The summer holidays are over...

Sheila: I spent my summer holidays at home in the city, because I

didn’t have enough money to go anywhere. So I visited museums,
walked in the parks, went to the cinema and to the zoo. Sometimes I
went for a ride on my bike, and I got to know our city quite well. A
city can be rather pleasant on Saturdays when everybody goes away
for the weekend.

Tony: I usually spend my summer holidays in the country. My

grandparents have a big farm. They live there alone all the year
round and so they are very happy to have the house full of people
during the summer holidays: sons, sons-in-law, daughters,
daughters-in-law and grandchildren. When we are on the farm, we
sometimes work in the fields picking fruit. Sometimes we feed the
animals and feed the cows. It is great fun to do all these things
during the holidays because we don’t have to do them every day of
the year...

Martha: As usual, we spent our holidays at the seaside. We

have a big group of friends and we always rent the same
houses. The weather was fine. We lay in the sun, talking,
laughing and getting a tan. Now and then we all ran into the
water for a swim. It was very amusing. I can’t surf but
some of my friends can. I tried to do it once, but I fell into
the water and everybody laughed at me. Well, I laughed
too. But I didn’t try again...

Angela: This year I travelled abroad with my parents and sister. We

went to Italy. It was the first time we had visited a foreign country
and we enjoyed it very much. I have studied lots of things about the
Romans and the Roman empire in my history lessons. I have also
read lots of Asterix books... My parents were amazed at my
knowledge about Italy. Rome is a fantastic city!
We went by plane from England to Italy. There we travelled by
coach with a guide. I learned lots of words in Italian. And the Italian
food... Mmm! Delicious!
 Jack: Uncle Charles has a big caravan. He chose Scotland for
his summer holidays. He invited my brother and me to go
with him. We thought it was a fantastic idea. It was so
peaceful and calm up on the mountains! We met lots of
shepherds with their sheep and sheepdogs. We did some
mountaineering and we also went swimming in the lakes. But
the water was too cold! Brrr!
Uncles Charles told us a lot of old stories about Scotland – its
castles, its ghosts, its monsters. It was great fun! We cooked
our own meals. Everybody was always so hungry! At night, before going to bed, my
brother played the guitar and we all sang some songs together. We loved our summer
holidays in Scotland!

A. Answer the following questions about the previous texts:

Text 1.
1. Why did Sheila spend her holidays in the city?
2. What did she do?
3. When is the city particularly pleasant? Why?

Text 2
1. Why does Tony usually spend his holidays in the country?
2. What does he do there?
3. Why does he like working on the farm?

Text 3
1. Does Martha usually go to a hotel at the seaside? Justify your answer.
2. What did she do on the beach?
3. How many times did she go surfing? Why?

Text 4
1. Who went with Angela to Italy?
2. Where did she learn so many things about that country?
3. What means of transport did they use?

Text 5
1. Where did Jack and his brother go with Uncle Charles?
2. Did they have their meals in restaurants? Justify.
3. Do you think they enjoyed their holiday? Why/Why not?

B. Fill in the blanks with the Past Simple of the verbs in brackets:

Last year I ___________(spend) my holidays on a tropical island. I ____________ (go)

by ship and when I ______________ (arrive), _____________ (there be) some natives
on the beach. They ____________ (take) me to a very good hotel near the sea. I
____________ (stay) there for two weeks and I ____________ (meet) lots of nice
people. The weather ______________ (be) always fine. I really ___________ (have) a
wonderful time.