Tutor - Young 3 – Lesson B - Exercises

1. Read the following sentences and put the verbs in brackets in either the Past Simple or the Past
Continuous.

a) While Sophie ___________(walk) up Regent Street, she ___________(meet) an old

friend from college.

b) When ___________(father/arrive) yesterday? He ___________(arrive) late. The train

___________(be) delayed due to an accident.

c) Who ___________(you/ speak) to on the phone when I ___________(come) in?

d) Mary ___________(read) in bed when she ___________(hear) a strange noise downstairs.

e) When Mr. Lawrence ___________(leave) home at 8.30 this morning, the sun

___________(shine) brightly. However, by 10 o´clock it ___________(rain) heavily.

f) Sebastian ___________(arrive) at Susan´s house a little before 11 a.m., but she

___________(not/be) there. She ___________(study) at the library.

g) The fireman ___________(rescue) a 75-year-old woman who ___________(be) trapped on

the second floor of the burning building.

h) ___________(you/do) any shopping yesterday?

i) Yesterday Jane ___________(fall) and ___________(hurt) herself when she

___________(ride) her bicycle.

j) What ___________(Peter / do) when you ___________(knock) on his door?

k) Helen ___________(wear) her dress to the party last night.

2. Read the following story and put the verbs in the correct tenses, using either Past Continuous or
Past Simple:

Last night, while I ………… (do) my homework, Angela.............. (call). She ........... (call)  me on her
cell phone from her biology classroom. I asked her if she ..............(wait)  for class, but she said
that the professor was at the front of the hall lecturing while she............ (talk)  to me. I
couldn't believe she ............(make)  a phone call during the lecture. I asked what was going on. 

She said her biology professor was so boring that several of the students............. (sleep,
actually)  in class. Some of the students ...............(talk)  about their plans for the weekend and
the student next to her ............(draw)  a picture of a horse. When Angela............. (tell)  me she
was not satisfied with the class, I............... (mention)  that my biology professor was quite good
and........... (suggest)  that she switch to my class. 
While we were talking, I ..............(hear)  her professor yell, "Miss, are you making a phone call?"
Suddenly, the line went dead. I................. (hang)  up the phone and went to the kitchen to make
dinner. While I............. (cut)  vegetables for a salad, the phone rang once again. It ...............
(be)  Angela, but this time she ……………….. (not/sit) in class.

3. Read the following stories and put the verbs in the correct tenses, using either Past Continuous or
Past Simple:

Hospital Ghost Stories

A few years ago, while I …………………….. (work) as an engineer at a hospital in Mobile, Alabama, a
strange thing …………………………. (happen) to me.  I ……………………….. (be) in the hallway of a unit
during the second shift, at about 8:30 pm.  At this hour, the families and friends visiting the
hospital usually …………………………….. (begin) to leave.   I ……………………… (notice) an elderly couple
walking towards me, but I ………………. really ………………… (not pay) too much attention to them
because I ………………….. busy ……………………. (write).  The woman …………………….. (pass) me by, but the
man ……………………….. (stay).  I ………………………. (look) up at him, and he ………………… (say): "You know
son, I ……………………… (be) a radar operator in the Navy in the War.  We always …………………………
(use) to make our plots in pencil in case something changed.  That's why they …………………………..
(make) erasers.  You know, life is written in pencil, too."   I ……………………….. (think) about the
profoundness of this statement for just a second, then ………………………. (look) up to say something
to the old man.  Both he and his wife had vanished.

Little Mary

This is a true story about Mary. She ……………………… (be) a little girl who …………………………. (die) in a
fire at Singleton Community Center in Bartlett, Tennessee. Mary ……………………… (go) to school at
Singleton. One day there ……………………. (be) a terrible fire in the lunch room. Everyone
………………………. (get) out except for Mary. The city …………………………… (cannot) find her parents.
Ever since there has been a little girl in a white dress who asks people to use the phone, she
tells them, "I need to call home" then she disappears. Many have seen her just walking the halls
and sometimes crying on the steps of the stage. I have had an encounter with her, too. My
friend and I ……………………………. (play) cards in the hallway. It …………………….. (be) nice and warm
inside although it ………………………….. (snow) outside. Suddenly it …………………………… (get) cold even
though no windows or doors had been opened. When I ………………………… (turn) around I
………………………. (see) a little girl standing there only about a foot away from me, then she
……………………………………. (disappear).