Tense
2. Rakesh was looking for Grandfather without finding him in any of his favourite places around the house.was lookingPast Progressive Tense
3. Rakesh and Grandfather gazed at the tree as though it had performed a miracle.gazed / had performedSimple Past Tense (gazed) + Past Perfect Tense (had performed)

The book states it this way: the forms of tenses in the given statements are Simple Past Tense (1 and 3), Past Progressive Tense (2), and Past Perfect Tense (3).

Why sentence 3 needs two tenses: The gazing and the 'miracle' did not happen at the same moment. The blossom appeared first; the gazing came after. Past perfect (had + past participle) is what English uses to push one past event further back than another past event. Without it, the sentence would lose its order.
Tip: 'Finding' in sentence 2 is a gerund after the preposition 'without', not a finite verb — so it carries no tense of its own.
Q9.
IV. Now, fill in the blanks with the correct form of Simple Past, Past Progressive, or Past Perfect Tenses of the verbs given in brackets. One example has been done for you. — (i) I was sitting (sit) with my grandparents in the garden, sharing the wonderful memories from my childhood. As we (ii) ______ (talk), I (iii) ______ (realise) how much wisdom they (iv) ______ (impart) to me over the years. While I (v) ______ (listen) to their stories for hours together, I (vi) ______ (remember) the times we (vii) ______ (spend) together planting flowers and learning about life. By the time I left, the sun (viii) ______ (set), and I (ix) ______ (feel) a deep sense of gratitude for the bond we (x) ______ (nurture) through love, care, and countless memories.
Answer
BlankAnswerTense and reason
(i)was sittingPast Progressive — given as the example; an action in progress
(ii)talkedSimple Past — 'As we talked' sets the moment during which the next thing happened
(iii)realisedSimple Past — a single completed moment of understanding
(iv)had impartedPast Perfect — 'over the years', i.e. before the realising
(v)was listeningPast Progressive — 'While I…' signals an action stretching over time
(vi)rememberedSimple Past — what happened during that stretch
(vii)had spentPast Perfect — those times were earlier still
(viii)had setPast Perfect — 'By the time I left' explicitly puts the sunset before the leaving
(ix)feltSimple Past — the feeling at the moment of leaving
(x)had nurturedPast Perfect — the bond was built up before that day
The rule behind every choice: Fix one moment as 'now-in-the-past' — here, the afternoon in the garden. Anything happening at that moment takes simple past; anything in progress across it takes past progressive; anything that was already over before it takes past perfect. Every blank in this paragraph is decided by that single test.
Also acceptable: (ii) were talking. 'As we were talking, I realised…' is perfectly good English; 'talked' is simply the tidier fit beside the past progressive already used in (i) and (v).
Q10.
V. Now, punctuate the following paragraph appropriately. — every sunday roshni would visit her grandparents house on their farm / come sit grandpa would say patting the bench on their porch / roshni loved these moments where the world slowed down and stories flowed like magic grandma would bring tea her eyes twinkling with joy / im excited to hear about your younger days the adventures the lessons and the memories roshni said eagerly / grandpa smiled softly his wrinkled hands resting on the cane ah the old days… when everything was simple and happiness was all we had / roshni could feel the warmth of those memories he sat in silence bound not by words but by a timeless bond
Answer

The punctuated paragraph:

Every Sunday, Roshni would visit her grandparents' house on their farm.

“Come, sit,” Grandpa would say, patting the bench on their porch.

Roshni loved these moments, where the world slowed down and stories flowed like magic. Grandma would bring tea, her eyes twinkling with joy.

“I'm excited to hear about your younger days—the adventures, the lessons and the memories,” Roshni said eagerly.

Grandpa smiled softly, his wrinkled hands resting on the cane. “Ah, the old days… when everything was simple and happiness was all we had.”

Roshni could feel the warmth of those memories. He sat in silence, bound not by words but by a timeless bond.

Every change, and the rule behind it:

MarkWhere it was neededRule
Capital lettersEvery, Roshni, Grandpa, Grandma, Sunday, Come, I'm, Ahsentence beginnings; names of people; days of the week; the first-person pronoun 'I'
Apostrophegrandparents' house; I'mpossession (the house of the grandparents — plural noun already ending in -s, so apostrophe only) and contraction (I am → I'm)
Quotation marks“Come, sit,”   “I'm excited…”   “Ah, the old days…”they enclose direct speech
CommaEvery Sunday, / Come, sit / would say, patting / these moments, where / bring tea, her eyes / smiled softly, his wrinkled hands / Ah, the old days / in silence, bound not by wordsseparates an introductory phrase, an address or exclamation, items in a list, and a following participle phrase
Dashyounger days—the adventuresintroduces an elaboration with emphasis
Full stopat the end of every statementends a declarative sentence
Why the dash and not a colon: Either would be defensible. A colon would present 'the adventures, the lessons and the memories' as a plain list; the dash gives the pause a little excitement, which suits a speaker who has just said 'I'm excited'. Punctuation is not only about correctness — it is about pace.
Check it yourself: The last line reads 'he sat in silence' in the book, although 'bound not by words but by a timeless bond' clearly describes two people. If your teacher allows it, 'They sat in silence' is the more natural reading. Punctuate what is printed, but it is worth noticing the slip.
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