Lesson 1: TENSE (Part 1)

I. PRESENT SIMPLE AND PRESENT CONTINUOUS

Exercise1. Are the underlined verbs right or wrong? Correct them where necessary.

1. Water boils at 100 degrees Celsius. ___right____

2. The water boils. Can you turn it off? ____is boiling___

3. Look! That man tries to open the door of your car ___is trying____

4. Can you hear those people? What do they talk? __r they taling_____

5. The moon goes round the earth. ___right____

6. I must go now. It gets late. __is getting_____

7. I usually go to work by car. ___right____

8. “Hurry up! It’s time to leave”. “I come”. __i’m coming_____

9. I hear you’ve got a new job. How do you get on? ___right____

10. Pau is never late. He’s always getting to work on time. __get_____

Exercise2. Put the verbs into the correct form, present continuous or present simple.

1. Are you hungry? ____Do you want_________(you/want) something to eat?

2. Don’t put the dictionary away. _______I’m using________ (I/use) it.
3. Don’t put the dictionary away._______I need________ (I/need) it.
4. Who is that man? What_______does he want__________ (he/want)?
5. Who is that man? Why______is he looking____________ (he/ look) at us?
6. Alan says he’s 80 years old, but nobody______belive___________ (believe) him.
7. She told me her name, but _________i don’t remember_________
(I/not/remember) it now.
8. ____I’m thinking___ (I/think) of selling my car. Would you be interested in
buying it?
9. ____________I think_____ (I/think) you should sell your car. _____you don’t
use_____ (you/not/use) it very often.
10. Air ________consists__________ (consist) mainly nitrogen and oxygen.
II. PRESENT PERFECT AND PAST SIMPLE
I. Put in BEEN or GONE.
1. James is on holiday. He’s____gone______ to Italy.
2. Hello! I’ve just _____been________ to the shops. I’ve bought lots of
things.
3. Alice isn’t here at the moment. She’s______gone_____ to the shop to
get a newspaper.
4. Tom has_____gone________ out. He’ll come back in about an hour.
5. “Are you going to the bank?” “No, I’ve already _____been_______ to
the bank”.
II. Complete the sentences using the following verbs in the correct form.

buy catch cost fall hurt sell spend teach throw write

1. Mozart _____wrote________more than 600 pieces of music.

2. “How did you learn to drive?” “My father _____taught
3. _______me.”
4. We couldn’t afford to keep our car, do we ____sold_________it.
5. Dave_____fell_____ down the stairs this morning and _____hurt_____
his leg.
6. Joe______catches_______ the ball to Sue, who _____throws_______ it.
7. Ann _____spent________ a lot of money yesterday. She
_______buys________ a dress which ____cost________ $100.
III. Use the following verbs in the present perfect or past simple.
1. He (write) ______has written_______ several books since last year.
2. I (read) _______have read_____ the novel written by Jack London
several times before.
3. Someone (steal) _______stolen__________my handbag on the bus.
4. My father (not smoke) ________hasn’t smoked_________ for 5 years.
5. ___have _____You (receive) ________receive____ any letter from your
parents yet?
6. He (leave)____left______ home two weeks ago and we (not
hear)__haven’t heard_____ from him since then.
7. A: ____have_____You (teach) ___taught_____ English before?
B: Yes. I (teach)____ taught_____ English for three years in Hong
Kong and when I (come)_______came______ back, I
 (start)_________started_____ teaching at the Kensington school of
English and I (teach)_____taught________ there since then .
8. A: I (see) _________saw______ Jack last night.
B: Oh really? I (not see) _________haven’t seen____________ him for
three months. How is he?
9. A: _____have______you (ever/win) ___ever won____________ a
competition?
B: Yes, I (win) ______won_________ a photographic competition in
2001.
10. I (watch) _____have watched_______ Star Wars four times.
IV. Rewrite the sentences without changing the meaning.
1. We haven’t been to a concert for over a year.
⇨ The last time _we were to a concert is last
year______________________________________
2. It’s nearly 20 years since my father saw his younger brother.
⇨ My father __hasn’t seen his younger brother for 20
years________________________________________
3. Tom went to Scotland last Friday and is still there.
⇨ Tom has ______gone to Scotland since last
Friday____________________________________
4. When did you last ride a bike?
⇨ How long is it _____you did’t ride a
bike________________________________
5. The last time I wrote a poem was when I was in France.
⇨ I haven’t_written a poem since i was in
France___________________________________________
6. You haven’t tidied up this room for weeks.
⇨ It’s _____a week since the last time i tidied this
room___________________________________________
7. I haven’t eaten this kind of food before.
⇨ This is ___the first time i have eaten this kind of
food_________________________________________
8. The last time she taught me how to cook Vietnamese food was 7 months
ago.
⇨ She hasn’t taught me how to cook Vietnamese food for 7
months__________________________________________
9. He last shaved the day before yesterday.
⇨ He hasn’t _shaved for a
day__________________________________________
10. I last drank champagne at my brother’s wedding.
⇨ I haven’t _drunk champagne since my brother’s
wedding_________________________________________