Control work for the 9th grade Spotlight "Verb Tenses"

1. Write the correct form of the verbs:

1. Susan was bored because she … (not go out) last weekend.

2. We … (walk) for an hour when it started to snow heavily.

3. This time last week we … (lie) on a beach.

4. After Bob … (mow) the lawn, he collected the grass cuttings for compost.

5. I didn’t sleep well last night because I … (worry) about my exams.

6. My little niece felt ill last night because she … (eat) sweets all day.

7. His father …(wash) the car when it started to rain.

8. The pupils … (not watch) a film about the environment on a class screen last lesson.

9. My mum … (cook) meals for over two hours before the guests arrived.

10. My little brother … (not finish) all his homework by the time he went to bed.

2. Put the verbs in correct form: The Haunted Cellar

One day in 1953, a plumber called Harry, … (1 work) in a cellar in York, England, when suddenly a Roman soldier on a horse … (2 step) through the wall of the cellar! More soldiers then … (3 follow) them. They … (4 wear) helmets and they … (5 carry) swords.

Then, Harry … (6 notice) that the soldiers … (7 look) very short because their legs … (8 be) below the floor of the cellar! However, they then … (9 pass) an area that archeologists … (10 work/on recently) and Harry saw that they … (11 walk) on an old Roman road under the cellar. Terrified, Harry … (12 run) out of the house.

Later, Harry … (13 find out) that some Roman soldiers … (14 go) missing in York many centuries before and that no one … (15 ever find) them. Maybe these … (16 be) the soldiers that he saw!

3. Choose the correct tenses:

1. He was driving /had been driving for an hour when the car broke down.

2. Bob had been working/was working at the company for ten years before he left.

3. I didn’t go out last night because I wasn’t finishing/hadn’t finished my homework.

4. This time yesterday, we lay/were lying on the beach sunbathing.

5. After Bob had parked/ had been parking the car, he went into the house.

6. My dad was shocked. He couldn’t believe what had just happened/just happened.

7. Mike slipped and twisted his ankle while he was playing/ had played football last Sunday.

8. Her sister switched/had switched the TV off and went to bed at once as she was very tired.

9. Susan had a headache because her baby sister had been crying/was crying all evening.

10. Grandma was angry because my cousin wasn’t calling/hadn’t called her since last weekend.

4. Past Simple or Past Continuous:

Who … (1 be) that on the phone, Susan? Bob. I …(2 think) about him when he …(3 call), actually. What a coincidence! It is! …(4 I /tell) you what …(5 happen) to me and my mum when we … (6 shop) in London a few years ago? No, what? Well, we …(7 look) around an old second-hand bookshop when my mum …(8 come) across one of her favourite childhood books. She … (9 show) it to me and when she … (10 open) it, it … (11 have) her name written inside! Wow! So it … (12 be) her very own book! I bet you … (13 not expect) that! No, I didn’t.