Grammar II Verb Tenses Prof.

Maria Olga Neila

Mrs. Ramsey’s Night

A year ago, Mrs. Ramsey __________________

woke up (wake up) at 1.30.am. At first, she didn’t know
why she __________________
woken up (wake up), but then she _________________
heard (hear) a noise. It was a
scratching sound. Mrs. Ramsey ___________________
listened (listen) carefully, she _________________
had never heard

(never, hear) that sound before. While she __________________

was sitting (sit) in her bed, the noise
__________________
got (get) louder. The old woman wondered where the sound was coming
from. Although she ______________
was afraid (be afraid), she decided to get out of bed. ‘I
__________________
think (think) this is a cat, that _________________
is playing (play) with my dustbins. I
______________
will chase (chase) it away so I can sleep again’, she thought. However, then the noise
suddenly _________________
changed (change). ‘This sounds like someone ______________________
is talking (talk)’, she
whispered to herself.

Meanwhile, her dog, Tim, _______________

woken up (wake up) as well. Tim __________________
walked (walk) up
to her bed and ___________________
whimpered (whimper) quietly. ‘Shush’, she said, ‘be quiet, you
______________
are (be) such a baby!’ Really, she was scared herself but she ____________________
wanted
(want) to be brave. Before she went to the back window to see what was going on she
_________________
went (go) into the kitchen to get a rolling pin. Slowly, she _________________
tiptoed (tiptoe)
to the window. ‘You said that old bat ____________________
wasn't at (be not) home!’ ‘I ________________
know

(know) what I said, thanks for reminding me!’ ‘So what ________________________
are we going to do (we do)
now?’ Mrs Ramsey’s heart _____________________
was beating (beat) fast. Tim, her dog, ___________________
was hiding
(hide) under the sofa and looked scared. ‘We _____________________
will rob (rob) her house, of course!
That’s what we __________________
decided (decide) to do three weeks ago and this is what we
___________________
are going to (do)’ Mrs. Ramsey froze – what could she do?

‘Rob the house when she’s inside? ____________

Are (be) you crazy?’ the other voice said. Mrs
Ramsey _____________________
took (take) a deep breath and said to herself ‘Okay, I need to do
something. ‘I _____________________
tiptoe (tiptoe) back into my bedroom and close my eyes. That is
the safest thing to do’. While she _______________________
was walking (walk) back to her room, there was
a loud noise. The old lady _______________
stopped (stop) for a second and ___________________
looked (look)
around, then she ran into her bedroom and closed the door. As she _________________
was lying (lie) in
bed, she thought: ‘Nobody _______________________
has ever broken (ever break) into my house, and I
_________________
have never been(never be) so scared in my entire life.’

The noise Mrs. Ramsey __________________

heard (hear), had come from the door. Now she could
hear footsteps and whispering. ‘Where ____________________
do you want (you want) to start?’ a voice said.
The other voice answered: ‘Of course we _______________________
are going to start (start) in the bedroom, we
 Grammar II Verb Tenses Prof. Maria Olga Neila
always do that, that’s where the old ladies keep all their gold!’ Mrs. Ramsey thought:
‘That _______________
is (be) true, I also _________________
keep (keep) my gold in the bedroom. ‘Alright
then, but you go first’. Slowly, the footsteps ________________
got (get) closer.

‘Hands up into the air, and don’t you move an inch’, a loud voice said, ‘You are under
arrest!’ Mrs Ramsey _______________
opened (open) her eyes and turned around in bed. A young
police officer ___________________
was walking (walk) up to her bed. ‘Are you okay?’ he asked. ‘Yes, thank
you, I _______________
heard (hear) noises and ___________
woke up (wake up). When I heard the two men
speaking about breaking in I ________________
decided (decide) to go back to bed and _________________
pretended
(pretend) to be asleep, it was too late to call you. How did you know…I mean…why are
you here now’, the lady asked. ‘One of your neighbours ______________
woken up (wake up) from the
noise as well, he saw two men at your door and ________________
thought (think) something was
wrong, so he ________________
called (call) us’, the officer said with a smile. ‘So you should thank
your neighbour.’ Mrs Ramsey smiled and answered ‘Yes, thank you I ____________________
will thank

(thank) him tomorrow, but now I really need some sleep.’

The next morning Mrs Ramsey ________________

went (go) to her neighbours´ house and
_______________
thanked (thank) them for calling the police. She was very happy that they
_____________________
realised (realise) what was going on. She was so thankful that she wanted to
repay them in some way. She offered to do some of their washing and ironing, because
she __________________
knew (know) her neighbours had very busy jobs. At first, they ______________
said
(say) no, but then Mrs Ramsey really wanted to do something for them, so they said
okay. Since that day, Mrs. Ramsey and her neighbours _____________________
have been (be) very good
friends. They ______________
meet (meet) for tea and cake at least once a week and _______________
help
(help) each other. ‘I really like having more contact with the neighbours. Now we also
share work. Right now for instance I 'm
__________________(iron)
ironing their clothes and they
_____________________
are cutting (cut) my trees.’