Faculty of Political Science
1st-Cycle Degree Programme in Tourism Studies
April 29, 2016
Exercises on Present Tense Usage
in English for Tourism
***KEYS***
EXERCISE 1 — Complete the texts below with the appropriate form of
simple present, sometimes in its passive voice:
St Andrews IS (1. to be) a former royal burgh on the east coast of Fife in
Scotland, named after Saint Andrew the Apostle. The town IS (2. to be) home
to the University of St Andrews, the third oldest university in the Englishspeaking world and the oldest in Scotland. The University IS (3. to be) an
integral part of the burgh, and during term time students MAKE UP (4. to
make up) approximately one third of the town's population. St Andrews HAS
(5. to have) a population of 16,680, making this the fifth largest settlement in
Fife.
St Andrews IS ALSO KNOWN (6. also / to be known) worldwide as the “home
of golf”. This IS (7. to be) in part because the Royal and Ancient Golf Club,
founded in 1754, EXERCISES (8. to exercise) legislative authority over the
game worldwide (except in the United States and Mexico), and also because
the famous links (acquired by the town in 1894) IS (9. to be) the most
frequent venue for The Open Championship, the oldest of golf's four major
championships. Visitors TRAVEL (10. to travel) to St Andrews in great
numbers for several courses ranked amongst the finest in the world, as well as
for the sandy beaches.
The Martyrs Memorial, erected to the honour of Patrick Hamilton, George
Wishart, and other martyrs of the Reformation epoch, STANDS (11. to stand)
at the west end of the Scores on a cliff overlooking the sea.
St Andrews HAS (12. to have) a temperate maritime climate, which IS (13. to
be) relatively mild despite its northerly latitude. Winters ARE (14. to be) not
as cold as one might expect, considering that Moscow and Labrador in
Newfoundland LIE (15. to lie) on the same latitude.
European Parliament/ About Parliament
The European Parliament IS (1. to be) the only directly-elected EU body and
one of the largest democratic assemblies in the world. Its 766 Members ARE
(2. to be) there to represent the EU's 500 million citizens. They ARE ELECTED
© 2016 Rosati F. and F. Vaccarelli
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Faculty of Political Science
1st-Cycle Degree Programme in Tourism Studies
April 29, 2016
(3. to be elected) once every five years by voters from across the 28 Member
States.
DO YOU WANT (4. you / to want) to know how the Parliament IS
ORGANISED (5. to be organised)? Once elected, Members ORGANISE (6. to
organise) along political lines. They FORM (7. to form) political groups to
better defend their positions. Currently there are seven groups.
Most of Parliament's in-depth work IS DONE (8. to be done) in specialised
committees that PREPARE (9. to prepare) reports that will later be voted on
in the plenary.
The Parliament's rules of procedure PROVIDE (10. to provide) a detailed
framework for the Parliament at work. Being a representative of all European
citizens, the assembly's multilingualism has become one of its most important
aspects. Parliamentary documents ARE PUBLISHED (11. to be published) in
all the official languages of the EU and every MEP HAS (12. to have) the right
to speak in the official language of their choice.
The Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on
Climate Change (UNFCCC) IS (1.to be) an international treaty that SETS (2.
to set) binding obligations on industrialized countries to reduce emissions of
greenhouse gases. The UNFCCC IS (3. to be) an environmental treaty with the
goal of preventing "dangerous" anthropogenic (i.e., human-induced)
interference of the climate system. According to the UNFCC website, the
Protocol “RECOGNISES (4. to recognise) that developed countries ARE (5. to
be) principal responsible for the current high levels of GHG emissions in the
atmosphere as a result of more than 150 years of industrial activity, and
PLACES (6. to place) a heavier burden on developed nations under the
principle of 'common but differentiated responsibilities’.”
Developing countries DO NOT HAVE (7. not / to have) binding targets under
the Kyoto Protocol, but ARE STILL COMMITTED (8. still / to be committed)
under the treaty to reduce their emissions. Actions taken by developed and
developing countries to reduce emissions INCLUDE (9. to include) support for
renewable energy, improving energy efficiency, and reducing deforestation.
Under the Protocol, emissions of developing countries ARE ALLOWED (10. to
be allowed) to grow in accordance with their development needs.
The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) IS (1. to be) the United
Nations agency responsible for the promotion of responsible, sustainable and
universally accessible tourism.
© 2016 Rosati F. and F. Vaccarelli
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Faculty of Political Science
1st-Cycle Degree Programme in Tourism Studies
April 29, 2016
As the leading international organization in the field of tourism, UNWTO
PROMOTES (2. to promote) tourism as a driver of economic growth, inclusive
development and environmental sustainability and OFFERS (3. to offer)
leadership and support to the sector in advancing knowledge and tourism
policies worldwide.
UNWTO ENCOURAGES (4. to encourage) the implementation of the Global
Code of Ethics for Tourism, to maximize tourism’s socio-economic
contribution while minimizing its possible negative impacts, and IS
COMMITTED (5. to be committed) to promoting tourism as an instrument in
achieving the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs),
geared towards reducing poverty and fostering sustainable development.
UNWTO GENERATES (6. to generate) market knowledge, PROMOTES (7. to
promote) competitive and sustainable tourism policies and instruments,
FOSTERS (8. to foster) tourism education and training, and WORKS (9. to
work) to make tourism an effective tool for development through technical
assistance projects in over 100 countries around the world.
UNWTO’s membership INCLUDES (10. to include) 156 countries, 6 Associate
Members and over 400 Affiliate Members representing the private sector,
educational institutions, tourism associations and local tourism authorities.
EXERCISE 2 — Complete the passage about Peter Morgan with the
correct form of present simple of these verbs:
not / to be
to check
to get
not / to leave
to say
to take
to travel
to greet
to spend
to want
to need
to switch on
to work
Peter Morgan WORKS (1) for Electrosystems plc in London. He TRAVELS (2)
to work by train and underground from his home in Wimbledon. The journey
TAKES (3) 55 minutes door-to-door when the train IS NOT (4) late. When he
GETS (5) to work, he GREETS (6) his colleagues, SWITCHS ON (7) his
computer and CHECKS (8) his emails. He SPENDS (9) at least nine hours a
day in the office and DOES NOT LEAVE (10) before 7 o’clock. He SAYS (11)
‘If you WANT (12) to succeed in your career, you NEED (13) to show
commitment’.
EXERCISE 3 – Put each verb into the present simple or present
continuous:
1. We ARE SPENDING (to spend) a lot of money on advertising this year.
© 2016 Rosati F. and F. Vaccarelli
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Faculty of Political Science
1st-Cycle Degree Programme in Tourism Studies
April 29, 2016
2. Every year we SPEND (to spend) over € 500,000 on raw materials.
3. I AM ENJOYING (to enjoy) this conference – It’s more interesting than last
year.
4. I ENJOY (to enjoy) a glass of wine occasionally, but I DO NOT DRINK (not
/ to drink) very much.
5. Central banks always RAISE (to raise) interest rates when inflation goes
up.
6. The Federal Reserve IS RAISING (to raise) rates quite slowly at the
moment.
7. The sales report is my responsibility. Most of the time I WRITE (to write) it.
8. This time Wu IS WRITING (to write) the sales report – I’m away on
holiday.
9. Look! They ARE SELLING (to sell) their new cell phone with a 10%
discount!
10.
Of course, in the winter we SELL (to sell) more coats, hats and scarves.
11.
She is Czech – she COMES (to come) from Prague.
12.
She IS COMING (to come) from Prague, so she may be late.
EXERCISE 4 – Put the verb into the present simple or present
continuous:
1. It normally TAKES about two weeks, but this one IS TAKING longer than
usual. (to take)
2. We usually SEND everything by post, but we ARE SENDING this package
by courier so we can track it if there are any problems. (to send)
3. The company usually GIVES us business class tickets, but they ARE
GIVING us economy tickets for this trip because there are so many of us
going. (to give)
4. We normally USE a London firm, but we ARE USING somebody local this
time so we can keep an eye on every detail. (to use)
5. We DO NOT BORROW more than we need at the best of times, and we
ARE BORROWING a penny more than we need with interest rate at 12%.
(not / to borrow)
© 2016 Rosati F. and F. Vaccarelli
4
Faculty of Political Science
1st-Cycle Degree Programme in Tourism Studies
April 29, 2016
EXERCISE 5 — Complete the following text with the appropriate form of
simple present or present continuous:
The Google brand IS GROWING (1. to grow) rapidly. According to the
Millward Brown Brandz report, it HOLDS (2. to hold) first place in the list of
top 100 brands. In fact, the IT field DOMINATES (3. to dominate) the topten corporate brands. Google OPERATES (4. to operate) websites at many
international domains, the most popular being www.google.com, and
GENERATES (5. to generate) revenue by providing effective advertising
opportunities. Google always FOCUSES (6. to focus) on the user, and
consumers usually SEE (7. to see) Google as quite trustworthy.
Nowadays, companies ARE BEGINNING (8. to begin) to recognise that
brands are amongst their most valuable assets. They UNDERSTAND (9. to
understand) that brands ARE BECOMING (10. to become) ever more
powerful in driving business growth. Strong brands GENERATE (11. to
generate) superior returns and protect businesses from risk. Google
currently HOLDS (12. to hold) the top position, but it has to keep
innovating if it wants to remain number one. Blackberry and Apple are the
two fastest-growing brands in the top 100, and China Mobile IS GROWING
(13. to grow) steadily, too.
EXERCISE 6 — Complete this article about the magazine Time Out with
the correct form of present simple or present continuous of these
verbs:
to have (2x)
not /to have
to look for
to move
to own
to rely
to try to
to investigate
to provide
to want
Time Out, the London entertainment magazine, HAS (1) plans for expansion.
It already OWNS (2) the monthly magazine Paris Passion, and now IS
MOVING (3) beyond France to other markets such as Argentina and Japan.
Tony Elliott, Time Out’s founder, says he IS LOOKING FOR (4) local people to
initiate and run the magazines, as Time Out’s London office DOES NOT HAVE
(5) the cash or management time. Elliott also HAS (6) plans for the website,
Timeout.com, which was launched in 1995 and PROVIDES (7) information
about more than 30 cities. It RELIES (8) on advertising revenue and a small
amount of money from ticket sales to survive. But as Time Out changes and
expands, Tony Elliott IS TRYING TO (9) persuade advertisers in the printed
version to take more space on the Internet site. Also, he IS INVESTIGATING
(10) the possibility of charging visitors to the site for access to some
information. Despite these expansion plans, Elliot says that a flotation on the
© 2016 Rosati F. and F. Vaccarelli
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Faculty of Political Science
1st-Cycle Degree Programme in Tourism Studies
April 29, 2016
stock market is out of the question. He WANTS (11.) to keep control of the
business he has built up.
© 2016 Rosati F. and F. Vaccarelli
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