Elementary A1

Unit 8
Past events

Learning objectives

 Saying how and where someone was at a certain moment in the past
 Narrating past events
 Asking about past events
 Writing a narration about past events
 Writing an e-mail

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Class activities 8.1
Grammar

Simple past (be)

Look at these sentences

I was at the Trade Fair last week.
It was really great.
I wasn’t there last year.
We were about 1,000 people.
Two years ago there weren’t so many people.
Was it big?
Were you the only person from your company?
Where was it?
How was it?
How many companies were there?
Are all these sentences in past, present or future?
Was is the past of am and is
Were is the past of are

How do we form the negative?

What is the position of was and were in the interrogative sentences?

I. Answer Language at work, Unit 5: was / were

II. Complete this conversation with was, wasn’t, were or weren’t. Then read the
dialogue out loud.

Jane: The visit _______ was

was totally satisfactory. The manager’s assistant _________ at
were
the airport very punctually. By 10:00 o’clock, we _________at the hotel.
was
Simon: ______Andrea, the marketing manager there?
wasn't
Jane: No, she _______.
was
Simon: How ______ the hotel?
was
Jane: It ______very good, but not first class.
was
Simon: _______ there a pool?
was
Jane: Yes, there _______. were
And there ______two restaurants, one on the main floor,
and another on the top floor, with a nice view.

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III. Identify these famous people. Say: who they were; where they were from; what
their profession was.

Vocabulary

Numbers

1000 one thousand 2000 two thousand 3000 three thousand

4000 four thousand 5000 five thousand 6000 six thousand
7000 seven thousand 8000 eight thousand 9000 nine thousand
1000000 one million

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IV. Say these numbers.

657 4,010 893 6,900 7,504 925 8,564

9,333 1,000, 245 1,457,823

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Extra class activities 8.1
I. Complete this text with was, wasn’t, were or weren’t. Then read the paragraph
out loud.

Last summer I _______in Gran Canaria. The weather _____ great. There
_______many trees, with very beautiful flowers. I _____with my two brothers, Mark and
Harry. They ______ also very happy there. Most of the time we ______ at the beach,
and sometimes in the pool. Our hotel _____in a very nice area. There _____many
places to visit. There _____a museum, and there _____ many parks, restaurants, and
cafés around. We _____there three years ago. My brother Mark _____twelve years old,
Harry _____ ten.

II. Read and reproduce Sample email, Unit 5.

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Class activities 8.2
Reading

I. Read this text about John Chester.

John Chester lived most of his teen age years in Liverpool. At the age of 16 he started
studying at university; he wanted to become an engineer; he always dreamed to work
at a big enterprise. When he was 18, his parents moved to Bath, and he continued his
studies there. He graduated at the age of 22. He started working at a small company,
where it was OK; but he needed a higher salary; so he applied at a bigger firm. They
accepted him, and soon they transferred him to the main area of the company. A year
later they promoted him to chief engineer; the salary was good, and he received very
good benefits. Last month he travelled to three cities, where he worked a lot. He also
visited some interesting places there. He made some good friends, who invited him to
visit them on vacation.

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II. Match the beginnings of the sentences in Column A with the endings in
Column B.

Column A Column B
1. John was a university student … a. … of a big company.
2. He lived in Bath … b. … in Liverpool.
3. When he was twenty-two … c. … he made a good salary.
4. He was at the main area … d. … when he was eighteen.
5. When he was a chief engineer … e. … he was an employee at a small
6. Last month he worked … company.
f. … out of his city.

Grammar

Simple past (regular verbs)

What do all of the sentences in the reading have in common?

Apart from was and were, what ending do the other verbs have?

The regular ending for the simple past in English is –ed.

Pronunciation

When the verb in simple form ends in /t/ or /d/, the –ed is pronounced /ɪd/

started, wanted, graduated, needed, promoted, visited, invited, accepted, attended

When the verb in simple form doesn’t end in /t/ or /d/, the –ed is pronounced
/t/ or /d/

dreamed, moved, continued, applied, transferred, received, travelled, worked, stopped,

played

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Grammar

Simple past

Look at these sentences

Did you present the business plan to the General Manager?

Did you talk about costs?
When did you arrive?
Where did you stay?
What time did the meeting start?
Yes, we did.
He didn’t talk a lot.
We didn’t discuss suppliers.

What auxiliary do you see in these interrogative sentences?

How do we form the negative?

Remember that did is a function word that only shows that the interrogative, negative sentences,
and short answers are in past.
In What did you do yesterday?, the second do is the principal verb (hacer ¿Qué hiciste ayer?)

III. Complete this text with the verbs in past.

Mr. Thompson, the General Director of Thompson & Wallace _______(visit) our
company last week. He ________ (arrive) at 8:00 a.m., and at 10:00 our meeting
_______ (start) We ________(discuss) the new marketing plan. I ______ (ask) him
many questions because I didn’t understand a series of points; but he patiently _______
(answer) them. At some point we _______ (call) Andrew to analyze some important
data with him. He ______ (show) us an interesting video and ______ (share) important
statistics, where we ______ (observe) that sales tendencies in the last few months.
After the meeting, we _______ (order) Mexican food from a restaurant. Mr. Thompson
_______ (love) it. We _______(talk) a lot about his life in Chicago, and later we ______
(invite) him to a bar. He really _______ (enjoy) the evening, and even _______ (dance)
with Kate.
On Tuesday he _______(attend) a lecture by our General Director. He (not, want) an
interpreter; so, he ________ (practice). On Wednesday, he ______ (return) to Chicago.

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Speaking

IV. In pairs make a narration in past. Use some of the following verbs, time
expressions, and sequence markers.

Verbs Time expressions Sequence markers

be - visit - start - arrive discuss last Wednesday/Tuesday - then - later - after that
- talk - analyze want - need - yesterday
ask answer - work - invite

V. Answer Progress Test 10: Speaking.

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Extra class activities 8.2
I. Complete this conversation with the correct form of the verbs in parentheses.
Then read the dialogue out loud.

Chris: How _______ (be) the meeting with Mr. Welles? ______ you _____(talk) about
the new marketing plan?
Karla: Yes, we _______ (do) We ______ (check) all the proposals from the
managers, and ________(analyze) the alternatives.
Chris: What time _____ you ______ (start) the meeting?
Karla: We _______ (start) at 9:00 and _______ (finish) at 1:00
Chris: So, you ______ (be) there for hours.
Karla: Yes, he ______ (not, want) to leave until the meeting was over.
Chris: What _____you _____(do) after the meeting?
Karla: I ______ (call) Andy because we _____(want) to go to a nice restaurant.
Chris: What _____ you _____ (order)?
Karla: We ______ (order) a Cesar salad and lasagna. We _______ (not, have)
dessert there because we _______(decide) to have it with coffee at another
place.

II. Write a narration about several activities you and your team/ friends did last week.

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