PAST SIMPLE
1. Fill in the gap with the past simple of the verbs in brackets.
Autobiography
Agatha Christie ________ (to be) born on 15th September 1890. She __________ ( to go) to
school because her mother wanted to teach her at home. She ___________ (take) piano lessons and
learnt singing in Paris. She _________________ (get married) in 1914 to a pilot and they ______
(to have) one daughter. During the first World War, she ______________ (to work)as a nurse and
she ________ (to begin) to write her first detective stories. In the hospital, she ________ ( to learn)
a lot about drugs and poisons and she _________ ( to use) this information in her novels. She
____________ (to publish) her first novel in 1920. The book soon _____________ ( to become) a
best-seller.
Then she _______________(get divorced). In 1928, she mysteriously
________________ ( to disappear). The police _________ (to find) her two weeks later suffering
from amnesia. She __________ ( can/not) remember anything.
Answer the questions:
1. When was Agatha Christie born? ______________________________________________
2. Where did she learn singing? _________________________________________________
3. When did she get married? ___________________________________________________
4. How many children did she have? _____________________________________________
5. What was her job during the first World War? ___________________________________
6. What kind of stories did she write?_____________________________________________
7. When did she publish her first novel?___________________________________________
8. When did she disappeared?___________________________________________________
9. Who found her?____________________________________________________________
- Complete with the verbs from the text:
Base form
be
Past simple
Write a sentence
was/were
I was at work yesterday.
2. Comprehension check
Nadir Alfonso Rodrigues
Nadir Alfonso Rodrigues was born in a small town in Portugal. He did his first painting when he
was four years old. He painted a picture on a wall at home!
When he was eighteen, Nadir went to study at the School of Fine Arts in Porto. After graduating, he
went to live in Paris where he became a successful artist.
Answer the questions:
1. Where was Nadir born? ____________________________________________________
2. What age did he do his first painting? _________________________________________
3. When did he go to the School of Fine Arts?_____________________________________
4. Where did he go after graduating?_____________________________________________
3. Complete the texts with the past simple of the verbs in brackets.
Who is the world’s greatest basketball player?
He ….. (to be) born in 1963 in the USA. At school he …. ( to be) good at football, baseball and
basketball. He is 1.98m tall. He …………(play)in two summer Olympics. Of course, the team
…….. (win) gold medals both times. There is a famous brand of trainers named after him. Do you
know who he is?
Dan’s day
Yesterday, I ...........(get) at 8 o’clock. I ....................( miss) the bus.
I ...................(arrive). at work 30 minutes late. My boss ........ (see)me. He wasn’t happy!
Writing.
Write about what you did yesterday.
Example:
Yesterday I went to work by bus. In the morning I worked at some projects with my colleagues,
I had a short break at 11 and I had lunch at 1. In the afternoon I attended a meeting which lasted 1
hour and half.
4. Read the dialogue and fill in the gap with the correct form of the verb.
Robert: Hi Alice, what did you _______(do) last weekend?
Alice: I ______ (do) a lot of things. On Saturday, I _______(go) shopping.
Robert: What did you _______(buy)?
Alice: I ______(buy) some new clothes. I also _______(play) tennis.
Robert: Who did you _________(play) with?
Alice: I ___________(play) with Tom.
Robert: Did you ________(win)?
Alice: Of course I __________(win)!
Robert: What did you _______(do) after your tennis match?
Alice: Well, I _________(go) home and ______ (have) a shower and then _______(go) out.
Robert: Did you _______(eat) in a restaurant?
Alice: Yes, my friend Jacky and I ________(eat) at 'The Good Fork'
Robert: Did you _________(enjoy) your dinner?
Alice: Yes, we ________(enjoy) our dinner very much thank you. We also
___________(drink) some wonderful wine!
Robert: Unfortunately, I _________(not go) out this weekend. I ___________(have to) work on
some projects.
5. Complete the story with the verbs at the bottom.
On Saturday afternoon, Harry ____________ to the swimming pool. He ____________ for an hour,
and then ____________ changed and ____________.
After that he ____________ to feel hungry. He ____________ into the town centre and
____________ a space in the car park. He ____________ a Mexican restaurant and ____________
in. He ____________ a table near the window and ____________ down.
The waiter ____________ him a menu, and he ____________ his choice.
Harry ____________ and ____________ happily, and then ____________ his bill, ____________
up and ____________ the restaurant.
see
begin
pay
give
go
choose
swim
eat
sit
drive
leave
make
stand
leave
drink
find
get
go
6. Read the texts and fill in the gap ( if it is possible)
Where?
How Long?
When?
What activities?
Steven
Maggie
Mike
Holidays
Steven:
I came back from Ibiza yesterday. We were there for two weeks. It was an amazing holiday!
We stayed in a four – star hotel with a lovely pool. We enjoyed swimming and diving every
morning. We walked to the beach in the afternoon. We sunbathed and got an enviable suntan.
Sometimes we played beach volleyball. At night we enjoyed dancing on the beach. The music was
superb.
Maggie:
Last year my friends and I went camping in the Alps.
It was terrible! It rained and snowed everyday. I remember that one night the tent blew over
because of the strong wind. We got soaking wet.
We were so tired and disappointed that we decided to leave the camping before the scheduled time.
Mike:
Last summer my girlfriend and I went to London. It was an unforgettable holiday!
We really had a great time there. We stayed in a plain but comfortable youth hostel.
We did a lot of sightseeing. We visited some museums and monuments, Westminster Abbey, and
all the fascinating places. The nightlife there was fantastic.
All the discos and pubs are open all night. We took lots of pictures and bought nice gifts.
Writing & Speaking Task:
Talk about your last holiday ( Follow the Wh words: where , when..)
7. Complete the texts with the past simple of the verbs in brackets.
a) My holiday in Greece
Last summer, my family and I .________ (spend) our holidays in Naxos, an amazing island in
Greece. The island ._____ (be) very big and there . __________ (be) lots of things to see and do.
We ________ (stay) at a comfortable bungalow and _________ (go) swimming every day at the
island’s beautiful beaches…I ._________ (get) a great suntan!
We also _________ (try) the local cuisine. There. ________ (be) various traditional ‘tavernas’ on
the island and we ______(eat) there every evening! I ______(put) on about 3 kilos during these
holidays! But Naxos is not all about fun. We also________ (visit) many interesting sights, like the
Archeological Museum and some prehistoric settlements, which I________ (find) pretty
impressive. I also_______(love) the local people. They _______(be) very friendly and welcoming!
We______ (have) a great time in Naxos and I would really love to go there again some day!
b) A holiday in Italy
Read the dialogue(two friends looking at pictures of a holiday)
Tim: Alan, do you want to see the pictures of my holiday in Italy?
Alan: Sure, what _________(to be) it like?
Tim: Ah, the holiday _______(to be) great! The food was great! The wine was great! The traffic
was horrible!
Alan: Why was the traffic horrible?
Tim: Those Italians are crazy drivers! I don't want to think about it!
Alan: OK, OK, let's return to the good parts ...
Tim: Yes, so here's a picture of the Leaning Tower of Pisa.
Alan: Incredible!
Tim: It was raining that day, but it was still wonderful. We _______( climb) to the top!
Alan: And what's this?
Tim: That's a photo of the Arno river, in Florence. That's the 'Ponte Vecchio' the old bridge.
Alan: What _________( to be) Florence like?
Tim: It _________( to be) very interesting. There __________( to be) beautiful old medieval
buildings in the city, impressive cathedrals and churches, and lots of wonderful museums.
Alan: How ________( to be) your Italian?
Tim: My Italian ________( not/ to be) very good. But many Italians speak English very well.
I was impressed!
Alan: Oh, this one is nice.
Tim: Yes, that's a shot of a tasty pizza served by a beautiful Italian!
Alan: She is beautiful, isn't she?
Tim: Ah, yes, the land of fashion, food and wine. I'd recommend Italy anytime!
Alan: I'm so jealous...
Answer the questions:
1.What wasn't great about Italy? ___________________________________________________
2.Which city did he not mention?___________________________________________________
3.Which river does the Ponte Vecchio cross?__________________________________________
4.Why didn't he have problems with his poor Italian?___________________________________
8. Complete the paragraph with the simple past form of the irregular verbs in parentheses.
My new job
My last job wasn’t very challenging and I ____ (know) that I wanted to make a change. One day I
_____ (come) home from work and ____ (sit) down on the couch. As I was watching TV, the
phone ____(ring). It was my friend, John. He _____ (tell) me about his new position at a
company in Mexico. John ____ (tell) me that the company was hiring and that he ____ (think) I
might be interested in working for the company. I ____ (say) that I was interested, and he ____
(tell) me he ____ (will) talk to one of the recruiters about me.
A week later, a recruiter called me and we ______ (set up) a phone interview. The phone
interview ____ (go) well, and the recruiter ____ (tell) me that the next step was a face-to-face
interview in Mexico.
My employer ____ (let) me take vacation and I _____ (buy) a round-trip ticket to Mexico City. I
_______ (choose) to take a flight with a long layover in Lima, Peru. I ______ (take) advantage of
the situation and I _____ (leave) the airport and _____ (see) some of the city. I ______ (go) to a
traditional Peruvian restaurant where I ______ (eat) a great meal and _____ (drink) a delicious
pisco sour.
When I finally ____ (get) to Mexico, I was exhausted. I _____ (find) my hotel and _____ (pay) for
the room. As soon as I _____ (lie down), I _____ (fall) asleep. I _____ (sleep) for almost 11 hours.
The next morning, I _____ (wake up), ____ (have) breakfast, and _____ (read) the paper. After
that, I _____ (speak) to one of the company’s recruiters and they _____ (send) a taxi for me.
I _____ (get) to the office at 9 AM. The receptionist ____ (meet) me in the lobby and ____ (lead)
me to the conference room. She _____ (bring) me a cup of coffee and ____ (say) that the recruiter
_____(will) be right with me. I _____ (feel) a bit nervous, but I _____ (know) I had the right
profile for the job. Fortunately, the interview ____ (go) very well.
After the interview, the recruiter ______ (say) they wanted to hire me. They _____ (make) me an
offer and I _____ (take) it. I ____ (go) home and started making preparations. I ____ (quit) my
job, ____(sell) my car and ____ (say) goodbye to my friends and family. A month later I arrived in
Mexico to start my new job.