Grammar
1  Past tenses
> Grammar reference. Student's Book, page 204
A Fill the gaps in this story with a verb from the box below. Use an appropriate past tense and make any other changes that are necessary.
1 ask	be	begin	drive	drive off
get in	give	have	leave	make
notice	open	pick up	rain	reach
realize	see	shake	try	wait
The Mysterious Hitchhiker
A young woman (1)________through lonely
countryside. It (2)________heavily and it (3)________
to get dark. Suddenly she (4)-________an old woman
by the side of the road, holding her hand out as if she wanted a lift. 'I can't leave her out in this weather,' the young woman said to herself. So she stopped the
car and (5)_______ the door. 'Do you want a lift?'
she (6)_________The old woman nodded and
(7)-------------
As she (ft)       _____herself comfortable, the young
woman asked her, '(9)________you________long?'
The old woman (10)________her head. 'You were
lucky then,' the young woman commented, wondering why the old woman never spoke. She
(11)________again. 'Nasty weather for the time of
year,' she continued. The old woman nodded in agreement. No matter what the young woman said
the hitchhiker (12)________no answer except for a
nod or a shake of the head.
All of a sudden, the young woman (13)________that
her passenger's hands were very large and hairy. With
a shock she (14)_________that the hitchhiker wasn't
an old woman at all but a man dressed up as an old woman. She braked suddenly. 'I can't see out of the rear window,' she explained. 'Would you mind cleaning it for me?' The hitchhiker nodded and opened the car door. As soon as the hitchhiker
(15)________out of the car, the terrified woman
(16)^___          at top speed.
When she (17)________the next village she stopped.
She noticed that the hitchhiker (18)________a
handbag behind. She (19)________ it „„___ and
opened it. Inside the bag was a gun. She (20)________a narrow escape!
B Put the verbs in brackets in these sentences into an appropriate past tense. Choose from past simple, past continuous, present perfect simple, present perfect continuous or past perfect simple. Make any other changes that are necessary. Sometimes there is more than one possible answer.
1   Jan___________(go) to live in Italy in 1992. She
___________(not be) in the country long before
she____„______(fall) in love and___________
(get married).
2   '___________(not finish) your homework yet
Alex? You___________(do) it for ages.'
'I.___________(do) most of it but I'm stuck on
the last bit/
3   I know I___________(say) I'd phone you as soon
as I___________(get back) but I____.__._____
(not can) remember where I.___________(write
down) your new number.
4   It's typical, isn't it! I___________just___________
(put) shampoo on my hair when the phone
___________(ring). I____.__„____(think) it might
be important so I __-„____ (rush) downstairs.
Needless to say, it___________(stop) ringing
before I___________(reach) it.
5   'I'm terribly sorry but I_____„_____(forget) your
name.'
6   Police say that the man they wish to question
___________(have) long hair and___________
(wear) a denim jacket and jeans. He___________
(drive off) in a stolen car.
7   Julie_____.______just___________(cover)
herself in sun tan lotion when the sun
___„_„^_ (go) behind a large black cloud.
8   I___________(think) of calling Sam and
___________just___________. (pick up) my address
book to look up her number when the phone ___________(start) ringing. It „___________(be) her!
9   'Is anything the matter?'
'No. I___________(peel) onions. Onions always
make me cry,'
10 I___________(sit) on the bus on my way to
work when I___________(realize; leave)
something cooking on the stove.