Simple or Past Continuous.

Date: 2015-10-07; view: 411.

Exercise 40. Read the story and put the verbs in brackets in the correct tense: Past

John and Mary ______________ (decide) to redecorate their room in the hostel. They ______________ (choose) cream paint for the walls. When Tim ________________ (look)

in to see how they __________________ (get) on, Mary ______________________ (mix)

the paint, and John _________________ (wash) down the walls. They _____________

(be) glad to see Tim and ______________ (ask) if he ___________________ (do) anything special that day. He hastily ___________ (reply) he ____________________ (go) to the theatre and ______________ (go) away at once, because he _______________ (know)

they ___________________ (look) for someone to help them.

They ________________ (begin) painting, but _______________ (find) the walls ________________ (be) too wet. While they __________________ (wait) for the walls

to dry, Mary ____________________ (remember) she _______________(have) a phone

call to make. John ___________ (start) painting while she ______________(telephone),

and _________________(do) a whole wall before Mary ______________ (come) back.

He _______________(grumble) that she always _____________________ (telephone).

Mary _______________ (retort) that John always ___________________ (complain).

They _______________(work) in silence for some time. Just as they __________(start)

the third wall, the doorbell _____________ (ring). It ______________ (be) a friend of

John's who ________________ (want) to know if John __________________ (play)

tennis the following weekend. He _______________ (stay) talking to John in the hall

while Ann _______________ (go) on painting. At last he __________________(leave).

John ________________(return), expecting Mary to say something about friends who _________________ (come) and _________________ (waste) valuable time talking

about tennis. But Mary nobly ________________ (say) nothing.

Then John ____________ (think) he would do the ceiling. He just ___________ (climb)

the step ladder when the doorbell ______________ (ring) again. Mary _________ (say)

she _______________ (get) tired of interruptions but ________________ (go) and _________________ (open) the door. It _____________ (be) the postman with a letter

from her brother Jack, saying he ____________________ (come) to spend the weekend

with them and _________________ (arrive) the next morning at 4.30.