Past simPle; Past continuous;

Past simPle and continuous

in the
Everyone üought that Gulf Breeze
USí*^ un oái.,u'y, quiet little town-until and
iiÑ"r"*u er 1977 'i*t rtitt'ds' Ed Walters incident'
strange
Charlie Bennett, reported a very
but even
At first nobody believed their story'
;;J"y, both Charlie and Ed claim that the
inciáent really happened' Here is part of an
News the
interview which was shown on Florida
day after rhe kidnaPPing'

My friend
Itwas seven o'clock in the evening'
the park'
Charlie and I were walking through
talking and
W. *"." going home' We were
very rlark'
laughing."Sudáenly the sky-went
'It's going to
Chlrlie*looked up and said'
the sky
rain'. Then t neara a loud bang and
I was dreaming'
went bright green' I thought
just above
There *L u httgt, shiny spaceship
us
our heads. It wasn't moving' It was pulling
inside
off the ground' Seconds laterwe were
looking at
it. lwenty strange creatureswere
hadírinkled skin and hands like
.,r. ft
"yátl were
pincers. They didn't hurt us' They
'smiling and ihey seemed very friendly'
but I
I don't know how long we were in space'
the
think the spaceship wL moving' Suddenly
out of
door openld underneath us' We fell
ground' We were back
the spiceship onto the
just stared at
i" t,nl park again' Charlie and I
were
we
each oiher. We were shaking because
as fast as we
so scared. Then we r¿trr home
could. That's all Charlie and I can remember'
I know it sounds ctazybrrtit's the truth'

after the
On 11 November 1982, exactly five years
in^
kidnapping, more strange things happened
cats started to fly
Gulf Breeze. Cars disappeared'
ancl several people ipateships in the sky'
'aw
-\\
prncer \r
-..-\\
-------_--\_ \
i\
\'' -"'

wrinkled
.:, §É
': '* -:- I
a.-i?¡
¡

rl :,
:s
'-:<_t_\'

)üo1
?3
ChaPter 2 c ¿

I
 Grammar lesson
§
Past simple Past simple and continuous
Sometimes one past action interrupts another.
Form We use the past continuous for the action
For regular verbs we add ed or d. which was already happening and the past
open -r opened believe --+ believed simple for the shorter'interrupting' action.
I was walhing through the park uhen suddenll
The spelling sometimes changes. I heard a loud bang.
stop --+ stopped try -+ tried
Irregular verbs have special forms. Look at the
list at the back of the book.
see -t saw go --+ went take --r took ffiax§ek qesñffi
We make questions with did + infinitive. Fit the past simple forms of these verbs into the
Wat üd he say? puzzle. Write the answers across.
We make negatives with did not (didn't) +
infinitive. can happen see
Thq didn't hurt us. talk take think

l.Jse
For an action which started and finished in the
past, often with a time expression (suddenly,
last week, a date) .
Sud.d.mly the shy wmt aerY dark.

Past cont¡nuous

Form
was/were + ing form §aáemt§f§e thmmry
he uqs zaalking ue züere talking After the incident, scientists tried to guess which
The spelling sometimes changes when we planet the aliens were from.
add ing. Look at the statements below. If you think a
smile --r smiling run -, running statement is true, circle the letter in the true
column, if you think it is false, circle the letter in
Questions and negatives: the false column. Put together all the circled
Were the creatures smikng?
wam't mouing. letters to find out which planet it could be.
The spaceship
True False
Use It happened late at night. Z T
For an action that was happening, but not Ed heard a loud bang. R E
completed, at a particular time in the past.
Ed and Charlie live in Australia. K I
We often describe a scene with the past
continuous. The aliens were unfriendly. B G
Chartie was tatking and Ed was lnugfuing. L
Ed can't remember everything. E
We do not usually use these verbs in the past The skywent dark green. S o
continuous:
Charlie and Ed were scared. N D
be have know like see
seem own believe love smell The aliens came from planet
belong understand hate hear
need
Chapter 2
3 News flash
Work with a partner. Partner A is a teleüsion Partner A Partner B
reporter. Partner B is Charlie. Use the table to
ask and answer questions with the past simple Where/you? park
and past continuous. What/date? 11 November 1977
ÍNhat/you/ doing? talkllaugh
Where/youlgo? home
How many/aliens? twenty
What/ aliens/ look/like? wrinkled/skin

I was in the parh.

4 Truth or fiction?

*..i"tt¡

Some other people in Gulf Breeze told reporters
that they had seen the UFO. Look at the pictures
and read what they told the reporter.
BILL JACoBS I was working in the garden
when I saw a very bright light.
I heard a loud noise. I went inside
and locked the door.
JIM SHORT I was driving my car when suddenly
I heard a loud bang. I thought
someone had crashed into my car.
pAM BAKER I was at home watching TV. It was
very late at night and I noticed that
it was raining. Suddenly I heard a
( Read the questions very carefully, then say the
strange whistling noise. I looked
out of the window and saw a huge
object like an aeroplane fly-rrg
through the sky.
BoB RoBBINS I was walking with my dog in the
fields when suddenly he started
barking. It was getting dark but
the sky was green. It was frightening
so we ran home.
Some of the peoplein (a) invented their stories
about the UFO. Read Ed's article again.
Who do you think was lying? Discuss the answer
with a partner and write down the untrue
statements.
1
9
5
4
answers.
I What was Bill doing when he saw the light?
2 What did Pam do when she heard the noise?
3 What did Bob and his dog do when the sky
went green?
4 What wasJim doing when he heard the bang?
5 What was Pam doing when she heard the
noise?
6 What did Bill do when he saw the light?
What didJim do when he heard the bang?
8 Whatwere Bob and his dog doingwhen the
sky went green?

a^ ?L--L--^
 ;lying cats! §tr"mmge stmr§em
Write a short paragraph about something strange
that happened to you, or to someone you know
If you can't think of anything rhat really happened,
invent a story.
Use the past simple and the past continuous.

whensuddenly...

P§ay the 6mme

Work with a partner. Write the first part of a
sentence using the past continuous + when on a
piece of paper, like this:

Fold the paper so that the first part of the

sentence is at the back, like this:

l.f rrre mysteriousthings happened in Gulf Breeze

-:t vears later. Mr Alan Rogers told the Gulf
3:eeze Daily News what had happened on the
:-,.f ht of 11 November 1987.

the verbs in the past simple or past

J'-L¡
,,ntinuous.
> ura¿ )iúk4 (sit) at home,
.---ring dinner with mywife when suddenly our cat,
- -,to, flew across the room.
Exchange papers with your partner. Don't read
i.fr uife said,' (do) you what's on the paper!
.¡e that?'We 3 (can) Write the second part of the sentence using
relieve our eyes. Late¡ we suddenly + past simple, like this:
(watch) TV and it
(change) channel. Now read out the two parts of the sentence to the
class.
(do) you change
- : -rannel?' I asked mywife. 'No,' she said. purple.
: o'clockwe 9
green monster
Lrp) when all the lights
(go) out.
-:.t are 9 (think) our
larid 9 (try) to
-. . -.n us. We l0 (look)
'redroom
but he was asleep.
(stay) awake all
: - Ir \\as very strange and very frightening.

Chapter 2 11