Exercise 2

ALL THE PAST TENSES COMPARED
Gap-fill exercise

Fill in all the gaps with the past simple or the past perfect simple forms of the verbs in brackets. Make sure you use only FULL FORMS, as a contracted form might be considered a mistake. Then press "Check" to check your answers. Use the "Hint" button to get a free letter if an answer is giving you trouble. You can also click on the "[?]" button to get a clue. Note that you will lose points if you ask for hints or clues!
1. The ambulance (leave) by the time the reporters (get) to the scene of the accident.
2. Before I (meet) Dr Christian, I (see) a number of different specialists.
3. It (be) only the second time I (be) in a helicopter.
4. Up to the moment when Mr O'Donnell (say) 'You're fired', I (have) no idea why he wanted to see me.
5. When Tonya (finish) eating, she (ask) the waiter to bring the bill.
6. Luckily, I (reach) the end of my essay when the teacher (tell) us all to put our pens down.
7. We (do) everything we had to do by five, so we (decide) to go out for a coffee.
8. I (not want) Mrs Thomas's young son to touch my ornaments because I (clean) them.
9. They (hope) to get a good result but I (fail).
10. I (get) Janine a book for her birthday, but she (read) it before.