Paper 19

Tenses And forms of Verb

At the Old Swimming Hole Sara Paretsky

I 1. __________ (sit) on a wooden seat at the University of Illinois indoor

swimming pool, and I was not enjoying myself. The air 2. __________ (be) hot and
wet, the seats were hard and the noise was terrible – shouts from the swimmers, the
officials and the public 3. __________ (make) my head ache.

I 4. __________ (come) to watch a swimming competition organized by Chicago

businesses, to collect money for sick people. A number of companies 5. __________
(send) teams. My old school friend Alicia Dauphine was in the Berman Airplanes
team, and she 6. __________ (ask) me to come and watch her swim. I came, because
she was an old friend – though we didn’t often meet now, as we had different
interests.

At school Alicia 7. __________ (interest) in only two things: swimming and

engines. She 8. __________ (study) engineering at university, and then she joined
Berman Airplanes Company and worked on the design of planes. And me? I’m a
private detective. My business 9. __________ (be) crime.

Six competitors 10. __________ (stand) at the end of the pool, ready to start the
women’s event. From where I sat it wasn’t easy 11. __________ (recognize) Alicia. I
knew that she 12. __________ (wear) a red swimsuit, but there were three
swimmers in red. The pool 13. __________ (divide) into seven lanes. My program
said that Alicia 14. __________ (be) in lane two.

The woman in the first lane 15. __________ (complain) about something. The
organizer changed the swimmers’ positions, leaving the first lane empty. Now one
red suit was in lane two, one in lane three and one in lane six. I 16. __________ (not
know) which one was Alicia. The starting gun 17. __________ (fire), and six bodies
18. __________ (throw) themselves into the water. There was a perfect start in lane
six – that must be Alicia.
Answer
1. was sitting
2. was
3. had come
3. had sent
4. had asked
5. was interested
6. studied
7. is
8. were standing
9. to recognize
10. was wearing
11. was divided
12. was
13. was complaining
14. didn’t know
15. was fired
16. threw
I was sitting on a wooden seat at the University of Illinois indoor swimming pool, and
I was not enjoying myself. The air was hot and wet, the seats were hard and the noise
was terrible – shouts from the swimmers, the officials and the public were making
my head ache.

I had come to watch a swimming competition organized by Chicago businesses, to

collect money for sick people. A number of companies had sent teams. My old school
friend Alicia Dauphine was in the Berman Airplanes team, and she had asked me to
come and watch her swim. I came, because she was an old friend – though we didn’t
often meet now, as we had different interests.

At school Alicia was interested in only two things: swimming and engines. She
studied engineering at university, and then she joined Berman Airplanes Company
and worked on the design of planes. And me? I’m a private detective. My business is
crime.

Six competitors were standing at the end of the pool, ready to start the women’s
event. From where I sat it wasn’t easy to recognize Alicia. I knew she was wearing a
red swimsuit, but there were three swimmers in red. The pool was divided into seven
lanes. My programme said that Alicia was in lane two.

The woman in the first lane was complaining about something. The organizer
changed the swimmers’ positions, leaving the first lane empty. Now one red suit was
in lane two, one in lane three and one in lane six. I didn’t know which one was Alicia.
The starting gun was fired, and six bodies threw themselves into the water. There
was a perfect start in lane six – that must be Alicia.