Page 278 - Advanced English Grammar in Use

A d d i t i o n a l e x e r c i s e s

Present and past; simple and continuous tenses UNITS 1, 2 & 6

1 In these texts, use one of the following tenses for the verb in brackets: present simple, present
continuous, past simple, past continuous. Where alternatives are possible, think about any
difference in meaning or emphasis.
A A: John ID (not looking) well these days. Is he okay?
B: Apparently, he (2) (not sleep) well just now, although he usually pi
(sleep) really soundly.
A: Sounds like something (4) (worry) him.
B: Well, that's part of the problem. You (5) (know) that he (6) (work) for
Tardown, the engineers, don't you?
A: Yes, ever since he <7) (leave) university.
B: That's right. Well, at the moment he (8) (work) on a major road-building scheme
in Liverpool, so he e» (drive) up there every day, which am (take) a
couple of hours each way. And on top of that, he ui) (suffer) from a cold and
(in (have) difficulty breathing.
B Concern m (mount) for the safety of two British climbers who (2) (miss) in
the Andes. Their three companions, all French, p) (raise) the alarm when the
climbers (4) (fail) to arrive back at their base camp two days ago. It (5)
(now become) clear that a number of avalanches («) (hit) the area last week, and
local experts i7) (blame) these on the very warm weather conditions for the time of
year.
C Alex in (work) in the accounts department when I (2) (become) advertising
manager at the firm. At first I p) (find) him to be very efficient, but after a while his
work (4) (start) to deteriorate. He is) (forever lose) important documents
and (6) (make) excuses when there were delays. The final straw was when he
(7) (spend) three weeks on a piece of work that should have taken only a day or so.
By the time he (8> (finish), I (9) (feel) pretty annoyed and (io)
(complain) to the managing director.
D I (i) (buy) a new alarm clock the other day in Taylor's the jewellers, when I actually
(D (see) somebody shoplifting. I'd just finished paying for my clock and as I
(?) (turn) round, an elderly woman (4) (slowly put) a silver plate into a bag
that she isi (carry). Then she (6) (walk) over to another part of the shop
and, when she (7) (think) that nobody (8) (look), she (9) (put) an
expensive-looking watch into the bag. Before I no) (have) a chance to tell the staff in
the shop, she an (notice) that I (n> (watch) her and (13) (hurry)
out. Unfortunately for her, two police officers (14) (walk) past just at that moment
and she (is) (run) straight into them.

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