Exercise 1

THE USE OF THE PAST INDEFINITE AND THE PAST CONTINUOUS
Matching exercise

Match the items on the right to the items on the left.




The Past Simple is used to denote:


1) single completed actions
Sony and Philips invented the CD in the early 1980s.

2) repeated or habitual actions in the past
We moved house a lot when I was a child.

3) general truths about the past
Early clocks were usually very unreliable.

4) permanent situations and states in the past
Did the ancient Egyptians have more advanced technology than other civilisations?

5) two actions which happened at the same time in the past
The day was quite busy. She compiled a report, and he developed a presentation.


They ran the same test eight times before they found the bug in the software.
Food was in short supply throughout the war.
It was quite unnerving. The lights flickered while a freezing wind blew through the room.
Claire jumped out of her chair, ran to the balcony and grabbed the screaming child.
Lorenzo the Magnificent died in Florence in 1492.
Diplodocus dinosaurs dominated the Triassic period.
We had a busy morning. Steve answered the phone calls and I dealt with the e-mails.
The Court of Appeal rejected his case on technical grounds.
I'm sick of it, I can't tell you how many times we tried to contact them.
I threw open the doors and walked out into the bright morning sunshine.