wActivity Nº5

Read the text.

A long time ago there was a town called Hamelin in Germany. It was a wealthy town, and everyone ate well.
But then there was a plague of rats. No one knew where the rats had come from. They ran up and down
every street and in and out of every house. Soon the rats had eaten every scrap of food in the town. No one
had any idea how to get rid of them.

One day a stranger appeared. He said he was a rat-catcher called the Pied Piper. The people of Hamelin
promised to give him as much gold as he wanted if he could get rid of the rats.

The Pied Piper walked along the streets. He had brought a special pipe with him, and he played a tune that
no one had heard before. Rats came out of every corner of the town and followed the Pied Piper. He led
them to the river, where they all drowned.

The people of Hamelin were delighted, but it seemed to them that it had been very easy for the man to get
rid of the rats, so they refused to pay him. The Pied Piper left the town in a fury.

A few days later he returned while the townspeople were in church. Once again, he played a tune on his
pipe. This time all the children of Hamelin followed him, just as the rats had done before. The Pied Piper led
the children out of the town and into the mountains, and they were never seen again.

The parents knew it was their fault. Music was never heard again in the streets of Hamelin.

2) Read the text and complete the summary with the past perfect or the simple past. (20 points. 2 points
each)

a. The people ___were__ (be) horrified because there __never been___ (never/be) a plague of rats before.

b. When the Pied Piper _arrived__ (arrive) in Hamelin, no one ___had seen___ (see) him before.
c. He ___got__ (get) rid of the rats because the people __had promised___ (promise) to give him a lot of
gold.

d. When the townspeople __had came__ (come) out of the church, the children
__disappeared___(disappear)

e. The Pied Piper _wanted__ (want) revenge because the people of Hamelin __hadn´t paid__ (not / pay)
him.

3) What happened first? Read the sentences. Put numbers in the boxes after each action to show the order in
which they happened. (18 points. 3 points each)

a) I went to bed 3 after I had had a bath 1 and brushed my teeth 2

b) 3 When I arrived at John’s house / 1 he had made a cake / 2 and had done the washing up

c) 1 When I arrived at John’s house / 2 he made us a cup of tea

d) 2 My stomach-ache disappeared / 1 after I had taken some medicine

e) 3 When we got to the theatre / 1 the play had started / 2 and all the seats had been taken.

f) 1 James had supper / 2 then went to sit in his living room / 4 he felt miserable / 3 it had been an awful day

g) 1 James sat in his armchair / 2 and thought about the day / 4 he had got up late / 5 and his boss had
threatened to sack him / 3 he decided it was time for bed

4) Put the verbs in the correct form (past perfect or simple past). (24 points. 2 points each)

We __had__ (have) a terrible journey on the way to Barcelona. The problems __had began____ (begin)
when we left home at 6.30 in the morning. There was a huge traffic jam on the motorway because two
lorries __had crashed___ (crash) and the road 6 __was__ (be) completely blocked.

By the time we __reached__ (reach) the airport, we __had missed__ (miss) our flight. It __had taken_ (take)
off five minutes before we __arrived___ (arrive) at the check-in desk. We __tried___ (try) to buy some
tickets for the next flight to Barcelona, but they __had sold___ (sell) all the seats. In the end, we _bought__
(buy) tickets for a flight at 7 o’clock that evening and __spent__ (spend) the whole day at the airport.

5) Complete the sentences with a conjunction. (14 points. 2 points each)

while - when - but - before - or - because – until

a) Remember to brush your teeth __before____ you go to bed.

b) Do what I say ___or____ I will send you to your room!

c) __when__ someone says “hello” to you, say “hello” back.

d) You are laughing, ___but___ it’s not funny.

e) You can’t have an ice-cream __because__ you didn’t eat your vegetables.

f) __while___ you are at school, I have to go out to work.

g) You can’t leave the table until you haven’t eaten what’s on your plate.

6) Listen to the audio and fill the gaps with the verbs in the correct form (past perfect or simple past) (24
points. 1,50 points each)

1) When I __had done____ (do) my homework I __went____ (go) to bed.

2) After I __had driven_____ (drive) two hundred miles I __stopped____ (stop) for a coffee.

3) As soon as she __had passed_____ (pass) her driving test she ___bought_____ (buy) a car.

4) I __didn´t go_____ (not / go) to Italy until I ___had learned____ (learn) Italian.

5) Although I __had read____ (read) the book I __didn´t understand___ (not / understand) the film.

6) His mother __send____ (send) him to bed because he ___had been____ (be) naughty.

7) She ___had burned____ (burn) the food so we __went___ (go) out to eat.

8) She __cooked__ (cook) a lovely supper but, unfortunately, I __had eaten____ (eat) a large lunch.