A2+ Tense Revision Worksheet 1 - SC

TENSE REVISION (Present & Past)

THE PRESENT

Exercise 1. Complete the sentences with the appropriate tense: the Simple Present or the Present
Continuous. Use the verbs from the box below.

wear hope like mean visit get light help happen

Diwali

What are these women doing?

These women in India 1. ………………………………. ready for Diwali. Diwali is an important holiday for
Hindus. It is also called the Festival of Lights. Diwali 2. ………………………………. in late October or early
November every year.

What do Hindus do during Diwali?

People 3. ………………………………. to have new clothes for Diwali. The women in the photo
4. ………………………………. new saris.1 They 5. ………………………………. sparklers and placing them around
their home. They want their family to have a successful future. The women 6. ……………………………….
that the sparklers attract Lakshmi, the Hindu goddess of wealth and success. The star-shaped design
on the floor is a rangoli. It also 7. ………………………………. to attract the goddess.

Hindus believe that Lakshmi 8. ………………………………. people’s homes during Diwali. In the Hindu
religion, a visit from Lakshmi is a very good thing. It 9. ………………………………. a happy future for the
family.
1sari: a traditional form of dress for women in India and other south Asian countries.

1
A2+ Tense Revision Worksheet 1 - SC

Exercise 2. Complete the conversation with the words in parenthesis. Use the Simple Present or the
Present Continuous.

Silvana: Hey Christine, it’s the 4th of July (0) Why are you siting (why / you / sit) here in the
library?

Christine: I (1) ………………………………. (work). I (2) ………………………………. (have) an important

assignment to finish.

Silvana: But Americans (3) ………………………………. (always / celebrate) Independence Day!

Christine: Well, things are different this year. I (4) ………………………………. (usually / visit) my
brother and sister, and we (5) ………………………………. (have) a barbecue, but they’re
not around this year.

Silvana: Oh, (6) ………………………………. (what / they / do) this year?

Christine: Matt (7) ………………………………. (take) a computer course in San Francisco, and my
sister Denise (8) ………………………………. (work). She’s a doctor.

Silvana: Oh, that’s too bad!

Christine: Yeah, and she often (9) ………………………………. (work) on weekends and holidays.

Silvana: Well, listen, I (10) ………………………………. (not do) anything special today.
(11) ………………………………. (you / want) to get something to eat later?

Christine: Great idea! I (12) ………………………………. (believe) the new Thai restaurant on Tucker
Street is really good. (13) ………………………………. (you / like) Thai food?

Silvana: I (14) ………………………………. (love) Thai food! Give me a call when you are ready.

THE PAST

Exercise 3. Underline the correct tense (the past simple or the past continuous) to complete each
situation.

1. We (1) were listening / listened to a great band last night. They (2) were playing / played three
songs, and then they (3) were stopping / stopped. We (4) were wanting / wanted them to play
more songs, but they didn’t. We (5) were leaving / left and (6) were asking / asked for our money
back.

2. Lily’s watch (7) was breaking / broke yesterday morning. It (8) was falling / fell off her wrist on her
way to work. She (9) was walking / walked out of the subway station at the time, and someone
(10) was stepping / stepped on it. Last night after work, she (11) was buying / bought a new one.

3. I (12) was sitting / sat at the student center yesterday afternoon. Several students (13) were
studying / studied. Others (14) were using / used their phones. Then I (15) was seeing / saw my
friend, Phil. He (16) was eating / ate lunch alone, so I (17) was going / went over and (18) was sitting
/ sat with him.

2
A2+ Tense Revision Worksheet 1 - SC

Exercise 4. Read the information about Dr. Gregory Anderson’s work in Siberia. Find and correct five
more errors with the simple past and the past continuous.

Dr. Anderson and his team made some interesting

discoveries during a trip to Siberia in Russia. They
were studying Xyzyl (hizzle), a local language there.
They were visiting visited five villages during their
trip, and they found that 50 to 60 people in those
communities spoke Xyzyl in their daily lives. In one
village, they were talking to an eleven-year-old girl
called Kristina. She was knowing how to speak
Xyzyl. Her grandmother was teaching her. Kristina
was the youngest Xyzyl speaker in the village. Most
of the other Xyzyl speakers got old. Many of them
were 60 years old or older. It was clear that the Xyzyl language died. Dr. Anderson and his team
studied the language, and they were making recordings to help it survive.

Exercise 5. Read the article about Jimmy Chin, a mountain climber and photographer. Notice the
words in bold and read the statements below. Circle T for true or F for false. Then correct the false
statements to make them true.

Surviving an Avalanche

Jimmy Chin is one of the few people to survive a Class 4 avalanche

avalanche—an avalanche big enough to destroy buildings.
In 2011, while he was skiing in the Teton Mountains, an
avalanche started behind him. Chin was going down the
mountain when, in his own words, “the whole
mountainside came down.” The avalanche buried Chin
under tons of snow and carried him downhill. Halfway
down, the rolling snow threw him to the surface.
However, Chin was not safe. When he looked up, trees
were snapping all around him. The snow was still moving
fast. Soon the avalanche buried him again. “I knew I was going to the bottom of the valley,” he
remembers. Amazingly, when the avalanche reached the bottom of the mountain, Chin was pushed
to the surface! He was alive and on top of the snow when his very surprised friends reached the
bottom of the valley. After this experience, Chin took a month off from work. “It’s important to do
what’s meaningful to you,” he says. “You don’t want to take your time for granted.”1
1take something for granted: not be grateful enough for something

1. A Class 1 avalanche can destroy buildings. T F

- ……………………………….……………………………….……………………………….

2. Jimmy Chin was skiing alone in the Tetons. T F

- ……………………………….……………………………….……………………………….

3. The avalanche buried Chin at first. T F

- ……………………………….……………………………….……………………………….

3
A2+ Tense Revision Worksheet 1 - SC

4. Chin’s friends had to dig him out of the snow. T F

- ……………………………….……………………………….……………………………….

5. Chin decided to take a break after this experience. T F

……………………………….……………………………….……………………………….

Exercise 6. Underline the correct form of the verb(s) to complete each sentence.

1. Jimmy Chin skied / was skiing when the avalanche began / was beginning.

2. When Chin’s friends reached / were reaching him, he lay / was lying on top of the snow.

3. Terry lost / was losing his watch when he swam / was swimming in the ocean.

4. Mark and Dan’s boat sank / was sinking while they fished / were fishing.

5. I cut / was cutting my finger when I cooked / was cooking dinner.

6. While Jean shopped / was shopping, the fire alarm went off / was going off in the store.

7. Carla found / was finding fifty dollars when she walked / was walking home yesterday.

8. Andre prepared / was preparing for the party when he suddenly felt / was feeling sick.

9. My pencil broke / was breaking while I took / was taking the exam.

10. Padma heard / was hearing a strange noise when she hiked / was hiking in the

woods yesterday afternoon.

Exercise 7a. Listen to the conversation about Ernest Shackleton. Then answer the questions.

1. How many men were with Shackleton on the ship? ……………………………….

2. In what year did Shackleton’s ship become trapped in the ice? ……………………………….

3. Did the men all survive? ……………………………….

4
A2+ Tense Revision Worksheet 1 - SC

Exercise 7b. Complete each sentence with the simple past or the past continuous form of the verb(s)
in parentheses. Then listen again and check your answers.

1. The Endurance ………………………………. (approach) Antarctica in January 1915 when it

………………………………. (become) locked in the ice.

2. When the ocean water ………………………………. (freeze), ice ………………………………. (surround) the
ship.

3. Shackleton and his men ………………………………. (stay) on the Endurance at first, and then they
………………………………. (make) a camp on the ice.

4. They ………………………………. (wait) for nine months, but the ice ………………………………. (not release)
the ship.

5. Then one day, while some of the men ………………………………. (arrange) supplies on the ice, the ship
………………………………. (begin) to break up.

6. When the Endurance ………………………………. (start) to sink, Shackleton ……………………………….

(decide) to take his men across the ice on foot.

7. While Shackleton and five of his men ………………………………. (try) to reach the island of South
Georgia to find help, the others ………………………………. (spend) several more months at the camp on
the ice.

8. When Shackleton and his men ………………………………. (arrive) in Chile, they ……………………………….
(receive) a hero’s welcome.

USED TO & WOULD

5
A2+ Tense Revision Worksheet 1 - SC

USED TO
1. Used to expresses a habit or state in the past I used to run several times a week. (Now, I don’t.)
that no longer exists. I used to live in a small town. (I live in a city now.)
I didn’t use to eat meat. (I do now.)
2. In negative statements use use to, not used I didn’t use to love math.
to.
3. When a question includes did, use use to, not Did you use to live here?
used to. Where did she use to work?
4. When Who or What is the subject of the ✓ Who used to live in that house?
question, use used to, not use to. ✗ Who use to live in that house?
WOULD: Repeated Past Actions Do not use WOULD with state verbs
1. Would expresses a repeated past action or In high school, we would play soccer every
habit that no longer exists. afternoon.
As a child, I wouldn’t study, but I would get good
grades.
2.Do not use would for past situations or states ✓There used to be a library on this street.
that no longer exist. Use used to or use to. ✗ There would be a library on this street.
✓He didn’t use to live on Palm Street.
✗ He wouldn’t live on Palm Street

Exercise 8. Complete the article about the Iceman with the words and phrases from the table. Use
each word or phrase only once.

Used To Would Simple Past

used to hunt wouldn’t come didn’t grow, didn’t spend,
used to think would go killed, discovered, found, used
The Iceman

Back in 1991, hikers in the mountains near the border of Austria and Italy (1)
………………………………. the body of a man in the ice. Scientists soon learned
that the body was over 5000 years old. They called the man the “Iceman.”

Scientists (2) ………………………………. that the Iceman died from the cold. Five
thousand years ago, people of central Europe (3) ………………………………. wild
animals for food. They (4) ………………………………. up into the mountains in all
kinds of weather, and sometimes they (5) ………………………………. back. Then, in 2001, scientists found
part of an arrow in the Iceman’s body. Somebody (6) ………………………………. the Iceman, and we will
probably never know why.

After more recent tests, scientists now think the Iceman was not just a hunter. They think he
probably had a higher position in society, and (7) ………………………………. a lot of time in the
mountains. Before the most recent tests, scientists believed that people in the Iceman’s community
(8) ………………………………. crops. However, they (9) ………………………………. small pieces of stone in the
Iceman’s stomach. This suggests that the Iceman’s people (10) ………………………………. stones to grind1
flour for some kind of bread.

Even though the Iceman died over 5000 years ago, we know a lot about his life thanks to scientific
research.
1grind: to rub something until it becomes a powder

6
A2+ Tense Revision Worksheet 1 - SC

Exercise 9. Complete each sentence or question with the word(s) in parentheses. Use the simple
past, the past continuous, or used to. There is more than one correct answer for some items.

1. While I ………………………………. (sit) in the airport lounge, I ………………………………. (see) a famous

actor.

2. Irina ………………………………. (write) poems, but now she writes short stories instead.

3. Martin ………………………………. (try) to turn on his computer, but nothing ……………………………….

(happen).

4. When my brother and I ………………………………. (be) young, we ………………………………. (play) games

with my parents in the evenings.

5. ………………………………. (you / have) trouble with the alphabet when you ……………………………….
(learn) Arabic?

6. We ………………………………. (go) to the movies three times last week.

7. I ………………………………. (work) when you ………………………………. (call), so I ……………………………….

(not answer) the phone.

8. When Stephanie was a child, she ………………………………. (visit) her grandparents twice a month.