Comprehensive Grammar exercises – Verb forms / P.

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Teacher’s Copy
 Comprehensive Grammar exercises – Verb forms / P.2

Exercise 1
Fill in the correct form of verbs in the blanks below

Champion Chan takes on the world

A 13-year-old Hong Kong student (1. prove) himself a world-beating strategist after coming
top in an international weiqi competition.
Chan Nai-san, from Chinese Federation Secondary School in Siu Sai Wan, (2. win) the
toughest division in the Go Goodwill Tournament 2008 which (3. hold) in Bangkok last weekend.
"I (4. be) really happy because this (5. be) the first time I (6. win) a major contest in Southeast
Asia," (7. say) Nai-san, who (8. start) learning the game from his father when he (9. be) six.
The competition (10. organise) by the World Chinese Weiqi Federation. It drew teams from
Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Korea, the mainland and Macau. Contestants (11. rank) by ability
into four divisions. Nai-san (12. enter) the world championships in Japan in the coming May,
where he (13. compete) with adults.
Weiqi (14. also commonly know) by its Japanese name ‘go’. It (15. be) an ancient chess-like
strategy game played by placing black and white pieces on intersections on a grid. The aim (16. be)
to capture the opponent's pieces by completely surrounding them.

1 has proved 2 won 3 was held

4 am 5 is 6 have won
7 said 8 started 9 was
10 was organised 11 were ranked 12 will enter
13 will compete 14 is also commonly known 15 is
16 is
 Comprehensive Grammar exercises – Verb forms / P.3

Exercise 2
I) The following passage is taken from a vet’s webpage. Fill in the blanks below with the correct
forms of the verbs in brackets.

Q: I’m considering keeping a pet. I 1. (hear) recently that pot-bellied pigs make interesting pets. 2.
(Be) that true?
Vet: It’s true that pot-bellied pigs are interesting animals. They 3. (train) easily and smarter than
dogs. However, they require a lot of attention. They sometimes do silly things. Also, remember that
you 4. (not allow) to keep pigs as pets in the public estates. You 5. (regret) it if you don’t think
carefully about it first.

II) The following is an interview of a teacher for the Environmental Week issue of the school
magazine. Fill in the blanks with suitable forms of the verbs/phrases in brackets.

Our environmental awareness teacher: Sarah Chan

As a teacher who loves the environment, Sarah Chan always tries to raise environmental
awareness among her students. Last week, we 6. (have) an opportunity to sit down and talk with Ms
Sarah Chan.
-- 7 (Have) you always wanted to be an environmentalist?
No. When I 8. (leave) university nine years ago, I wanted to be an accountant.
-- You 9. (spend) time with an environmental group in Africa, didn’t you?
Yes. I 10. (never experience) anything like that in my life.
-- How long 11. you (be) a teacher?
Since 1999.
-- What kind of environmental projects have you organized for students?
I 12. (take) some students to Australia. At that time, we 13. (want) to study its programmes about
recycling.
-- You are a writer as well, aren’t you?
Yes, I 14. (write) for Green Hong Kong Magazine at the moment. My editor
15. (just ask) me to write something about Australia. I have not finished it yet.

1 have heard 2 Is 3 are trained

4 are not allowed 5 will regret 6 had
7 Have 8 left 9 spent
10 had never experienced 11 have you been 12 have taken
13 wanted 14 am writing 15 has just asked

Exercise 3
I) The following is a brief description of an old friend. Fill in the blanks with suitable forms of the
 Comprehensive Grammar exercises – Verb forms / P.4

verbs/phrases in brackets.
An old friend

George was a big man in every way: he was tall and overweight as he 1. (grow) older. His hair
2. (start) to thin before he 3. (enter) the age of sixteen. His hair was never in place and whenever I
saw him, he 4. (always brush) it back into place with the palm of his right hand.

II) The following passage describes a historic building. Fill in the blanks with suitable forms of the
verbs/phrases in brackets.
Historic Building Tour

The historic building 5. (visit) by more than one and a half million tourists every year. It is
open to the public, free of charge, on a regular basis. The building 6. (design) by a German
architect, Stephen Dyer, in 1783. Much of Dyer’s original design survives although many of the
contents 7. (burn) by the British during a war.
The guided tour includes most of the apartments. The basement and the private rooms 8.
(include). The tour begins in the lobby area, an extension to the building which 9. (add) in 1950.

III) Jason and Tom are talking about their plans for the weekend. Complete their conversation using
the present continuous and the simple present tense of the verbs in brackets.
Jason: Hi, Tom. Do you have any plans for the weekend?
Tom: Yes, I 10. (go) to Macau with my cousins.
Jason: But don’t you have football practice every Saturday morning?
Tom: Yes, I 11. (do) . Luckily, the practice this week is earlier than usual. It 12. (start) at 9 a.m.
and 13. (finish) at 11.30 a.m. I 14. (meet) my cousins at 1.30 p.m. at the Macau Ferry Pier.
Jason: Will that give you enough time?
Tom: I guess so. The ferry 15. (leave) at 2 p.m. so I should have plenty of time.
Jason: That sounds good. Enjoy your weekend.

1 grew 2 had started 3 entered

4 was always brushing 5 is visited 6 was designed
7 were burnt 8 are included 9 was added
10 am going 11 do 12 starts
13 finishes 14 am meeting 15 leaves

Exercise 4
Fill in the correct form of verbs in the blanks below
It's time to create a smoke-free environment
 Comprehensive Grammar exercises – Verb forms / P.5

A new law that 1.________(ban)smoking in most indoor places 2._____________(come)into

effect next year.
This 3._________(be)good news for non-smokers like me. I still
4.____________(worry)whether the new regulations will be implemented properly.
The government should show that it 5._____(be)serious about protecting people's health by
cracking down on anyone who 6.____________(break)the law.
To 7.___________(deter)smokers from lighting up, officers should frequently
8.___________(raid)restaurants and bars.
I 9.__________(hope) the new law will be enforced effectively.
NG CHI-FUNG
Yan Oi Tong Tin Ka Ping Secondary School

10.___________(Thank) for your letter, Chi-fung. I 11.__________________(look) forward to

the smoking ban, too.
Last night I 12.__________(go) out for dinner. My friend and I 13.__________(order) and,
when our food, 14.___________(arrive) someone across the room 15.___________(light) a cigar. It
really 16.__________(put) me off my meal.
Dividing a restaurant into smoking and non-smoking sections 17.___________(be) ridiculous.
Often the smoking tables 18._____________(be) only a few feet from the non-smoking ones.
Smoke-free restaurants 19.___________(make) for a healthier environment - and the food
20._____________(taste) a lot better when someone 21.______________________(breathe) their
noxious fumes all over it.
Kate, Editor

1 bans 2 will come 3 is

4 worry 5 is 6 breaks
7 deter 8 raid 9 hope
10 Thanks 11 am looking 12 went
13 ordered 14 arrived 15 lit
16 put 17 is 18 are
19 make 20 tastes 21 isn't breathing
Exercise 5
Choose the correct form of verbs to complete the following contexts.
I A British woman 1.____(attack) on her way home from work yesterday. Ms. Brown 2.____
(leave) her shop in South Street when she 3. ____ (stop) by a young man who 4. ____(try) to
snatch her handbag. When Ms. Brown 5.____ (fight) back, the man 6. ____(take) out a knife,
Ms. Brown’s face 7. ____ (badly cut) and she 8. ____ (take) to hospital.

II Germany 9. ____(win) the football World Cup in 1990, when they 10. ____ (beat) Argentina.
 Comprehensive Grammar exercises – Verb forms / P.6

In 1994 the Germans 11. ____ (beat) by Bulgarian in the quarter final, and the cup
12._____(win ) by Brazil.

III John F. Kennedy 13. ____ (bear) in 1973. He 14. ____ (elect) as the President of the US in
1960. On 22 November, 1963, he 15. ____ (shoot) dead by Lee Harvey Oswald during a
visit to Dallas, Texas. Two days later Oswald himself 16. ____ (shoot) and 17.____ (kill).

IV Last Friday, a conference 18. ____ (hold) by the Hospital Authority on the value of traditional
medicine. The benefits of traditional Chinese medicine 19. ____ (recognize) by medical
authorities in China for many years. However, in Hong Kong, Chinese medicine 20. ____.
(ignore) by the medical community.
The possibilities for using traditional Chinese medical treatment together with standard
treatment 21. ____ (discuss) by doctors and other medical personnel at the conference. Also,
practitioners of traditional Chinese medical 22. ____ (ask) to attend the conference by the
Hospital Authority.

1 was attacked 2 had (just) left 3 was stopped

4 tried 5 fought 6 took
7 was badly cut 8 was taken 9 won
10 beat 11 were beaten 12 was won
13 was born 14 was elected 15 was shot
16 was shot 17 (was) killed 18 was held
19 have been recognized 20 has been ignored 21 were discussed
22 were asked

Exercise 6
Fill in the blanks below with the correct forms of the verbs in brackets.

An embarrassing experience on the MTR

I just had an exhausting basketball match. I was very tired and my legs 1.(be) aching. I
wanted very much 2.(sit) down and so when I 3.(get) to the MTR station I 4.(push) my way to the
front of the crowd waiting for the train.

When the train 5.(arrive), I 6.(dash) into the compartment even before the passengers could 7.
(get) out. I managed 8.(find) a seat beside a woman with a baby. “How lucky I 9.(be),” I told
myself. “There 10.(be) no vacant seats now.”
 Comprehensive Grammar exercises – Verb forms / P.7

Just then an old lady 11.(come) and 12.(stand) in front of me. “I’d better 13.(close) my eyes
and pretend 14.(not see) her,” I 15.(think).

The train suddenly 16.(stop). The old lady 17.(lose) her balance and 18.(fall) down. The
woman sitting next to me 19.(stand) up and helped the old lady to her seat.

I 20.(feel) my face 21.(go) red with shame. I did not wish 22.(sit) there any more. I stood up
and said to the woman carrying her baby, “I’d like you 23.(take) my seat, please.”

1 were 2 to sit 3 got

4 was pushing 5 arrived 6 was dashing
7 get 8 to find 9 am
10 are 11 came 12 stood
13 close 14 not to see 15 thought
16 stopped 17 had lost 18 fell
19 stood 20 felt 21 had gone
22 to sit 23 to take
 Comprehensive Grammar exercises – Verb forms / P.8

Exercise 7
Complete the passage with the correct tenses or forms of the verbs given in brackets.

A magic camera
One day a young man named Joe Yeung 1.(send) me some pictures. He said he 2.(take) them
with a camera that 3.(have) supernatural powers. It 4.(can take) photos of people of different places
at the same time.
For example, when Joe 5.(be) in London, he 6.(take) a picture of himself with Big Ben in the
background. Surprisingly, when the photo 7.(come) out, he 8.(find) his father in it too. He 9.(see)
in the photo enjoying dim sum. Strangely, his father 10.(really have) dim sum at Lucky Flower
Restaurant in Mongkok at that time.
When Joe was in Paris, he 11.(pose) for a photo in front of the Eiffel Tower. Joe’s little sister
12.(be) in the picture too. In fact, she 13.(play) in a tennis final at Victoria Park.
Joe 14.(have) a similar experience when he 15.(be) in Venice. His mother 16.(see) on the
Rialto Bridge behind Joe. She 17.(hold) a spoon and a bowl in her hands as she was trying 18.
(bake) a chocolate cake. She 19.(look) angry since Joe 20.(eat) all the chocolate in the cupboard.
Joe got the camera from his late uncle. He 21.(not get) it easily; he had to 22.(go) on a treasure
hunt 23.(find) it. 24.(look) for clues, he had to 25.(dig) below a tree, 26.(solve) a puzzle and then
27.(climb) to the bell tower of a church. In the very end, he 28.(dig) out a key under a statue of a
dog. With this key, he opened a treasure chest and found the camera.

1 sent 2 took 3 has 4 can take

5 was 6 took 7 came 8 found
9 was seen 10 was really having 11 posed 12 was
13 was playing 14 had 15 was 16 was seen
17 was holding 18 to bake 19 looked 20 had eaten
21 didn’t get 22 go 23 to find 24 To look
25 dig 26 solve 27 climb 28 dug
 Comprehensive Grammar exercises – Verb forms / P.9

Exercise 8
Complete the passage with the correct tenses or forms of the verbs given in brackets.
I) The Red Star factory 1.___(locate) in the suburbs of Shanghai. It 2.___(set up) 20 years ago.
At that time, 2000 workers 3.___(employ) but only 17 cars 4.___(make) a day. The number
of workers 5.___(reduce) to 800 today but the number of cars produced daily has been
increased to 100. All this 6.___(make) possible thanks to the introduction of computers in
production. For example, robots 7.___(use) in some production lines 8.___(replace) human
workers now. The management expects that production 9.___(increase) to 200 daily in the
near future with the 10.___(upgrade) of the computer system.

II) Dear Peggy,

Thanks for your letter. I’m sorry I 11.___(be not) home when you 12.___(call) me as I
13.___(go) to the cinema with Betty. My mother 14.___(tell) me you 15.___(call), but as you
16.___(not leave) your phone number, I 17.___(cannot contact) you. I hope we 18.___(meet)
again in the near future.
Cyndi 19.___(be not) in Hong Kong the day you 20.___(call). She was on holiday in Japan
and 21.___(not return) to Hong Kong until the next day. She is doing well. Don’t worry. As
far as I know, she 22.___(do) a computer course in the evenings.
As for me, I 23.___(be) busy recently. My sister 24.___(get) married next month, so I have to
help her prepare everything.
That’s all I have time for now. I look forward to 25.___(see) you soon.
Love,
Carol

1 is located 2 was set up 3 were employed

4 were made 5 has been reduced 6 is made/ has been made
7 are used 8 to replace 9 will be increased
10 upgrading 11 wasn’t 12 called
13 had gone 14 told 15 had called
16 didn’t leave 17 couldn’t contact 18 ’ll meet/ will meet
19 wasn’t 20 called 21 didn’t return
22 ’s doing/ is doing 23 ’ve been/ have been 24 is getting
25 seeing

Exercise 9
Fill in each of the following blanks with the correct verb form, infinitive or gerund.

It was the middle of the night when Saffie 1.____ (wake) up and heard low moaning sounds 2.
 Comprehensive Grammar exercises – Verb forms / P.10

____ (come) from her mother’s room. Mr Johnson was not at home that night. He 3.____ (go) on a
business trip to Koina just two days before and was not expected back for another four days.
Andrew 4.____ (be) the only other person in the house.

Saffie 5. ____ (worry) by the noises. Her mother had not been well the previous evening. She
had complained of 6.____ (feel) sick and losing her appetite, and she had a sharp pain down the
right side of her stomach. She had gone to bed early without any supper. Saffie thought she’d better
7.____ (go) into her mother’s room and see how she was.

She tiptoed in softly and found her mother 8.____ (lie) on the floor. She 9.____ (groan) and
rolling about, with her hand 10. ____ (clutch) her stomach, and she was sweating badly. The floor
beneath her head was quite wet. When Saffie spoke to her, she 11.____ (not/answer). Saffie found a
thermometer and put it under her mother’s armpit. When she read the temperature, she 12.____
(have) a shock.

Saffie ran to Andrew’s room. Her brother was still asleep and it was difficult 13.____ (rouse)
him. “Andrew, you must wake up now!” Saffie cried. “Mum 14.____ (be) very ill. We must get her
to hospital quickly. So I’ll need your help.”

1 woke 2 coming 3 had gone

4 was 5 was worried 6 feeling
7 go 8 lying 9 was groaning
10 clutching 11 didn’t / did not answer 12 had
13 to rouse 14 is/’s 15
 Comprehensive Grammar exercises – Verb forms / P.11

Exercise 10
Complete the passage with the correct form of the given words.

It was midnight. Ms Cheung (1) ___ (turn) off the television and went to bed. Not long after
she (2) ___ (go) to sleep, she heard someone (3) ___(cry) “Fire! Fire!” She (4) ___ (jump) out of
bed and (5) ___ (turn) on the light. The power supply had been cut. She (6) ___ (call) her husband
and children and together they made for the door. When Ms Cheung (7) ___ (open) the door, she
couldn’t see anything. The building (8) ____ (be) in complete darkness and the corridor (9)___ (fill)
with smoke. As there seemed to be no chance of (10) ___ (get) out of the building, she (11) ____
(decide) to get back to her flat and (12)___ (wait) for help. Just as she (13) ___ (open) the window,
she saw the man next door (14) ____ (climb) out of his kitchen window and was ready to (15) ____
(jump). “Don’t!” Ms Cheung shouted. “The firemen will be here to save us.” Her husband (16)
_____ (join) her, “Don’t be afraid. Get back into your flat. Everything 17) ___ (be) all right.”

The man thought for a while, and then he climbed back into his flat. Soon the firemen
(18)____ (arrive). They took everyone who (19)___ (trap) in the building to safety.

1 turned 2 had gone 3 crying

4 jumped 5 turned 6 called
7 opened 8 was 9 was filled
10 getting 11 decided 12 waited
13 was opening 14 had climbed 15 jump
16 joined 17 will be 18 arrived
19 was trapped
Comprehensive Grammar exercises – Verb forms / P.12