Business English Grammar = Грамматика английского языка. Часть 1. Практикум для СПО

11. PAST SIMPLE AND PAST CONTINUOUS

Exercise 67. Read the Laszlo Biro story and choose the correct form of the verbs.

1. People wrote / were writing with quills, pens and pencils ...

2. ... long before Laszlo Biro invented / was inventing his biro in 1938.

3. While he worked / was working as a journalist in Hungary, ...

4. ... he noticed / was noticing that the ink used in newspaper printing dried

quickly.

5.In 1938, he developed / was developing a new tip using a ball that was free to turn in its socket.

6.He died / was dying in Buenos Aires in 1985.

Exercise 68. Match the sentence beginnings 1–6 with the endings a–f.

1.I was working in an insurance company …

2.His phone rang early in the morning …

3.She was driving and talking on her mobile …

4.I first met Magda …

5.Were you already working here …

6.What did they eat …

a)… while I was working in Germany.

b)… while they were waiting to be rescued?

c)… when I decided to look for a new job.

d)… when she had the accident.

e)… while he was taking a shower.

f)… when Philip left the company?

Exercise 69. Look at Mark Zuckerberg’s lifeline. Complete the sentences below with the correct form of the verbs in brackets. Use the past simple, past continuous, or past perfect.

Example: 1. Zuckerberg wrote ‘Zucknet’, his first messaging program, when he was living (live) in New York.

2. Zuckerberg was captain of the fencing team while he _____ (attend) Phillips Exeter Academy.

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3.Before Zuckerberg went to Harvard, he _____ (refuse) jobs at AOL and Microsoft.

4.Zuckerberg met Priscilla Chan at a party while he _____ (study) at Harvard University.

5.Zuckerberg’s Facemash program was becoming extremely popular when

University _____ (close down / it).

6.Soon after Zuckerberg moved to California, 5.5 million people _____ (use) Facebook.

7.Zuckerberg became a philanthropist like Bill Gates after Time magazine

_____ (name) him Person of the Year.

8.Facebook became a public company one day before he _____ (marry) Priscilla Chan.

Check your answers to exercises 67–69 here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfEx6ghSeuHcVeVxEo_WkO9QmdYJ H674SAiuS5nuNCNpsLfrg/viewform?authuser=0

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12. PAST PERFECT

Exercise 70. Read the situations and write sentences from the words in brackets.

Example: 1. ... she / go / out She had gone out.

2. ... it / change / a lot

3. ... she / arrange / to do something else 4. ... the film / already / start

5. ... I / not / see / him for five years 6. ... she / just / have / breakfast

Exercise 71. For each situation, write a sentence ending with never ...

before. Use the verb in brackets.

Example: 1. ... (fly) He’d never flown before.

2. ... (hear)

3. ... (play)

4. ... (be there)

Exercise 72. Use the sentences on the left to complete the paragraphs on the right. These sentences are in the order in which they happened — so (a) happened before (b), (b) before (c), etc. But your paragraph begins with the underlined sentence, so sometimes you need the past perfect.

Exercise 73. Put the verb into the correct form, past perfect (I had done) or past simple (I did).

Example: 1. — Was Paul at the party when you arrived? — No, he had gone (go) home.

2.I felt very tired when I got home, so I _____ (go) straight to bed.

3.The house was very quiet when I got home. Everybody _____ (go) to bed.

4.Sorry I’m late. The car _____ (break) down on my way here.

5.We were driving along the road when we _____ (see) a car which _____

(break) down, so we _____ (stop) to help.

Exercise 74. Complete the account with verbs in brackets. Use the Past Simple or the Past Perfect, but choose the Past Perfect where both tenses are possible.

Example: 1. When Sarah Vine looked (look) back on her life, ...

2. ... it _____ (seem) more and more boring that ...

3. ... she _____ (move) straight from school to university, and then to six years with the same employer.

4.By her 29th birthday, she _____ (reach) middle management — and also an important decision.

5.She _____ (decide) to leave her job and do something completely different.

6.When she _____ (talk) about her plans to Tom Blanchard, the Managing Director at McAlister, ...

7. ... she _____ (already receive) an offer for a placement with a project in South America for a year.

8.The project _____ (be) an archaeological dig near the town of Chocola in Guatemala.

9.A group of American archaeologists _____ (recently discover) a 2,000-year- old Mayan site, ...

10.... and they _____ (want) volunteers to help with the dig.

11.Before Sarah _____ (travel) to Guatemala, ...

12.... she _____ (expect) just to work on the dig.

13.Just before her flight, however, the organizers suddenly _____ (ask) her to work part-time as the project administrator.

14.At first, she _____ (wonder) whether to accept or not because ...

15.... she _____ (dream) for so long about a complete escape from that sort

of work ...

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16. ... but finally she _____ (agree).

17. After Sarah _____ (be) on the dig for a week, ...

18. ... she _____ (realize) that her ‘part-time’ job ...

19._____ (require) most of her time.

20.By then, though, she _____ (start) to enjoy it!

21.Back in London, the organizers could see that they _____ (need) this sort of help most, ...

22.... and that I _____ (have) the skills to make a big difference.

Check your answers to exercises 70–74 here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfaIm1BWUcmo2c8QbK2xtMZxalVIb YqNt4022tdi5MMSHNiYg/viewform?authuser=0

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13. PAST PERFECT CONTINUOUS

Exercise 75. Read the situations and make sentences from the words in brackets.

Example: 1. ... (I / work / hard all day) I’d been working hard all day.

2. ... (they / play / football) 3. ... (I / look / forward to it) 4. ... (she / dream)

5. ... (he / watch / a film)

Exercise 76. Read the situations and complete the sentences.

Example: 1. We had been playing for half an hour when it started to rain.

Exercise 77. Put the verb into the most suitable form, past continuous (I was doing), past perfect (I had done) or past perfect continuous (I had been doing).

Example: 1. It was very noisy next door. Our neighbours were having (have) a party.

Example: 2. We were good friends. We’d known (we / know) each other for years.

3.John and I went for a walk. I had difficulty keeping up with him because

_____ (he / walk) so fast.

4.Sue was sitting on the ground. She was out of breath. _____ (she / run).

5.When I arrived, everybody was sitting round the table with their mouths full.

_____ (they / eat).

6.When I arrived, everybody was sitting round the table and talking. Their mouths were empty, but their stomachs were full. _____ (they / eat).

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7.James was on his hands and knees on the floor. _____ (he / look) for his contact lens.

8.When I arrived, Kate _____ (wait) for me. She was annoyed because I was late and _____ (she / wait) for a long time.

9.I was sad when I sold my car. _____ (I / had) it for a very long time.

10.We were extremely tired at the end of the journey. _____ (we / travel) for more than 24 hours.

Check your answers to exercises 75–77 here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdsCHu_1xWsnCllwSwdFOAeaSftL5NzN932yobfjnnEPzWwg/viewform?authuser=0

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14. THE PAST

Exercise 78. Previous and subsequent events. Complete the following sentences using either the Past Perfect or Past Perfect Continuous.

Example: My flight from Sydney arrived late because there had been (be)

a bomb alert before the plane took off. ...

1. ... When we finally left we _____ (wait) for over five hours. 2. ... I _____ (work) hard all year so I felt I needed a rest.

3.I _____ (see) the designs before they went on show but they _____ (not impress) me.

4.When I bought my BIP shares, their value _____ (fall) for some time.

5.The merchant bank didn’t know that one of their traders _____ (hide) huge

losses.

6.The employee was dismissed because he _____ (steal) company property ever since he was taken on.

7.It took me 20 minutes to realise I _____ (look) in the wrong file.

Exercise 79. Marcel Bich. Read the extract about Marcel Bich’s early career and complete the sentences. If it is not possible to use the past perfect continuous, use the past perfect form.

Example: 1. Before he died in 1994 he had created (create) France’s most successful company.

2.Before going to Bordeaux he _____ (study) in Italy and Spain.

3.Before he went to university, he _____ (sell) torches door-to-door.

4.Prior to becoming a production manager he _____ (study) maths and philosophy.

5.Before the Second World War broke out he _____ (work) for Stephens as a production executive.

Exercise 80. Match 1–5 with a–e to make complete sentences.

1.He was doing research in Oxford …

2.He moved to Spain …

3.When he got to the meeting …

4.She saw an article about an old friend …

5.She had spent a long time training …

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a)… while she was reading the newspaper.

b)… it had already started.

c)… after he had learnt some Spanish.

d)… before she did her first marathon.

e)… when he had the idea for his first book.

Exercise 81. Choose the correct verb forms to complete the sentences.

1.Chris and Joe studied / were studying at university when they decided / had decided to ‘do something different’. They were both failing / had both failed their mid-term exams, and were feeling / had felt depressed about the future.

2.One day, they watched / were watching a programme about the River Ganges in India. They never saw / had never seen anything like it before. They found / were finding it very interesting and decided / were deciding to go there.

3.So they left / had left their homes in Oxford and flew / were flying to India.

4.After they were / had been in India for a few weeks, they travelled / had travelled to the Himalayas.

5.They started / were starting on foot. But while they carried / were carrying their equipment down the mountain, they met / were meeting someone who wanted / had wanted to sell a rickshaw. So they bought / were buying it.

6.When they got / were getting to the river, they decided / were deciding to sell the rickshaw. After they were selling / had sold it, they bought / had bought a row boat and floated / were floating down the river.

7.One day, they floated / were floating down the river when they saw / were seeing a crocodile. It came / had come very near to the boat, but it didn’t attack / hadn’t attacked them.

8.By the time they reached / were reaching the end of their journey, they were having / had had many adventures.

9.They experienced / had experienced a river and a culture in a way that was never being done / had never been done before.

10.They didn’t go / hadn’t gone back to university.

Exercise 82. Complete the article with the correct form of these verbs in brackets.

Example: 1. They were studying (study) at college ...

Example: 2. ... when they established (establish) Facebook.

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3. The man who _____ (invent) the cathode ray TV, Philo Farnsworth, was

also in his 20s ...

4. ... when he _____ (come up with) the idea ...

5. ... that _____ (lead) to the modern television.

6. He _____ (have) the idea ...

7. ... when he _____ (plough) a field.

8.He _____ (imagine) all the furrows as lines on a screen.

9.He _____ (already invent) an earlier version when he was just 15.

10.However, when Barack Obama _____ (become) President of the USA in 2008 at the age of 47, ...

11.... there _____ (be) eight previous presidents in their 40s, including Bill Clinton and John F Kennedy.

12.He was 89 years old when he _____ (run) his first marathon.

13.He _____ (start) running at the age of 63 ...

14.... when most of his friends _____ (think) of retirement.

15.He _____ (retire) from marathon running at the age of 101.

16.By that time, he _____ (run) nine marathons with a personal best of 5 hours and 40 minutes.

Check your answers to exercises 78–82 here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdweszZr6LmuBMmnOad9wGgjcE5Cv 5qK5z7UTTjrdH25uvsAQ/viewform?authuser=0

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