In the Syrian village of Khan Assobl, the regime aims its shells at civilians, hardening hearts

one casualty at a time. By Ayman Oghanna.

It was my third trip to Syria since the war began, and it started with a hard crossing. Days
earlier, twin car bombs had devastated the Turkish border town of Reyhanli, killing at least 50,
blurring the boundaries of Sirias expanding war, and temporarily shutting down border posts.
The only way to enter Syrias vast northwestern province of Idlib was illegally, through a local
smuggler. Abu Abdu was his name, and he grabbed the straps of my heavy bag when the
Turkish Jandarma border guard chases us through a muddy field with his rifle drawn. In the
forbidden military zone on the Turkish side of the border, we leaped over a mouth of earth, our
fall broken by swampy water, before we clambered up toward the wire. Barbed knots ripped my
jeans and Abuu Abdus hands as he held apart a hole for us to crawl through.
Burada tamam abi, Abu Abdu called to the Turkish border guard, 20 steps away, one we
reached the other side. Were fine here brother. Syria. Your jurisdiction has just ended. The
Turk raised his gun and kept us in his sights as we walked away. I hoped that boredom, malice
and the failure of his sweaty run wouldnt lead him to move his finger
Text taken from the magazine Newsweek, page 23, July 2015.

Activity:
Instructions:
1. Find 3 sentences with only one verb in simple past. Write them on the lines below.
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2. Find 2 sentences in present perfect.
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3. Find 1 sentence in past perfect
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4. Find the simple past forms write them present perfect and past perfect. Look at the way
past tense, present perfect and past perfect are used. Can you tell a difference in
meaning?
Simple past
Present perfect
Past Perfect
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5. Discussed with your teacher the differences between simple past forms, present and
past perfect.