VIII. Choose the correct variant:

1. I haven't decided yet about whether to buy a new car or a second-hand one. But I think / am thinking about it.

2. It's time we turned on the central heating. It gets/is getting colder every day.

3. All right, you try to fix the television! But I hope/am hoping you know what you are doing.

4. Your mornings are very busy! But what do you do/are you doing in the afternoons?

5. British people drink/are drinking more and more wine apparently.

6. Pay no attention to Graham. He is just/is just being sarcastic.

7. Please be quiet, David. You always interrupt/are always interrupting me.

8. James will be home late. He has/is having dinner with his wife at the restaurant.

9. And I come into the kitchen and what I see: my little daughter tastes/is tasting Samanta's cake.

10. Right now they weigh/are weighing the baby.

The past simple

IX. Ask your friend questions about his holiday, using the Past Simple.

Eg. where/go? – Where did you go?

1. the weather / fine?

2. How / travel?

3. stay in a hotel?

4. Who / meet?

5. What / buy?

6. Who / go with?

7. How much money / spend?

8. What / see?

X. When we talk about the past we can use used to / didn’t use to /

NEVER USED TO if :

• we talk about states e.g. I used to have blond hair when I was a baby.

• we talk about activities that we did regularly / many times e.g. I used to play football when I was a teenager, I used to pass my driving licence when I-was a teenager

We don't use USED TO / DIDN’T USE TO / NEVER USED TO if:

• what we say about the past is still true today e.g. We can't say:” I used to have blond hair” if I still have blond hair.

we say how long or how many times we did something e.g. I-used to live-4-in London for two years.

Remember: used to + infinitive; get used to + - ing form.

be used to + - ing form

Ask your partner. Do you usually…?Did you use to…?Do you think you could get used to …?

e.g. Did you use to be naughty when you were a child?

(be) naughty when you were a child

(get up) at 5.00 a.m. every day

(live) in another country

(eat) a lot of fresh fruit

(go out) on Saturday nights

(do) exercise every day

(argue) with your parents

(drive) on the left

(eat) with chopsticks

(work) without a computer

(live) without TV

(live) alone on an island

(read) comics when you were a child

(be) a complete vegetarian

(have) a sleep after lunch

(study) with music on

(live) without coffee or coke

(do) all your shopping online

(like) school when you were a child

XI. Complete the sentences using these pairs of verbs. Use the past simple in one space and the past continuous in the other.

arrive/get go/get met/work look/slip wait/order dance/start ski/break

1. Just as І ..was getting... into the bath the fire alarm …went off.

2. Helen her leg while she in Switzerland.

3. We when I in a music shop.

4. When his mother in the other direction Steve away quietly.

5. I ………a drink while I for Pam to arrive.

6. Our guests were early. They…… as I…… changed.

7. Just as she …… with her old friend her husband ………to flirt with some of the other young women on board.

This time, use the same tense in both spaces.

close/sit come/put not concentrate/think shut/start take/place not approve/elope write/drive

8. She the door and down quickly.

9. My niece………the windows as soon as it …… to rain.

10. I’m sorry, I I about Jim.

11 It was an amazing coincidence, just as I to Anne, she to my house to come and see me.

12. When the taxi I my suitcase on the back seat.

13. He the cake out of the oven and it carefully on the table.

14. In past times, if parents …… of a marriage, the couple ……

XII. Complete the sentences with one of these verbs: be, enjoy, have, live. Use the same verb for each sentence in the pair, in one, you can use only the past simple; in the other you can use either the past simple or the past continuous.

1 a It was now getting late, and my eyes… trouble focusing on the birds in the disappearing light.

b I ………. trouble with that car the whole of the time I owned it.

2 a As a historian., I'm interested in how people in the past.

b During that hard winter, people by selling what few remaining possessions they had.

3 a She very good at talking to children in a way that kept them entertained.

b Before the party, the children got very excited and naughty.

4 a He learning Japanese until the class had a new teacher.

b Even when he was young, Jonathan learning languages.

XIII. Correct the sentences if necessary or put a ٧

1. Whenever I called in on Sam, he talked on the phone.

2. When my step brother lived in Paris, he was spending three hours a day travelling to and from work.

3. One of my blood relatives was winning the tournament four times before he retired.

4. We were having to play netball twice a week when I went to school.

5. The weather was so good last summer that we went to the beach most weekends.