6. Underline the correct answers. In some cases only one is correct, and in others both are correct.

2 As Geoff was introduced to Mrs Snape, he realised that he had met/ met her before.

3 During the previous week, I had been/ went to the gym every evening.

4 He denied that he had taken/ took the money from the office.

5 I didn't know the marking would take so long until I had read/ read the first couple of essays.

6 The boy told me that he had lost/ lost his train ticket and didn't know how he would get home.

7 At the conference, scientists reported that they had found/ found a cure for malaria.

8 The teacher guessed that some of the children had cheated/ cheated in the exam.

9 Thomas explained that he had gone/ went home early because he felt ill.

The waiter took my plate away before I had finished/ finished eating. 10 Jane didn't want any dinner. She had eaten/ ate already.

7. Complete this text with these verbs.

was (x2) explained didn't eat have gone had cooked hadn't eaten were went didn't lock have heard had reached hadn't locked

One of the four-year-olds in the reading group suddenly said, 'This is the silliest story I (l)…..ever……!' I (2)……in the middle of reading Goldilocks and the Three Bears to the group. We (3)……just the part in the story where Goldilocks goes into the bears' house and eats some of the food from bowls on the table.

'Where (4).................. the bears?' he asked.

'Maybe outside or playing in the woods,' I suggested.

'And their house was wide open? They (5)... even……….the door before going out?'

'Well, in the old days, people (6)........ their doors.'

'And their food was on the table, but they (7).. it before they (8)……… outside?'

'Maybe they (9)................ it because it (10)............ too hot.'

'If you (11)................. that meal, you wouldn't (12)....... out and left it, would you?'

'Probably not, but it's just a story,' I (13)... rather weakly.

III Past Perfect vs. Past Perfect Continuous.

NB We use the past perfect continuous:

- to describe an ongoing situation or action which continued up to, or stopped just before a time in the past.

e.g. We had been working for over an hour before the auditors turned up.

- to explain a past result, e.g. a situation or an appearance.

e.g. The few survivors looked painfully thin. They had been living on meager rations since the accident. (=They looked thin because they had been living on meager rations).

- when we want to focus on duration.

e.g. The eager fans had been waiting in line for over six hours.

8. Complete the sentences with one of these verbs, using the same verb for each sentence in the pair. Use the past perfect continuous if possible; if not, use the past perfect.

apply carry fly smoke work

1. a She................... for the company since she left school, so I wasn't surprised when she took a new job in London.

b She....................... finally.............. her way up from trainee to a management position, and she celebrated her promotion with a big party.

2. a The avalanche............... them 500 metres down the mountain but no-one was hurt.

b She took a bottle from the bag she........... …..all the way from home.

3. a Michael................. all his cigarettes and had to borrow some from Kate.

b By the smell in the room and his guilty expression I could tell that Alex………..

4. a We............... for visas early, but still hadn't got them by the week before the holiday.

b She.............. for jobs, without success, since leaving university.

5. a He............... all the way from New York to be at yesterday's meeting.

b When the plane was diverted, shortly after take-off, it ………… from London to Frankfurt.

NB. Remember that we don’t describe states with continuous tenses, and we use the Past Perfect, not the Past Perfect Continuous, even when we focus on the length of a situation up to a particular past time.