15. In the following text, delete any examples of would that are not acceptable:

When I was young we 1) used to/ would live near a river. We 2) often used to/ would often go and swim there. It 3) used to/ would be very clean in those days. There never 4) used to/ would be any factories or houses nearby. Now it’s changed. It’s no longer safe to swim there. But in those days we 5) used to/would spend most of the summer there. Sometimes we 6) used to/ would take tents and spend the nights there. We 7) used to/ would light a fire and cook sausages and things. In those days we 8) used to/ would think that nothing would ever change…

16. If possible, complete these sentences with would (or wouldn't) or used to. If it is not possible to use would or used to, use a verb in the past simple.

1 I ……… (enjoy) studying Latin when I was at school.

2 Orwell ………. (spend) winters in Spain and summers in England.

3 We ……….. (live) in a bungalow on the south coast, and then we moved to a flat in London.

4 You ………… (teach) at Halston University, didn't you?

5 On Saturdays and Sundays the ferry ………. (take) tourists across to the island.

6 The committee …………… (meet) four times last week, but still no decision has been reached.

7. Amy worked really hard. Every afternoon she ………. (come) home from school at 4.15 and do an hour of piano practice.

8. Richard phoned yesterday and ………… (invite) me out for dinner.

9. When Dominic was young he ……….. (eat) any green vegetables.

10. The creaking noises in the old house ……….. (keep) me awake until I became accustomed to them.

11. Whenever I had a problem with my maths homework, Sam ……….. (help) me.

12. After standing on the bathroom scales, I …………. (decide) that I needed to lose some weight.

VOCAB & SPEAKING

1. Try to memorize the following set expressions about habits:

break a habit and break the habit; break one's habit

to end a habit. I was not able to break the habit of snoring. It's hard to break a habit that you have had for a long time.

by force of habit

owing to a tendency to do something that has become a habit. After I retired, I kept getting up and getting dressed each morning by force of habit.

kick the habit  (informal)

to stop doing something that is difficult to stop doing, especially taking drugs, smoking, or drinking alcohol No coffee for me, thanks. I'm trying to kick the habit. 'Does she still smoke?' 'No, she kicked the habit a couple of years ago.'

make a habit of something

to do something so often that it becomes a habit. You mustn't make a habit of interrupting. I make a habit of counting my change.

Old habits die hard.

Prov. People find it difficult to change their accustomed behavior. Joan retired last year, but she still gets up as early as she used to when she had to go to work. Old habits die hard.

Why break the habit of a lifetime?  (British & Australian humorous)

something that you say which means that you do not believe that someone will stop doing something bad that they have done all their lives 'I must stop writing my essays the night before the deadline.' 'Why break the habit of a lifetime?'

You can't teach an old dog new tricks.

something that you say which means it is difficult to make someone change the way they do something when they have been doing it the same way for a long time 

You're never going to teach your father at the age of 79 to use a computer. You can't teach an old dog new tricks, you know.

Think of a situation in which you could use each of the expressions above.