1. Last week John went to Scotland on a business trip. Read his diary for last week. Then complete the report he sent to his boss using the past simple.
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6 MARCH Thursday |
|
|
am |
• fly to Edinburgh • have lunch with Scottish sales team |
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pm |
• visit two factories • discuss last series of adverts with marketing manager (not keen on them) |
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7 MARCH Friday |
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|
am |
• drive to Glasgow • meet architects – look at new office plans |
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pm |
• go to see new office building • invite architects to dinner (not free) • catch overnight train to London |
From: John Hutchings
To: Simon Sato
Subject: Visit to Scotland 6 & 7 March
I (1) …flew……. to Edinburgh on Thursday morning and (2) ………………. lunch with the Scottish sales team. Then I (3) ………………. our two factories there and (4) ………………. our last series of adverts with the marketing manager. He (5) ………………. keen on them, unfortunately.
On Friday morning I (6) ………………. to Glasgow and (7) ………………. the architects. We (8) ………………. at the new office plans and in the afternoon we (9) ………………. to see the new office building. I (10) ………………. the architects to dinner, but they (11) ………………. free.
I (12) ………………. the overnight train back to London.
Answer
2 had 3 visited 4 discussed 5 wasn’t
6 drove 7 met 8 looked 9 went
10 invited 11 weren’t 12 caught
2. Think about what you did one day last week. Complete the diary below. Then write a report using the past simple.
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am |
………………….. ………………….. |
|
lunch |
………………….. ………………….. |
|
pm |
………………….. ………………….. |
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dinner |
………………….. ………………….. |
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evening |
………………….. ………………….. |
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Day: Name: On …………………… morning …………………… …………………………………………………………….. …………………………………………………………….. …………………………………………………………….. …………………………………………………………….. …………………………………………………………….. |
Answer
See Exercise 1 for model answer.
3. Use the words given to make sentences. Do not change the order of the words. Use only the past simple or past continuous.
1 Katie: “We can’t eat it because it’s cold.”
Katie / phone / the takeaway when the pizza / arrive
… Katie phoned the takeaway when the pizza arrived. …………
2 Danny: “Sorry I’m so late.”
When Danny / arrive / we / pay / the bill
… When Danny arrived, we were paying the bill. …………
3 while he / walk / in the mountains, Harry / see / a bear
………………………………………
4 the students / play / a game when the professor / arrive
………………………………………
5 Oliver: “Please send the fire brigade!”
Oliver / phone / the fire brigade when the cooker / catch fire
………………………………………
6 when the starter / fire her pistol / the race / begin
………………………………………
7 I / walk / home when it / start / to snow
………………………………………
8 Andy / have / lunch in a cafe when Jade / phone
………………………………………
Answer
3 While he was walking in the mountains, Harry saw a bear.
4 The students were playing a game when the professor arrived.
5 Oliver phoned the fire brigade when the cooker caught fire.
6 When the starter fired her pistol, the race began.
7 I was walking home when it started to snow.
8 Andy was having lunch in a cafe when Jade phoned.
4. Choose the correct alternative.
Lucky accidents
Is it true that Sir Isaac Newton understood gravity because an apple (1) fell / was falling on his head when he (2) lay / was lying under a tree in his garden? Probably not. However, many great and small discoveries are the result of lucky accidents …
One day in 1879 chemist Constantin Fahlberg (3) didn’t wash / wasn’t washing his hands before dinner. While he (4) ate / was eating he (5) noticed / was noticing that the bread (6) tasted / was tasting sweet. The sweetness was saccharin.
Alexander Fleming (7) became / was becoming interested in the control of bacteria while he (8) worked / was working as a doctor during the First World War. In 1928 he (9) tidied / was tidying his laboratory when he (10) saw / was seeing that one of the dirty dishes (11) didn’t have / wasn’t having any bacteria on it, but that something else (12) grew / was growing there. It was penicillin.
In 1930 dietician Ruth Wakefeld (13) prepared / was preparing some cookies for guests when she (14) realised / was realising that she had no chocolate powder. She (15) decided / was deciding to use small pieces of ordinary chocolate instead. The chocolate pieces (16) didn’t melt / wasn’t melting, and the first chocolate chip cookies were a great success.
Dr Percy Spencer was a physicist in the 1940s who probably enjoyed chocolate chip cookies. He (17) walked / was walking past some equipment in the laboratory when he (18) felt / was feeling something strange in his pocket. It was his chocolate bar and it (19) melted / was melting. This accident (20) led / was leading to the invention of a new piece of cooking equipment – the microwave oven.
Answer
2 was lying 3 didn’t wash 4 was eating
5 noticed 6 tasted 7 became
8 was working 9 was tidying
10 saw 11 didn’t have
12 was growing 13 was preparing
14 realised 15 decided 16 didn’t melt
17 was walking 18 felt 19 was melting
20 led
5. Put the verbs into the correct form: past simple or past continuous.
From: Ada
To: Becky
Subject: Naomi
Hi Becky,
Guess what, my sister Naomi is married! She (1) …got…… (get) home from her round the world trip last week with a husband!! She (2) ………………. (meet) him when she (3) ………………. (travel) round New Zealand. One afternoon, while her friends (4) ………………. (shop), she (5) ………………. (go) to look round an art gallery. She (6) ………………. (look) at a small sculpture when a young man (7) ………………. (come) into the room and he (8) ………………. (start) to put it into his rucksack. She (9) ………………. (call) the security guard because she (10) ………………. (think) the man (11) ………………. (try) to steal it. She (12) ………………. (be) really embarrassed to discover that he (13) ………………. (not steal) it – it (14) ………………. (belong) to him! Anyway, he (15) ………………. (not mind) and he (16) ………………. (ask) her to go for a coffee. They (17) ………………. (get married) a month later in Bali. We (18) ………………. (not know) anything about it! Can you believe it?
He’s really nice and they are very happy together!
Love, Ada
Answer
2 met 3 was travelling 4 were shopping
5 went 6 was looking 7 came
8 started 9 called 10 thought
11 was trying 12 was 13 wasn’t stealing
14 belonged 15 didn’t mind 16 asked
17 got married 18 didn’t know
6. Here is part of the website of a rock star called Aidan Flanagan. Put the verbs into the correct form: past simple or past continuous.
AIDAN FLANAGAN
Aidan Flanagan was born in 1994 in Bray near Dublin, Ireland. In 2011 he became very seriously ill. While he (1) …was recovering…… (recover) at home, his uncle (2) ………………. (give) him an old drumkit. He enjoyed playing and practised in a friend’s garage every evening.
One day in 2013, John Leaf, the manager of several successful musicians, (3) ………………. (pass) the garage when he (4) ………………. (hear) Aidan practising. He (5) ………………. (bang) on the garage door and (6) ………………. (invite) Aidan to appear in one of the concerts he (7) ………………. (organise) that year. Aidan, however, (8) ………………. (not accept) Leaf’s invitation, because at that time he (9) ………………. (prepare) for some important school exams.
Aidan (10) ………………. (pass) his exams and (11) ………………. (go) to university to study engineering. There he (12) ………………. (meet) Kim O’Malley, who (13) ………………. (study) chemistry. Kim played the saxophone. Being students, they (14) ………………. (not have) much money and they usually (15) ………………. (work) as waiters at weekends.
One evening in April 2016, while Aidan and Kim (16) ………………. (serve) customers, the manager (17) ………………. (announce) that there would be no live music in the restaurant that night as the regular band could not come. Aidan and Kim (18) ………………. (persuade) the manager to let them play. All the customers and staff (19) ………………. (be) amazed to hear how good their music (20) ………………. (be). In the next six months Aidan and Kim (21) ………………. (earn) so much money they (22) ………………. (decide) to leave university and go on tour. Their success has continued ever since.
Answer
2 gave 3 was passing 4 heard
5 banged 6 invited 7 was organising
8 didn’t accept 9 was preparing
10 passed 11 went 12 met
13 was studying 14 didn’t have
15 worked 16 were serving
17 announced 18 persuaded 19 were
20 was 21 earned 22 decided
7. Complete the first sentence with the verb in the past continuous. Write a second sentence with the verb in the past simple to say what happened next. Use your own ideas.
1 When my phone rang, I …was watching TV. ……….
…I answered it but it was a wrong number. ………
2 I ……………………………. when it started to rain.
…………………………………………………
3 Everyone ……………………………. when the lights went out.
…………………………………………………
4 When we came out of the cinema, the sun …………………………….
…………………………………………………
Answer
Example answers:
2 I was walking home when it started to rain.
I decided to catch the bus.
3 Everyone was dancing when the lights went out.
We tried to phone the electricity company.
4 When we came out of the cinema, the sun was shining.
We went to the park for an ice cream.