The road to success

GRAMMAR Past simple and past continuous
1 Complete the text. Use the past simple or past continuous
form of the verbs in brackets.
2 t o U i'M Choose the correct options to complete the
conversation. Then listen and check your answers.
A: When ^did you first play / were you first playing the
guitar?
B: It ^was being / was when I was about six years old.
At that time, my father ^was learning / learned to play the
guitar, and I '’was asking / asked if I could try it. He ®was /
was being happy about that.
A: ®D/d he play / Was he playing well?
B: No, not at all. He ^had / was having a very successful
business, and at that time he ^tried / was trying to find a
hobby - something to help him relax.
A: How quickly ^did you become / were you becoming
better than him at playing the guitar?
B: It '°took / was taking about a week - maybe two.
A: Wow. That fast?
B: Yes.
A: Was he happy when your band finally ^''became / was
becoming famous?
B: He '^loved / was loving it!

Past perfect
3 Use the past simple or the past perfect form of the verbs
in the boxes to complete the sentences.

Understanding w hat’s important in life study finish not go

Rio Elias was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico in 1967. When I . high school, I .
As a child, he ' _____________ (speal<) Spanish at school. directly to university. I _____________ enough, I thought.
After he ^_____________ (graduate) from high school, decide spend start
he ®_____________ (move) to the United States to attend I _____________ four years learning the piano when I
Boston College. While he “_____________ (study) he also _____________ to give it upa nd ______________ playing
improved his English a lot, though it was hard work. the drums.
In his first year, he ®_____________ (take) classes that were choose feel live
mainly about maths, and in 1989 he ®_____________ (get) By the time I was 1 8 ,1_____________ in six different
a degree in accounting. He . (complete) countries and I . . tired of moving. That was
an MBA from Harvard Business School in 1994. After that, when I _______ to stay in Tokyo.
he ®_____________(have) jobs with several different get apply receive go
companies. While he ®_____________ (work) for a . for about twenty jobs before
marketing company he _____________ (meet) Dan . one invitation for an interview.
Feldstein. Together, in 1999, they " _____________ (start) _ well and I _____________ the job!
an online shopping discount company called Red F. Match the questions with the answers (a-f).
In 2005 Feldstein and Elias _____________ (sell) Red F,
because they _____________ (develop) Red Ventures,
1 Before you moved to California, had you lived □
in the USA before?
a marketing and sales service company, and they
_____________ (want) to concentrate on it completely.
Did you apply for more than one job? □
In 2009, while he _____________ (travel) for work,
Were you living in London when you heard about □
the job in Beijing?
Elias ’6____ (be) on a plane that crashed.
He _____ (not die) and said that the experience
Had your visa application been approved before □
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you accepted the job?
. (help) him to understand what’s really
important in life.
Did the application process take a long time? □
Was your job causing you a lot of stress when □
you decided to leave?
Yes, I was. c No, it wasn’t. e No, it hadn’t.
No, I hadn’t. d Yes, it did. f Yes, I did.

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GRAMMAR EXTRA! Past continuous had and hadn’t
for politeness 8 C T i m Listen. Underline the stressed words in each
Read the conversation. Match the expressions in bold sentence. Then practise saying the sentences.
with the correct meanings (a-d). 1 By the time I was eighteen, I had studied Spanish for six
A: Do you have a minute? I 'w a s hoping to discuss our years.
plans for next week’s presentation. 2 I hadn’t worked for a company before I started my job
B; OK. What’s on your mind? with Apple.
A: I ^was thinking we should start the meeting with an 3 I had had four jobs before I turned fifteen.
informal discussion. I ®was w ondering if that might 4 He hadn't been with the company very long before his
mal<e everyone feel more relaxed. pay was increased.
B: How long '’w ere you expecting the informal discussion 5 Had you ever been to Hong Kong before you moved
to last? there?
A: Maybe just fifteen minutes or so. 6 She hadn't remembered to sign the application, so it
was returned.
a It’s my opinion that □
b do you want □ DICTATION
c want □
d thinl< □ 9 Listen to a man with a degree in French
describing his career path. Complete the sentences.
JJI Complete the conversation. Use the expressions
(1^) in Exercise 5. Then listen and check your answers.
A: I ®_____________ I could talk to you about something?
B: Sure.
A; P ________ . we should hire someone like Joachim
de Posada to speak at our conference.
B: That's a good idea. But how *=_____________ we would
pay for it?
A: That's what I ^_____________ to discuss with you.

PRONUNCIATION Weak forms: was and

were
Listen. Underline the stressed words in each
sentence. Then practise saying the sentences.
1 They weren't expecting to move to Madrid.
2 Steve was working in China when we met.
3 I wasn’t living in London when she worked there.
4 They learned Russian when they were studying in 1 When _ _university.
Moscow. . what job I .
5 Did you have much free time when you were working on to do.
your PhD? 2 I. _French for three years, and
6 Was Paul doing research when he lived in Malaysia? ___________________ it well.
3 L _________ moving to France,
but I . _ any friends or family there.
_ studying a lot, so in the end
. to go for a Master's degree.
After my Master’s ,. ________________ a PhD and
then____________ . at university - as a teacher.

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