Agustina Alonso

Past simple vs Past perfect

1. Read the text

Last weekend, a very large man walked out of a shopping centre in Moscow with a cash machine on his
shoulders that weighed 90 kilograms.

He had entered the shopping centre and had pulled the cash machine out of the wall! Fortunately, a
shop assistant had seen the crime and called the police. They arrested the man later as he was trying to
put the cash machine into his car. The man later told the police that he had trained as sumo wrestler!

2. Answer the question and complete the sentences. (16 points. 2 points each)
a) Look at the verbs in blue in the text. Did these events happen before or after the man walked out of
the shopping centre?
These events occurred before the man left the shopping center

b) We form the past perfect with __had___ + ___verb participie____

Example: When I got home, the thieves had stolen my motorbike.

c) We use the past perfect to talk about an event that happened ___before___ another event in the past.

d) He ____remember___ (remember) that he ____hadn´t locked___ (not / lock) the doors.

e) __Had__ they already ____finished____ (finish) eating when he ___arrived___ (arrive)?

3. Complete the text using the past simple or past perfect form of the verbs in brackets. (24 points. 2
points each)

Last Saturday morning, a giant chocolate rabbit ___had disappeared___ (disappear) from a sweet
shop window. The shop owner wondered who ___had stealed___ (steal) it, as he ___hadn´t seen___
(not / see) the thief pass by. Later on, he __watched___ (watch) the shop’s security film and
___find___ (find) out that a three-year-old girl __had taked___ (take) the 60-centimetre-tall rabbit!
The child __pulled___ (pull) the large chocolate animal out onto the street and ___was hide___
(hide) in her pushchair.

Her mother __hadn´t noticed___ (not / notice) this. She was confused when she later __find__ (find),
but she only realised what ___had happened___ (happen) when she was __saw__ (see) a photo of
herself in the newspaper!

4) Match the words with the definitions. (20 points. 2 points each)

1- g 2- e 3- f 4- i 5- b 6- d 7- a 8- c 9- h 10- j

Word Definition
1 arson a- to kill intentionally another person.
2 burglary b- to take someone away illegally and by force to

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take him/her as a prisoner in order to demand

something from their family.
3 drug dealing c- to take something from a shop without paying for
it.
4 joy riding d- to intentionally destroy any sort of public or
private property.
5 kidnapping e- to enter unlawfully a place to commit a crime.
6 mugging f- the activity of selling illegal drugs.
7 murder g- to intentionally start a fire.
8 shoplifting h- It is the crime of stealing.
9 theft i- driving fast and dangerously for pleasure in a
stolen vehicle.
10 vandalism j- to illegally obtain another person’s possessions
using violence in a public place.

5) Match 6 of the news headlines on the website with the photos. (20 points. 3,33 points each)

a- 4 b- 5 c- 2 d- 9 e- 6 f- 8

Top Crime stories

1- Murderer escapes from Dartmoor Prison.

2- Drug dealer caught and jailed for six years.

3- Police investigate shop manager over theft of $10,000.

4- Country house burgled - valuable electrical goods stolen.

5- Police arrest shoplifter for tenth time.

6- Joyriders steal cars and set fire to them.

7- Gang robs bank in broad daylight.

8- Yobs vandalise public toilet.

9- Arsonists set fire to old house.

10- Muggings on the increase in London.

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6. Listen to the audio and complete the story with the past simple or past perfect form of the verbs. (20
points. 2 points each)

My grandmother __had die__ (die) by the time I was born, so I never met her, but I have heard lots
of stories about her. She __lived__(live) in a small village and __had___ never __travel___ (travel)
more than 30 miles in any direction. One day my father ___went__(go) to see her with the mobile
phone he __had___ just __bought___ (buy). He was excited about showing it to her because he was
sure she __hadn´t see__ (not / see) one before. But he __was__ (be) disappointed when he
__finded___ (find) out that she __had___ already __got___ (get) one. She __asked__ (ask) a
neighbourhood to buy one of the new “pocket phones” in the nearest town. “What’s your number?”
she asked when he got out his mobile. “I’ll add you to my contacts list”