© Cambridge University Press

CFC Extension Grammar - Unit 3

A Past Simple and past continuous - Complete this text using the verbs in brackets, in either the past simple or

the past continuous tense.

Late one night, my girlfriend and I (1) ____________ (walk) to her house after a night of watching scary movies at my

flat. The rain (2) ____________ (come) down really hard, so there (3) ____________ (be) no other people around. As

we headed onto the country lane leading to her house, an awesome lightning bolt (4) ____________ (strike) a tall oak

right near us and the tree (5) ____________ (fall) into the overhanging electricity wires, causing all the street lights to

go out, and everything (6) ____________ (go) dark - but not completely dark - because there (7) ____________

(happen) to be a full harvest moon out that night. Anyway, right afterwards, oddly enough, a black hearse (8)

____________ (careen) past us at top speed, and then it (9) ____________ (slam) on the brakes right up ahead of us

around the bend in the road. We were unsure of what to do, but we (10) ____________ (decide) to duck behind a

bush and watch what would happen next. As we (11) ____________ (crouch) behind the bush, the driver’s door of the

hearse (12) ____________ (open), but nobody (13) ____________ (step) out. We (14) ____________ (feel) really

scared and (15) ____________ (have) absolutely no idea what to do. While we (16) ____________ (try) to decide what

our next move would be, the hearse (17) ____________ (start) to back up slowly towards us, all the while with the

driver’s door open. By this time we (18) ____________ (be) absolutely petrified. At this point the wind (19)

____________ (howl) and the rain (20) ____________ (pour) down, and we (21) ____________ (get) soaked to the

bone. The hearse (22)____________ (pull) up right next to where we (23) ____________ (hide). All of a sudden, it (24)

____________ (stop) and a tall, dark figure (25) ____________ (stand) up next to the car. We (26) ____________ (go)

to run into the woods, when we (27) ____________ (hear) a friendly voice yelling out, “Mike and Molly, is that you?” It

was Molly’s dad, Mr. Jones. What a relief! You see, back then he (28) ____________ (be) a used car salesman and he

had just bought the hearse for a song from the local funeral home and (29) ____________ (drive) it home. We (30)

____________ (walk) up to him and Molly (31) ____________ (ask) him why he had been backing the hearse up with

the door open. Mr. Jones said he had seen us in his headlights, and when he went to back up, he (32) ____________

(notice) that he couldn’t see out the back window because it (33) ____________ (have) no rear window wiper, and so

all the while he (34) ____________ (look) over his shoulder as he (35) ____________ (back) up to pick us up. We all

got out of the rain and into the creepy, but dry, hearse. Talk about a scary night!

B Past perfect simple and past perfect continuous. Each sentence has at least one verb in the past perfect

simple. If possible, write the past continuous form of the verb in the gap. If not possible, then write “no.”

1 I’d worked on the cruise ship for three months before I realised that my old friend from university also

worked on board. _________________

2 Alan hadn’t just cut his arm, he slashed his artery, and had to be rushed to the hospital. _________________

3 Everything was soaked, because it had poured all night. _________________

4 We had just sat down to watch TV when the door bell rang. _________________

5 I hadn’t slept well for weeks, and I wondered what underlying motive was keeping me up at night. Was it my

guilty conscience or was I ill? _________________

6 I saw from their faces that they had just fought about something. _________________

7 Tony’s mom was ecstatic when she saw him graduate from university because he’d been a poor student as a

child, and she’d never thought he’d do it. _________________