1) Put the verbs in brackets into the correct tense: the Past Simple or Past Continuous Tense.
1. Peter (tell) me yesterday that he (make) his own $5 notes. – Don’t believe
him. He just (pull) your leg.
2. A traffic warden just (stick) a parking ticket to my windscreen when I
(come) back to the car. I (try) to persuade him to tear it up but he (refuse).
3. He (sit) on the bank fishing when he (see) a man's hat floating down the
river. It (seem) strangely familiar.
4. My neighbour (look) in last night and (say) that he (leave) the district and
(go) to Yorkshire, to a new job. I (say) that I (be) very sorry that he (go), and
(tell) him to write to me from Yorkshire and tell me how he (get) on.
5. It (snow) heavily when he (wake) up. He (remember) that Jack (come) for
lunch and (decide) to go down to the station to meet him in case he (lose) his
way in the snowy lanes.
6. I (look) through the classroom window. A geometry lesson (go) on. The
teacher (draw) diagrams on the blackboard.
7. Most of the boys (listen) to the teacher but a few (whisper) to each other,
and Tom (read) a history book. Tom (hate) mathematics; he always (read) history
during his mathematics lesson.
8. I (go) to Jack's house but (not find) him in. His mother (say) that she (not
know) what he (do) but (think) he probably (play) football.
9. This used to be a station and all the London trains (stop) here. But two
years ago they (close) the station and (give) us a bus service instead.
10. When I (reach) the street I (realize) that I (not know) the number of
Tom's house. I (wonder) what to do about it when Tom himself (tap) me on
the shoulder.
11. As the goalkeeper (run) forward to seize the ball a bottle (strike) him on
the shoulder.
12. She (promise) not to report me to the police but ten minutes later I (see)
her talking with a policeman and from the expression on his face I am sure she
(tell) him all about it.
13. I (pick) up the receiver and (dial) a number. To my surprise I (find)
myself listening to an extraordinary conversation. Two men (plan) to kidnap
the Prime Minister.
14. 'What you (do) between 9.00 and 10.00 yesterday?' (say) the detective.
“I (clean) my house,” said Mrs Jones. “I always clean my house on Saturday
mornings.”
15. They (build) that bridge when I (be) here last year. They haven't finished
it yet.
2) Put the verbs in brackets into the Past Simple or the Past Continuous Tense.
I (walk) along Piccadilly when I (realize) that a man with a ginger beard,
whom I had seen three times already that afternoon, (follow) me. To make quite
sure, I (walk) on quickly, (turn) right, then left and (stop) suddenly at a shop
window. In a few minutes the man with the beard (appear) and (stop) at another
shop window. I (go) on.
Whenever I (stop) he (stop), and whenever I (look) round he (be) still there.
He (look) a very respectable type and (wear) very conventional clothes and I
(wonder) if he was a policeman or a private detective. I (decide) to try and shake
him off. A 74 bus (stand) at the bus stop just beside me. Then the conductor
(come) downstairs and (ring) the bell; just as the bus (move) off, I (jump) on it.
The man with the beard (miss) the bus but (get) into another 74, which (follow)
the first. Both buses (crawl) very slowly along Knightsbridge. Every time the
buses (pull) up at a stop, the man (look) out anxiously to see if I (get) off.
Finally, at some traffic lights, he (change) buses and (get) into mine. At
Gloucester Road Underground, I (leave) the bus and (buy) a ticket at a ticket
machine. As I (stand) on the platform waiting for a Circle Line train, my pursuer
(come) down the stairs. He (carry) a newspaper and when we (get) into the same
compartment, he (sit) in one corner reading it, and I (read) the advertisements.
He (look) over the top of the newspaper at every station to see if I (get) out.
I (become) rather tired of being shadowed like this, so finally I (go) and (sit)
beside the man and (ask) him why he (follow) me. At first he (say) he (not
follow) me at all but when I (threaten) to knock him down, he (admit) that he
was. Then he (tell) me he (be) a writer of detective stories and (try) to see if
it was difficult to follow someone unseen. I (tell) him he hadn't been unseen
because I had noticed him in Piccadilly and I (advise) him to shave off his
ginger beard if he (not want) his victim to know he (be) followed.