Past tense

1.   Circle the correct word or phrase.


a)    Rick should know about the meeting because I told / have told him about it yesterday.

b)    Did you meet / Have you met last July while you were both backpacking around Europe?

c)    I'm resigning because the pressure at work has become / became too much for me.

d)    A month ago, I got / have got a letter from Neil, but I haven't replied.

e)    Julie was / has been anxious to speak to you since she heard about your accident.

f)     I had / have had no idea you were such a good chess player.

g)    If you finished / have finished, put your hand up and I'll collect your exam paper.

h)   There were / have been a number of different reasons for our divorce.

i)     It was my birthday last week and my granddad gave / has given me a new laptop.

j)     I don't know who's responsible because I didn't work / haven't worked here long.

k)    My brother and I were never allowed / have never been allowed to chew gum when we were young.

l)     My parents sent / have sent me to a private school until I was 12.


2.   Write the verb in brackets in the correct form, past simple or past continuous, in each gap.
You may have to use the passive form.


a)   When the explosion happened, hundreds of people .................................... (pass)
through the airport.

b)    When I heard the phone ring, I .................................... (stop) writing to answer
it.

c)    Amy .................................... (read), so she didn't see me walking past.

d)    I .................................... (have) piano lessons every week from the age of six
onwards.

e)    We decided to leave the beach because it .................................... (get) dark and
we wanted to get home while there was still some light.

f)     .................................... Jessica already ....................................
(think) of leaving university before she failed her first year exams?

g)    Since the hotel had a pool, .................................... you
.................................... (swim) every day?

h)   The Industrial Revolution .................................... (attract) many people from the
country to the city.

i)     The Hubble Space Telescope .................................... (put) into orbit around the
Earth in 1990.

j)     Sorry I couldn't come on Friday, but I .................................... (work) on my
project.

k)    By the time we .................................... (arrive), the party was almost over.

l)     The national park .................................... (create) to protect local wildlife.


Revision


1.   Write the verb in brackets in the correct form, past continuous or present perfect continuous,
in each gap.

a)   'Why are you out of breath?'

'Because I ............................................................ for the last hour.'
(exercise)

b)   'Your light was on when I walked past last night.'

'Yes, I ............................................................ online to my cousin in
Australia.' (chat)

c)   'You've really improved on the flute.'

'Well, I hope so because I ............................................................ a lot
lately.' (practise)

d)   'You're not jealous of my other friends, are you?'

'No, but you ............................................................ quite a lot of them
recently.' (see)

e)   'I didn't wake you up, did I?'

'No, I ............................................................ ' (sleep)

f)    'Did you quit your job in the end?'

‘I ............................................................ of doing so for a long time, but
then I decided not to.' (think)

g)   'Why is your street such a mess?'

'Oh, the council ............................................................ up the roads, but
they should finish this weekend.' (dig)


2.   Write one word in each gap.

                                            The Pencil

Because the pencil (1) ......................... become such a fundamental part of our lives, it's
difficult to remember that people (2) ......................... not been using them forever. Like
other products of human ingenuity, pencils had to be invented.

Before the first half of the sixteenth century, people (3) ......................... to use pens to
write with and brushes to paint with. It (4) ......................... also possible to use a metal
stick to make faint marks on paper. However, up to that point no one (5) .........................
found an easy way to make marks that could be erased. Then, some time before 1565, a large deposit
of the chemical, graphite, (6) .........................  found near Borrowdale in Cumbria,
England. The locals (7) ......................... use this graphite (a kind of soft black rock) to
mark sheep. Soon, tales of this unusual soft substance (8) ......................... spread to
artists around the world, who were eager to use it to produce works of art. Graphite is soft and
dirty, and in order to write or draw with it, it (9) ......................... to have to be
covered in something, such as sheepskin or string. People had (10) ......................... trying
to improve the pencil for some time before manufacturers in Italy came up with the idea of
enclosing the graphite in a wooden case. The modern pencil was born.