COLEGIO SAN PABLO

5th Year- Narrative Tenses

Use the most suitable form of the verb in CAPITALS - past simple, past continuous or past
perfect.
a- We got to the cinema late and the film ________ already __________ . START We
____________ the first 15 minutes. MISS
b- When I saw Jim he ________________ at the bus stop. WAIT
c- I _____________ school in 1979. LEAVE
d- Giulia was rather nervous when she got onto the plane because she _________________
before. NOT FLY
e- I __________________ in Tokyo when I met my first wife. LIVE
f- They ___________ only ___________ married for a few months when they began to have
terrible arguments. BE
g- He felt terrible because he ________________ too much the night before. EAT
h- Shakespeare ______________ 37 plays as well as many poems. WRITE
i- I ___________only ___________ my computer for a few months when it broke down. HAVE
j- A: Where's Diana? I thought she _____________ to the restaurant with us. COME
B: No, she told me she ________________ late this evening. WORK
k- A: Is that a new phone? When __________ you __________ it? GET
B: Last month, for my birthday.
l- It ________________ when I left the house this morning. NOT RAIN
Complete the story using the past simple, past perfect, or past continuous of the verbs in
brackets.
It __________ (be) Tuesday evening and I ____________ (get) ready to go to bed when the
phone ______ (ring). To my surprise it ________ (be) my friend Peter. He ___________ (call)
from his mobile and he was very annoyed because he ___________ (lose) his keys and he
___________ (cannot) get into his flat. He ___________ (think) he ________ (leave) them at
work but now it was midnight and the office was closed so he ____________ (cannot) get in to
check. Luckily I had the keys to his flat because a month before he ___________ (give) me a
spare set so that I could look after his cat while he was on holiday. When he finally __________
(arrive) to pick them up, it was three o'clock in the morning, and I _________ (lie) on the sofa
fast asleep.
Put the verb in brackets into the correct form in the gap AFTER the verb. Where no verb is
given, put one of the following linking words into the gaps.
While / finally / and / although / however / as soon as / but / then / before / when (there's one
linking word you don't need to use).
The Unlucky Burglar
One evening Paul (watch) ____________ the television ____________ (eat)____________ his
supper ____________ the door suddenly (open) ____________ and a burglar (come)
____________ in. He (wear) ____________ a mask and (carry) ____________ a sack.
____________ doing anything else he (tie) ____________ Paul to the chair. ____________ he
went upstairs to look for money. ____________ he (not find) ____________ any money he (find)
____________ a lot of jewellery, which he (put) ____________ into his sack. In his rush to get
downstairs he (not see) ____________ the dog (lie) ____________ at the bottom of the stairs,
and he (fall) ____________ over it, losing his glasses. ____________ the burglar (look for)
____________ them, Paul (try) ____________ to free himself. ____________ Paul (manage)
____________ to escape and he (phone) ____________ the police. ____________ the burglar

(find) ____________ his glasses he (run) ____________ out of the house. ____________
unfortunately for him, the police (wait) ____________ for him at the end of the garden.
Put the verb in brackets into the correct form. Where possible, use 'used to' and 'would'.
Charles Dickens
Charles Dickens ____________ (born) in 1812 in Portsmouth. The family ____________ (move)
to London in 1823. When he was twelve he ____________ (work) in a blacking factory. He
worked by a window facing the street and passersby ____________ (pause) and watch him at
work. Every day he ____________ (trudge) through the London streets from Camden Town to
Southwark. His family ____________ (be) very poor. His mother ____________ (hope) to open a
small school. While she ____________ (try) to do this, her husband ____________ (send) to
prison for being 40 in debt. When Charles ____________ (be) twenty-four, his first
work, sketches by Boz, ____________ (publish). This ____________ (follow) by Pickwick
Papers with which he ____________ (achieve) financial security and popularity. For the rest of
his life, work simply ____________ (pour) from his pen. He ____________ (die) of a stroke in
1870.
Put the verb in brackets into the correct form. Where both the past simple and past perfect
simple are possible, write 'BOTH'.
1. Until I ____________ (explain) the situation to her I felt guilty.
2. After I ____________ (finish) my lunch I went back to work.
3. When the police ____________ (interview) me they let me go home.
4. As soon as I got home my brother ____________ (go out).
5. The children had to stay in until the rain ____________ (stop)
6. When I ____________ (see) John coming towards me I walked in the other direction.
7. I phoned my mother to find out why she ____________ (not write) for so long.
8. We stayed in our seats until the film ____________ (finish).
Continue the following sentences using the words in bracket in either the past perfect
simple or continuous.
1. My landlord threw me out of my flat because (not pay the rent for six months / and
break all the windows)
______________________________________________________________________
2. When I eventually got to the meeting I was bad tempered and exhausted! I (sit in traffic
jam for 45 minutes / motorist bump into me / and get completely lost)
______________________________________________________________________
3. By the time 5 o'clock arrived Brenda was furious. She (wait for an hour / drink six cups
of tea / and they still not arrive)
______________________________________________________________________
4. I was so depressed that I couldn't do the exam. I (study every day for two months / and
give up see my friends)

______________________________________________________________________

The Tragic Tale of Ruddy Wee Hoody

Part 1
There was this young girl called ..., actually I don't know what she (1) (be called) really, because
I only ever (2) (hear) her being called by her nickname - 'Ruddy Wee Hoody', at least I think it
was her nickname. It was how they usually (3) (refer) to her in the village, anyway. I always
(4) (assume) that it (5) (come) from the red hooded top that she (6) (wear), day in day out,
wherever she went. But I might have been wrong.
Anyway, one day her mother (7) (tell) her to take a basket filled with goodies to her granny, who
(8) (happen) to live on the other side of the forest. Sorry, I forgot to tell you that this girl (9) (live)
in a small cottage on the edge of a big forest, and that she (10)(spend) all her life there, up until
that fateful day.
She (11) (set) off in a happy mood. The sun (12) (shine) through the trees, the birds
(13) (sing). It was just as though everyone (14) (wait) for Walt Disney to come and draw the
scene. What (15) (can) possibly spoil such a perfect day?
What indeed? While she (16) (walk) through the forest, she (17) (see) a wolf (18) (stroll)
slowly towards her, humming something to himself. A minute or so earlier, the wolf (19) (watch)
her from behind a tree, and (20) (think) to himself, 'She'd make a nice juicy meal'. But as he
(21) (not want) to frighten her off he (22) (decide) to play it nice and cool, and so
the nonchalant walk.
Part 2
As he approached the little girl, she (1) (remember) what her mother (2)(tell) her before she left
the house. That on no account (3) (be) she to stop or dawdle on the way, or to talk to strangers.
But the wolf (4) (look) such a handsome creature that she (5) (think) to herself, 'He's not like a
real stranger.' So when he (6) (ask) her where she (7) (go) on such a fine day, she innocently
(8) (reply) that she (9) (be) on her way to visit somebody on the other side of the forest. 'And
who are you going to visit, Little Girl?', (10) (enquire) the wolf inquisitively. 'It's WHOM!', said the
girlpetulantly. 'One says, "WHOM are you going to visit?"'. She could be a pedantic little miss on
occasion, our Ruddy Wee Hoody. But then thinking that perhaps she (11) (hurt) his feelings, she
(12) (relent) and told him she was going to her gran's.
The wolf (13) (need) a bit of time to carry out the plan he (14) (think) up on the spot, so he
(15) (tell) her that up ahead there (16) (be) a clearing full of beautiful bluebells, and what a
good idea it (17) (will be) to pick some to take to her gran. When she (18) (protest) that her
mother (19) (tell) her never to pick wild flowers, he (20) (laugh) and said that there (21) (be)
thousands of them, and that nobody (22) (going to) miss a dozen or so. With which he
(23) (disappear) into the forest, whistling to himself a tune from 'Oliver', his favourite musical 'Food, glorious food'.
Part 3
When he (1) (arrive) at her granny's cottage, which was only a few minutes later as he
(2) (take) a short cut, he (3) (knock) on the door. And before the poor unfortunate woman
(4) (realise) what (5) (happen), the wolf (6) (burst) into the cottage, (7) (grab) the old lady and
(8) (gobble) her up in one go, just like that. Then he (9) (get) into her night clothes, and
(10) (jump) into the old lady's bed. (11) (eat) the little girl's granny, the wolf now (12) (feel)
slightly better, but it was the little girl that the wolf (13) (look) forward to really, because, which I

think I've forgotten to tell you, Ruddy Wee Hoody (14) (be) rather a plump young girl, and
(15) (promise) to be a bit more nourishing than her old gran, who (16) (be) to be honest, a bit
on the skinny side.
Not long after, the little girl herself (17) (arrive) at the door. She (18) (be) a bit out of breath
because she (19) (run). 'Hopefully that's the last I've seen of that wolf,' she (20) (mutter) to
herself, wondering if in fact he wasn't perhaps a little strange after all. Famous last words! Before
she even had time to ring the bell, she heard a voice. 'Come on in dearie, it's open', (21) (say)
the wolf, who (22) (watch) her walk up the path, from the bedroom window. 'That's funny',
(23) (think) the girl, 'her voice seems a bit deeper than usual. Perhaps she's got a cold.' Then
she (24) (remember) that her mother (25) (tell) her that her gran (26) (be) ill, and that was why
she (27) (take) her the food.
Part 4
And when she (1) (see) her gran propped up in bed, it was true, she (2)(not seem) to be quite
her usual self. She (3) (wear) her usual night gown alright, and her enormous nightcap. But
there was something about her that (4) (not be) quite right. Her eyes (5) (seem) bigger than
normal, and so did her ears, not to mention her enormous hooter. And just as Ruddy Wee Hoody
was starting to say something about her gran's rather large teeth, before she (6) (can) even get
the words out, the wolf (7) (decide) that enough was enough, that he (8) (can't keep) this up
any longer, so he (9) (jump) out of bed, remembering a phrase he (10) (read) in some nursery
rhyme or other, and which (11) (sound) rather appropriate to the occasion. 'All the better to eat
you with', he (12) (snarl). Ruddy Wee Hoody (13) (be) quick to retort: 'Shouldn't that be "All the
better with which to eat you"?'. 'Yeah, whatever', (14) (snap) back the wolf, by now thoroughly
fed up with all this constant grammatical criticism, and he quite literally (15) (wolf) her down,
right there on the spot.
Now some people say that this sort of story has to have a happy ending, and insist that a hunter
(16) (happen) to be passing at that very moment (as they often do in fairy stories), and being a
quick-witted sort of chap, (17) (open) up the wolf and (18) (rescue) both the unfortunate
victims before you could say 'Jack Robinson'.
But there's another darker theory that questions whether Ruddy Wee Hoody was quite what she
seemed, and rumour has it that at this very moment she (19) (whip) out a gun that for some
reason she (20) (carry) in her knickers that day, and that she (21) (shoot) the wolf stone dead.
And there's yet another version, which suggests that Ruddy Wee Hoody (22) (meet) a sticky
end at the hands of an ecomaniacal woodchopper, who, (23) (not read) the story, (24) (not
realise) that he (25) (be) meant to save her. What's more, he (26) (see) her picking the flowers
in the clearing earlier on, and being incensed at this act of wanton vandalism, (27) (decide)
to avenge the poor flowers, which was exactly what he (28) (do).