Complete the sentences with the correct past simple, past continuous or past perfect form of the verbs in brackets.

1. We ____________ (move) house a lot while I____________ (grow up).

2. After Joe ____________ (learn) to drive, he___________ (buy) a car.

3. George ____________ (leave) school, ____________ (go) to university and____________ (study) engineering.

4. My parents ____________ (get) engaged in 1990.

5. They ____________ (fall) in love two years before, while they ____________ (work) in London.

Exercise 1: Complete the text. Use the correct form of past simple or past continuous of the verbs in the list.

                        be | pick him up | stand | notice | run | sit

I (0) was sitting in Science class last week when suddenly there (1) ………… a lot of shouting. Two girls (2) …………………on the desk and that’s when I (3) ………………… Steve. He (4) ……………………up and down the classroom. So I (5) ……………………and put him back in his home – Steve’s the school mouse!

1 Complete the sentences. Use the past simple or past continuous form of the verbs in brackets.

1 .When it _______________________ (stop) raining, we _______________________ (go out) and _______________________ (put) the kayak in the water.

2. While I _______________________ (wait) at the bus stop, I _______________________ (see) an accident.

3 .Suddenly, the man _______________________ (take) the purse from the woman’s handbag and _______________________ (run off).

4 .At 5 p.m. yesterday, I _______________________ (read) a book about Captain Cook and my sister _______________________ (watch) a film about the explorer Robert Falcon Scott.

5. I _______________________ (relax) in the sun when a cloud _______________________ (appear) in the sky.

6. When the sailor _______________________ (open) the box, he _______________________ (find) an old map inside.

7. While everyone _______________________ (argue), I _______________________ (realise) it was a good time to go.

8. As I _______________________ (leave) the party, I finally _______________________ (remember) the man’s name.

9. The man _______________________ (wear) a raincoat and _______________________ (carry) a big suitcase.

10. The girl _______________________ (run) through the forest when she _______________________ (slip) over.

3 Complete the sentences with the correct words. The first letter of each word has been given.

1 It was a bright day in July, but inside the Son Doong C_ _ _ it was very dark and cold.

2 It's a s_ _ _ _ climb to the top of Ben Nevis in the Scottish Highlands, but the view is worth it.

3 Angel Falls, on the Guaja River in Venezuela, is the highest w_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ in the world.

4 During the day, the temperature in the Sahara d_ _ _ _ _ can reach 50°C, but at night it sometimes falls to below 0°C.

5 The beautiful White C_ _ _ _s of Dover are very high and it’s dangerous to walk too close to the edge.

6 The edges of Lake Como in Italy are s_ _ _ _ _ _ , but it’s quite deep in the middle.

7 Over 1,500 people lost their lives in the early morning of 15 April 1912 when the Titanic sank in the i_ _ waters of the North Atlantic Ocean.

8 You can collect seashells from the s_ _ _ _ in the Maldives, but you can’t take coral pieces.

Complete the following sentences with the correct form of the verbs in brackets: the past simple or the past perfect tense.

Before he (wake up)     , his mother (prepare)    breakfast.
We (go)      to London last month.
By the time the doctor (arrive)    , the patient (die)    .
Before that day we (never/ think)    of traveling to Japan.
I (know)     him a long time before I (meet)     his family.
It (be)     cloudy for days before it (begin)     to rain.
The car (break)     down last Sunday.
Martha (turn)     off the light and (go)     to bed.
He (buy)     a new car last month, but he doesn't really like it.
The robbers (attack)    him 20 minutes ago.

Complete the sentences. Use the past simple or the past continuous form of the verbs in brackets.

1 I __________ (have) a crash while I__________ (learn) to drive.

2 Sam __________(get) his first job while he__________ (live) in London.

3 It __________ (rain), so we __________(decide) to cancel the barbecue.

4 What __________you __________ (do) when I (see) you in town?

5 Emma __________ (not hear) the phone ringing because she __________ (listen) to music in her bedroom.

6 Ryan __________ (break) his arm while he _________ (ski) in France.

7 Harry __________ (work) as a chef when he __________ (meet) Sally.

8 You obviously __________ (not listen) when I __________ (ask) you to turn down the music.

B. Complete the sentences with the correct form of the Past Perfect Simple or the Past Perfect Continuous of the verbs in brackets.

 We were tired because we ………………………………….. (drive) for two hours.

Anna ………………………………….. (not stop) studying all day. She didn’t even have one break.

………………………………………….. (the archaeologists / discover) the tomb before they found the treasure?

I ………………………………….. (analyse) the document for hours. That’s why I needed a rest.

Complete the second part of the article. Use the past simple, past perfect simple or past perfect continuous of the verbs in brackets.

By 1717 Black Sam and his crew had captured over fifty ships but none was as large or as rich as the slave ship, the W. In April of 1717 the Whydah (15) ……………………………………………. (just / sell) a cargo of slaves and was returning to London when Black Sam (16) ………………………………. (begin) to chase her. By the time he (17) ……………………………………………. (capture) her, he (18) ……………………………………………. (chase) her for three days.

At last Black Sam (19) ……………………………………………. (find) the wealth he (20) ……………………………………………. (look) for and he (21) ……………………………………………. (decide) to sail back to Cape Cod. But the Whydah (22) ……………………………………………. (sail) into a storm and strong winds (23) ……………………………………………. (drive) her towards land. The ship (24) …………………………………. (strike) rocks a hundred yards from the shores of Cape Cod and (25) ………………………....…………. (sink). Two men (26) ………………..……..……………. (swim) to shore but Black Sam wasn't one of them.

According to legend. Black Sam (27) ……………………………………………. (travel) home to meet Maria Hallet. Some people believe he (28) ……………………………………………. (decide) to propose marriage. They also say Maria (29) ……………………………………………. (wait) for his return and was watching from the cliffs of Cape Cod when the Whydah (30) ……………………………………………. (go) down. Was Maria saddened to lose her lover - or was she glad to be rid of such a dangerous man? No one knows.

Complete the second part of the article. Use the past simple, past perfect simple or past perfect continuous of the verbs in brackets.

By 1717 Black Sam and his crew had captured over fifty ships but none was as large or as rich as the slave ship, the W. In April of 1717 the Whydah (15) ……………………………………………. (just / sell) a cargo of slaves and was returning to London when Black Sam (16) ………………………………. (begin) to chase her. By the time he (17) ……………………………………………. (capture) her, he (18) ……………………………………………. (chase) her for three days.

At last Black Sam (19) ……………………………………………. (find) the wealth he (20) ……………………………………………. (look) for and he (21) ……………………………………………. (decide) to sail back to Cape Cod. But the Whydah (22) ……………………………………………. (sail) into a storm and strong winds (23) ……………………………………………. (drive) her towards land. The ship (24) …………………………………. (strike) rocks a hundred yards from the shores of Cape Cod and (25) ………………………....…………. (sink). Two men (26) ………………..……..……………. (swim) to shore but Black Sam wasn't one of them.

According to legend. Black Sam (27) ……………………………………………. (travel) home to meet Maria Hallet. Some people believe he (28) ……………………………………………. (decide) to propose marriage. They also say Maria (29) ……………………………………………. (wait) for his return and was watching from the cliffs of Cape Cod when the Whydah (30) ……………………………………………. (go) down. Was Maria saddened to lose her lover - or was she glad to be rid of such a dangerous man? No one knows.

I) Complete the sentences. Use the past perfect or past perfect continuous form of the verbs in brackets.

1. The bus got stuck in traffic, so, by the time we got to the cinema, we ___________ (miss) the start of the film.

2. Clara ___________ (perform) in small-town theatres for years before she got her first role in a Hollywood film.

3. Audiences were amazed when they first saw the film Citizen Kane. They ___________ (not see) anything like it before. 

4. The flight was so long I ___________ (watch) five films from beginning to end by the time we landed. 

5. My little brother started crying in the cinema because he thought I ___________ (eat) all of his ice cream. 

6. It wasn’t until we left the cinema that I noticed my sister’s eyes were red. She ___________ (cry) all the way through the film.