Exercise – Past Simple and Past Continuous

Replace the infinitives in brackets: by the past simple or the past continuous tense.

1) I ..................................... (sit) at a box table writing letters, in a tent near the beach at Buna. Outside,
the wind-driven rain ....................................... (bend) the long-stemmed trees; and the
jungle ........................................ (talk) as it does on a stormy night. The tent ................................... (be lit)
up by a glaring flash og lightning, then a distant rumble of thunder gradually ....................................
(become) louder, and ........................................ (crash) in a crescendo.
(Frank J. Hardy)

2) She ......................................... (run) down the steps and ............................................ (walk) across the
yard as rapidly as she could. When she ....................................... (reach) the corner of the house,
Ring ......................................... (get) up and ....................................... (follow) her to the road. Neither of
them ......................................... (say) anything, but she could not keep from looking back at the house,
where the woman ........................................ (watch) them through the crack in the door.
(Erskine Caldwell)

3) He .......................................... (turn) his head and ............................................. (glance) down the road
behind them, but there was nothing in sight. Then he ........................................... (look) down at the
ground he ....................................... (walk) on, counting the steps he ........................................... (take)
with his right foot, and then his left.
(Erskine Caldwell)

4) This textile strike ............................................... (smoulder) into its seventh week. It was a bitter ash in
the mouths of the men. Funds were at an ebb, scabs ..................................................... (come) in like a
locust plague, the company officials ................................................ (grow) more and more militant in their
self-righteousness. The strikers ............................................ (drift) into a state of depression and self-
distrust. Their solidarity ............................................... (begin) to show fissures and dangerous cracks.
(Michael Gold)

5) Tom ............................................... (enjoy) a good little snooze when Jim

Baxter ........................................ (come) running through the back door from the barber-shop on the
corner. Jim was Tom’s partner and he ............................................ (come) in sometimes on busy days to
help out. He was a great big man, almost twice as large as Tom. He always ............................................
(wear) a big wide-brimmed black hat and a blue shirt with the sleeves rolled up above his elbows.
He ............................................. (have) a large egg-shaped belly over which his
breeches .................................. always ....................................... (slip) down. When
he ................................... (walk) he ............................................. (tug) at his breeches all the time, pulling
them up over the top of his belly. But they ....................................... always ..................................... (work)
down until it .................................... (look) as if they ........................................... (be) ready to drop to the
ground any minute and trip him. Jim would not wear suspenders. A belt was more sporty-looking.
(Erskine Caldwell)