SUBJECT : Simple Past Tense
A) Fill in the blanks with a verb from the box in the SIMPLE PAST:
Break swim have make sit write
spend buy drink
lose wash
1. She .. a cake an hour ago.
2. She .. a hat last week.
3. The boy .. a letter yesterday.
4. They . in the sea for an hour.
5. They .. a lot of Coke last night.
6. She her arm last week.
7. He . all his money last week.
8. She a bath two minutes ago.
9. He . his wallet last night.
10. She .. on the old chair a minute ago.
11. She .. the clothes yesterday.
B) Fill in the blanks with the SIMPLE PAST of the verbs in brackets:
Last Saturday my father . took. (take) my friends and me to the circus. We
(see)
lots of things. My father . (buy) us some popcorn and orange juice. We
. (eat) the popcorn and (drink) the orange
juice.
We .. (laugh) at the funny clowns. There . (be) a
lion-tamer.
The lions (do) tricks; they (jump) through
hoops. A girl . (ride) an elephant around the ring. We all
(have)
a wonderful time.
C) Write what Jean DID or DIDNT do yesterday:
go shopping ( - )
. Jean didnt go shopping yesterday.
clean the house ( + )
feed the cat ( + ) .
telephone Mary ( - )
watch a film on TV ( - )
1
SUBJECT : Simple Past Tense
visit her grandparents ( + )
take them a cake ( + )
D) Fill in the blanks with the PAST form of the verbs:
Benjamin Franklin was born .. (be born) in Boston in 1706. He
(be) the fifteenth of the seventeen children of a poor candlemaker. He
(go ) to school only one year. He (begin)
to work when he was twelve. At the age of fourteen he
(decide) to be a writer. He . (copy) the great stories of famous writers
and later he (become) the best known writer in his time.
When he .. (be) seventeen, he (leave)
Boston and (arrive) in Philadelphia with only a few pennies
in his pocket. He (get) a job as a publisher of a newspaper and
. (retire) from business as a very rich man at forty-two. Then he
. (spend) the next forty years for his government. He
. (play) an important role in the founding of the USA.
Franklin (be) also an important scientist and inventor. He
. (draw) electricity from a cloud on a kite string. He
(write) one of the first text books on electricity. He (invent) a
simple lightning rod and many other practical tools. He (make) a
study of water and . (discover) many principles of
hydrodynamics. He even (invent) bifocal glasses when he was
seventy-eight and (need) them himself.
Franklin (do) all these things and many more because he
. (believe) he (can).
E) Read the following story:
Bob is a young sailor. He lives in England, but he is often away with his ship.
One summer he comes back from a long voyage and finds new neighbors near his
mothers house. They have a pretty daughter, and Bob soon loves her and he wants to
marry her when he comes back. Bob promises the girl to send a present from every port.
Bobs first port is Capetown in Africa, and he sends the girl a parrot from there. The
parrot speaks three languages. When Bobs ship reaches Australia, a letter comes from
the girl. The letter says, Thank you for the parrot, Bob. It tasted much better than a
chicken.
a) Write the story again. Use THE SIMPLE PAST:
Bob was a young sailor. He lived in England, but he was often away with his ship.
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SUBJECT : Simple Past Tense
b) Answer the questions about the story:
1. What was Bob?
He was a young sailor.
2. What change did he find when he was back home?
3. How was their daughter?
4. How did Bob feel about the girl?
5. What did Bob tell the girl?
6. What did Bob send the girl from Capetown?
7. Where is Capetown?
8. How many languages did the parrot speak?
9. What did the girl do with the parrot?
