REVISION: VERB TENSES

I. Mark the letter A, B, C or D to indicate the correct answer to each of the

following questions.
1. He has been selling used books for children __________.

A. ten years ago B. since ten years

C. for ten years D. for ten years ago

2. Columbus __________ America more than 500 years ago.

A. discovered B. has discovered

C. had discovered D. was diícovered

3. I __________ in the living room to watch my favourite program now.

A. am being B. was being C. has been D. am

4. John __________ my detective story when I saw him in the restaurant.

A. is reading B. reads C. was reading D. read
5. We __________ Jane since we graduated High school.

A. don’t see B. haven’t seen C. didn’t see D. hadn’t seen

6. The man got out the car, __________ round to the back and opened the boot.

A. walking B. walked C. walks D. walk

7. When Henry __________ into the restaurant, he suddenly saw his girlfriend
__________ dinner with another guy.

A. was going/was having B. went/was having

C. went/had D. was going/had

8. I have never played badminton before. = This is the first time I __________ to play.

A. try B. tried C. have tried D. am trying

9. Since __________, I have heard nothing from him.

A. he had left B. he left C. he has left D. he was leèt

10. John__________ tennis once or twice a week.

A. usually play B. is usually playing

C. usually plays D. have usually played

11. It was noisy next door. Our neighbors __________ a party.

A. had B. were having C. had had D. have had

12. The earth __________ round the sun.

 A. go B. has gone C. went D. goes

13. When I last __________ Jane, she __________ to find a job.

A. see/was trying B. saw/was trying

C. have seen/tried D. saw/tried

14. Look! That man __________ to open the door of your car.

A. try B. tried C. is trying D. has tried

15. The Olympic Games __________ every four years.

A. take place B. takes place C. took place D. is taking place

16. Yesterday I __________ in the park when I saw Dick playing football.

A. was walking B. is walking

C. has walked D. has been walking

17. Ted and Amy __________ for 24 years.

A. have been married B. married

C. were married D. has been married

18. The police __________ the burglars yet.

A. weren’t catching B. didn’t catch

C. haven’t caught. D. don’t catch

II. Give correct tenses of the verbs.

1. While Tom (read) _______read___________ , Amely (watch) ____________was
watching______ a documentary on TV.
2. Marvin (come) ________came_________ home, (switch)
_______switched___________ on the computer an checked(check) his emails.
3. The thief (sneak) ____sneaked______________ into the house, (steal)
_______________stealed___ the jewels and (leave) _____left__________ without a
trace.
4. Almost everybody (leave)________were living____ by the time we (arrive)
_________arrived_________
5. Before you (mention) __________________ his name, I never (hear)
__________________ of this poet
6. ______does____ Helen ever _______tried___ (try) sushi?
7. _____did_____ you ________go__ (go) to the wedding last night?
8. I ______have____ never __________ (be) to Paris
9. This year I _____have traveled__ (travel) to Athens 3 times so far.
10. Paul and Judith ______have____ (be) married since 1998.
11. ___have_______ you ___finished_______ (finish) your homework yet?
 12. When I (do) _____Was doing____________ the washing-up, I (break)
___________broke_____ a plate.
13. While Tom (play) ____was playing_____________ the piano, his mother (do)
_______was doing_________ the washing-up.
14. In all the world, there (be) __________ only 14 mountains that (reach)
__________above 8,000 meters.
15. He sometimes (come) __________ to see his parents.
16. When I (come) __came________, she (leave) _____left______ for Dalat ten minutes
ago.
17. Right now I (attend) _____am attending_____ class. Yesterday at this time I
(attend)Attend_______class.
18. Tomorrow I'm going to leave for home. When I (arrive) _____arrive_____at the
airport, Mary (wait) ___will ne wating_______ for me.
19. Margaret was born in 1950. By last year, she (live) ______had lived____on this earth
for 55 years .
20. The traffic was very heavy. By the time I (get) _got_________to Mary's party,
everyone already (arrive) ___had arrived_______
21. Last night we (watch) were watching________TV when the power (fail)
_____failed_____.
22. That evening we (stay) _stayed_________up to talk about the town where he (live)
____had lived____for some years.
23. I (sit) __sat________down for a rest while the shoes (repair) _were being
repaired____.
III. Choose the underlined part in each sentence (A, B,C, or D ) that needs
correcting.
1. Jimmy threw (A)the ball high (B)in the air, and Betty catching (C) => caught it when
(D) it came down.
2. Linda has worn (A)her new yellow (B)dress only once (C) since she buys (D=>
bought) it.
3. Last week Mark told (A)me that he go (B)tvery bored with his present job and is
looking (C=> was looking) for a new on (D).
4. When my cat heard (A)a noise in the bushes, she stopped moving (B)and listen (C)=>
listened intently (D).
5. I think (A)it’s time you change (B)=> changed plyour way of (C) living (D).
6. Every morning, the sun shines (A)in my bedroom window (B)and waking (C=>
wakes) me up (D).
7. Someone was knocking (A)at the door (B)when I was doing (C) the washing up (D).
8. The police (A) arrested the man while (B)he is having (C => was having)dinner in (D)
a restaurant.
IV. Choose the correct sentence among A, B, C or D which has the same meaning as
the given one.
1. Eight years ago we started writing to each other.
A. We have rarely written to each other for eight years.
B. Eight years is a long time for us to write to each other.
C. We wrote to each other eight years ago.
D. We have been writing to each other for eight years.

2. My father hasn't smoked cigarettes for a month.

A. It's a month since my father last smoked cigarettes.
B. It's a month ago that my father smoked a.
C. It's a month that my father hasn't smoked cigarettes.
D. It's a cigarette that my father smoked a month ago.

3. John used to write home once a week when he was abroad.

A. John doesn't write home once a week any longer.
B. John enjoyed being written home every week when he was abroad.
C. John never forgot to write a weekly letter home when he was abroad.
D. When he was abroad he remembered to write home every week.

4. I haven't enjoyed myself so much for years.

A. It's years since I enjoyed myself so much.
B. It's years since I have enjoyed myself so much.
C. It was years since I had enjoyed myself so much.
D. It has been years since I have enjoyed myself so much

5. I have not played tennis for two years.

A. I have never played tennis before.
B. About two years ago, I last played tennis.
C. The last time I played tennis was two years ago.
D. I started played tennis two years ago

6. The last time we went to the cinema was five years ago.
A. We didn’t go to the cinema five years ago.
B. We started going to the cinema five years ago.
C. We have never gone to the cinema for five years

7. My parents last took us to our home village two years ago.

A. My parents didn’t take us to our home village two years ago.
B. My parents have taken us to our home village for two years.
C. My parents haven’t taken us to our home village for two years.
D. My parents took us to our home village in two years.

8. The last time I saw David was when I ran into him at the station on my way to New
York.
A. I haven’t seen David since a chance meeting with him at the station when I was
setting off for New York.
B. When I last went to New York, I happened to meet David at the station.
C. When I last saw David at the station in New York, I ran after him.
D. I finally saw David at the station when I was on my way to New York.

9. I have never read such a romantic story like this before.

A. This is the most romantic story that I have ever read.
B. This is the first time I ever read such a romantic story like this.
C. This is the first time I have never read such a romantic story like this.
D. This is the first time I have ever read so a romantic story like this.

10. This is the most interesting man I’ve ever met.

A. I’ve ever met a more interesting man than this one before.
B. I’ve never met the most interesting man before.
C. I’ve never met an interesting man before.
D. I’ve never met a more interesting man than this one before.