Choose the correct answer:

1. By the time we ___________ at the party most people ___________!

arrived
were arriving
already left
had already left

2. While I ___________ to work John _____________ me constantly

had tried
was trying
had disturbed
was disturbing

3. While I ___________ on my computer it suddenly ____________ working!

worked
was working
stopped
was stopping

4. When I lived in Germany I ___________ economics.

studied
was studying

5. I picked up my bag, put on my coat and ___________ the house, but as

soon as I ___________ the bus I realised that I ___________ the oven!
left
was leaving
got on
had got on
didn't switch o
hadn't switched o

6. I ___________ to music while I was running.

listened
was listening

7. I ___________ quite peacefully when I suddenly ___________ out of bed!

slept
was sleeping
fell
was falling
f
f
 8. It was a beautiful day. The sun ___________ and the birds ___________. I
___________ my things and went for a walk outside. I ___________ such
beautiful countryside before.
shone
was shining
sang
were singing
picked up
was picking up
never saw
had never seen

NARRATIVE TENSES. PUT THE VERB INTO THE CORRECT TENSE.

This [?] (happen) about ve years ago. I [?] (come) back

home from Turkey where I [?] (be) on holiday with some friends
who [?] (rent) a bungalow in the mountains not for from Ankara,
the capital.

Anyway, we [ ?] (sit) in the plane and [?] (just / take) off when there
[?] (be) a loud bang from the right hand side of the plane and I
could see a lot of smoke coming from one of the engines. Of course,
everyone [?] (start) looking around but the plane (carry) on
ying normally. And then a few minutes later the pilot [ ?] (come)
on to the PA and said there was a problem with one of the engines and
we’d have to return to the airport.

I felt pretty nervous, I can tell you, but I [?] (try) to concentrate on
my book, and about ten minutes later we [?] (land) without any
problems. We (have) to wait for about an hour and then we got
back on the plane. Actually, it was a different plane and I was pretty
relieved that it was.
fl
fi
 Complete the story using the past simple, past
perfect, or past continuous of the verbs in brackets.
It (be) Tuesday evening and I (get) ready to go to bed when
the phone (ring). To my surprise it (be) my friend Peter. He
( call) from his mobile and he was very annoyed because he
( lose) his keys and he (cannot) get into his at. He (
think) he (leave) them at work but now it was
midnight and the of ce was closed so he (cannot) get in to check.
Luckily I had the keys to his at because a month before he
(give) me a spare set so that I could look after his cat while he was on
holiday. When he nally (arrive) to pick them up, it was three
o'clock in the morning, and I (lie) on the sofa fast asleep.

The Accident
This happened to me when I (walk) to work the other day. I
didn’t go by car because the day before I (take) the car to the
mechanic to x a few faults.

As I (walk) along Allen Street I (hear) a noise behind me.

I (turn) around to see what the noise was and I (see) two
cars which (drive) really fast. Suddenly the blue car
(crash) into a wall. I (grab) my mobile phone and (call)
999 for an ambulance. I (explain) that there (be) a road
tra c accident.
ffi
fi
fi
fi
fl
fl
While I (talk) on the phone, the police (get) out of their
car and (arrest) the men from the blue car. Soon, the
ambulance (arrive) and the police (escort) the injured
men to the hospital.

When I (get) to work I (explain) what (happen) to my

boss. I don’t think that she (believe) me, but the next day we
(read) about the accident in the newspaper. The newspaper
explained that the men (rob) a bank!

What a drama!