Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Mixed Tenses in Context Exercise
Mixed Tenses in Context Exercise
The British explorer James Cook was born in the village of Marton, Yorkshire, on 27 October, 1728.
His family soon ____________ (move) to another village, called Great Ayton, where Cook
_____________(spend) most of his childhood. As a teenager James Cook ______________
(develop) a fascination for the sea and _______________ (travel) to Whitby where
he _____________ (find) employment on a coal ship. While he _______________ (serve) in the
Royal Navy during the Seven Years' War (1756-1763), Cook _____________ (have) the command of
a ship. Once the war _______________ (end), Cook _______________ (take) command of the vessel
Grenville and _______________ (go) to Newfoundland to survey the coasts there. While
he ________________ (map) the coasts of Newfoundland, he _______________ (observe) a solar
eclipse off the North American coast. Cook _______________ (send) the details to the Royal Society,
England's leading scientific organisation, and ________________ (win) their attention. After
Cook _________________ (publish) his observations of the solar eclipse, the Royal Society
________________ (ask) him to lead a scientific expedition to Tahiti and ________________ (put)
him in command of the HMS Endeavour. From Tahiti Cook then ________________ (go on) to
explore the South Pacific. He also _________________ (reach) New Zealand, which only the
Dutchman Abel Tasman ________________ (visit) before Cook. After Cook ______________
(map) New Zealand's complete coastline, he _______________ (sail) to Australia's east coast.
Cook ______________ (name) the area New South Wales as it ______________ (remind) him of the
south coast of Wales in Great Britain.
In 1772, one year after Cook ______________ (return) from his first voyage to the Pacific, the Royal
Society _____________ (hire) him for another expedition to find the mythical “Terra Australis”. On
his journey, Cook ______________ (discover) several islands and almost __________ (go) as far as
the continent of Antarctica. He ______________ (make) maps of the South Pacific
and ___________(prove) that Terra Australis _____________(exist / not).
His third and last voyage for the Royal Society ______________ (take) him to the west coast of North
America where he _______________ (try) to find a passage between the Atlantic and Pacific.
He ________________ (not / can / pass) the Bering Strait, however; the ice ______________(force)
him to return to Hawaii, which he__________________ (discover) earlier. While he and his
crew _______________ (rest) in Hawaii, some Hawaiians _____________ (steal) one of his boats.
When cook and his men ________________ (try) to get the boat back from the natives, a violent
fight ________________ (break out) in which the natives _________________ (stab) James Cook to
death.