Grade 8 (A2) · Personal story · 227 words

Grandpa's Olive Tree

A personal story about Shira, who planted an olive tree with her grandfather on Tu BiShvat, forgot about it and returned to it nine years later.

Tap any word to hear it · dotted words have a definition in the glossary

🎧 Listen

1When I was six, my grandfather David took me to a hill near his moshav on Tu BiShvat. He carried a small olive tree in a pot, and I carried a of water that was almost as big as me.

2Grandpa a hole, and I put the tree inside. Together we the around it with our hands. "Why are we planting such a tiny tree?" I asked. "It will take years before it gives any olives." Grandpa laughed. "I'm not planting it for me," he said. "I'm planting it for you."

3I didn't understand what he meant. For the next few years we visited the tree every Tu BiShvat. Then Grandpa got older and found it hard to walk up the hill, and I got busy with school and friends. Slowly, I forgot about the tree.

4Last winter, when I was fifteen, I went back to the hill by myself. At first I couldn't find it. Then I saw it — taller than me, with a thick and leaves, and with a few small green olives on its .

5I took a photo and showed it to Grandpa. He looked at it for a long time and didn't say a word. Then he smiled. Now I finally understood him. This Tu BiShvat, I'm going to plant a tree with my little sister.

📘 Glossary

bucket - a container for carrying water
dug - made a hole in the ground
pressed - pushed down firmly
earth - soil
trunk - the thick main part of a tree
silver - with a shiny grey colour
branches - the parts that grow out from a tree trunk

Questions

Finding details
1. What kind of tree did Shira and her grandfather plant?
Making inferences
2. "a bucket of water that was almost as big as me" shows that…
Finding details
3. Why was Shira surprised that they were planting such a tiny tree?
Reference words
4. In paragraph 2, the word "it" in "I'm not planting it for me" refers to…
Finding details
5. Why did they stop visiting the tree?
Finding details
6. Write TWO details that describe the tree when Shira saw it again.
Making inferences
7. What did Grandpa mean when he said "I'm planting it for you"?
Making inferences
8. When Grandpa looked at the photo and "didn't say a word", he was probably…
Making inferences
9. Why does Shira want to plant a tree with her little sister?

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