Trends 1, Burlington

Verbal tenses review

1 Complete the passage with the verbs in brackets. Use the Present Simple, Present Continuous,
Past Simple or Past Continuous.
A week ago, there was a school meeting on Internet safety. Police and school officials
1. …………………… (want) to show students how online photos, tweets and profiles were easy for
strangers to access. While the entire school 2. …………………… (watch), the police officers 3.
…………………… (begin) a presentation of photos and posts collected from students’ Facebook and
Twitter accounts. However, they didn’t frighten the students. Instead, the students 4. ……………………
(be) furious that the police officers 5. …………………… (show) people’s personal material. “Teenagers 6.
…………………… (use) social networking sites to communicate, but we still 7. …………………… (care)
about privacy,” said one student. “Reading someone’s profile 8. …………………… (not mean) you should
show it to everyone.” “Why
9. …………………… adults …………………… (try) to teach kids the proper way to use social media when

they 10. …………………… (not know) themselves?” said another.

2 Complete the passages with the verbs in brackets. Use the Past Simple or Present Perfect Simple.

A Last Monday, a masked man 1. …………………… (rob) two banks in our city. The police 2.
…………………… (already / arrest) a suspect, but they 3. …………………… (not find) any
evidence against him yet. Yesterday they 4. …………………… (call in) witnesses to identify
him, but the witnesses 5. …………………… (not recognise) his face.
B People in our area 1. …………………… (organise) a volunteer neighbourhood patrol in 2010.
The patrol 2. …………………… (be) quite a success so far – in fact, there
3. …………………… (not be) many burglaries or muggings in the last few years. Last night,

the mayor 4. …………………… (give) the volunteers an award. Because of their hard work,
our neighbourhood 5. …………………… (become) a pleasant place to live.

C Our newspaper first 1. …………………… (appear) in 1965. Since then, we

2. …………………… (cover) all the major news in our country and abroad. However, our sales

3. …………………… (go down) in the last few years because of the Internet. Therefore, we 4.

…………………… (decide) to keep only our online edition. The paper edition that we 5.
…………………… (publish) yesterday was our last.

3 Complete the sentences with suitable verbs. Use the Past Simple or Past Perfect Simple.
1. I …………………… hungry because I …………………… already …………………… .
2. How long …………………… Beverly …………………… her mobile phone before she …………………… a new one?
3. I …………………… that you …………………… me a text message. That’s why I didn’t reply.
4. We …………………… at three o’clock and …………………… to the cinema.
5. After Doug …………………… the photos, he …………………… them onto Facebook.
6. The mugger …………………… the woman’s bag and then …………………… .
7. Everyone …………………… by the time we …………………… eating.
4 Complete the passage with the correct form of the verbs in brackets. Use the Past Simple,
Present Perfect Simple or Past Perfect Simple.
Lake Junior 1. …………………… (be) a Superman fanatic since he was a child. For years, he 2.
…………………… (wear) a Superman costume while helping at various charity events. At one recent
community event in Sheffield, in the UK, Lake 3. …………………… (notice)
a man running out of a shop, chased by workers. He 4. …………………… (realise) that the man 5.
…………………… (steal) something from the shop. Lake quickly 6. …………………… (grab) the thief
and 7. …………………… (hold) him against a wall until two policewomen came to arrest him. No one
in Sheffield 8. …………………… (forget) the amazing sight of
a man in a red and blue Superman costume catching a real thief. The thief that he
9. …………………… (catch), by the way, 10. …………………… (take) seven packs of bacon from the

shop – not a major crime, but no job is too small for Superman!

ANSWER KEY
1. 1. wanted 6. use
2. was watching 7. care
3. began 8. doesn’t mean
4. were 9. do … try / are trying
5. were showing 10. don’t know

2. A 1. robbed 4. called in
2. have already arrested 5. didn’t recognise
3. haven’t found
B 1. organised 4. gave
2. has been 5. has become
3. haven’t been
C 1. appeared 4. have decided
2. have covered 5. published
3. have gone down

3. 1.I …am not………………… hungry because I ………have…………… already ……eaten……………… .

2. How long ……had……………… Beverly ………had…………… her mobile phone before she …bought………………… a
new one?
3. I ……didn’t know……………… that you ………had left…………… me a text message. That’s why I didn’t reply.
4. We ……met……………… at three o’clock and ……went……………… to the cinema.
5. After Doug ……took……………… the photos, he ……uploaded……………… them onto Facebook.
6. The mugger ……snatched……………… the woman’s bag and then ……ran away……………… .
7. Everyone ……had left……………… by the time we ……finished……………… eating.

1. has been 6. grabbed

2. has worn 7. held
3. noticed 8. has forgotten
4. realised 9. caught
5. had stolen 10. had taken