2B
A
Past tense contrast
Look at the pictures. For each one, make a sentence using two verbs, one past
simple and the other past continuous.
1
2
3
4
5
6
B
Complete the sentences with your own ideas, using verbs in the past perfect.
1
2
3
4
5
6
C
Sharon was crying because
By the time I arrived at school,
Yvonne felt homesick because
Thomas dumped his girlfriend because
I felt really guilty because
By the time he was 20, the actor
.
.
.
.
.
.
Complete the account of a memorable occasion. Use the past simple, past
continuous and past perfect form of the verbs in brackets.
When I was eight years old, I 1
(do) something really mean. It was
the worst thing I 2
(ever / do). One Saturday morning in January, I
3
(open) my curtains and 4
(see) that it
5
(snow) in the night. I remember feeling delighted and rushing to
wake up my sister, who 6
(still / sleep). Once we 7
(get) dressed quickly, we 8
(go) outside to play in the snow. We
9
(laugh) and 10
(play) together happily, when
suddenly I 11
(have) an amusing idea. I 12
(make) a
special snowball and 13
(throw) it at my sister. It 14
(hit) her on the head and she 15
(burst) into tears. My mum
16
(come) out to see why my sister 17
(cry). When
she 18
(find out) that I 19
(put) a rock in the
snowball, she was furious! I 20
(never / feel) so guilty before!
Solutions 2nd edition Intermediate
© OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS • PHOTOCOPIABLE
2B
Past tense contrast
Aims To review and practise past simple, past continuous and
past perfect tenses
Time 10−15 minutes
Materials 1 handout for each student
• Give each student a copy of the handout and draw attention
to task A. Elicit a sentence for picture 1 and write this on the
board as an example. Tell students to work in pairs to form
sentences for the remaining pictures.
(Suggested answers)
1 He dropped the saucepan he was cooking.
2 She was swimming in the sea when she saw a shark.
3 The kids were walking in a cemetery when they saw a ghost.
4 The dog ate the man’s dinner while he was chatting on the
phone.
5 The burglars were entering the house when the alarm went off.
6 He dropped his wallet when he was running for the bus.
• Elicit some ways in which to complete the first sentence
in task B and then give students time to complete the
remaining sentences. Ask students to check their answers in
pairs before getting some feedback.
(Suggested answers)
1 she’d received some bad news.
2 the lesson had started.
3 she hadn’t seen her friends for six months.
4 she hadn’t remembered his birthday.
5 I’d lied to my parents about the money.
6 had already starred in three films.
• Ask students to do task C individually and then check
answers. Ensure that they can explain why each tense is used
in each instance.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
did
’d / had ever done
opened
saw
had snowed
was still sleeping
’d / had got
went
were laughing
(were) playing
11had
12made
13threw
14hit
15burst
16came
17 was crying
18 found out
19 ’d / had put
20 ’d / had never felt
Solutions 2nd edition Intermediate
© OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS