English Grammar Learning

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Simple Present Tenses

E.g.  Snails move (move) very slowly.

  1. As I was feeling very tired, I ___________________________ (go) to bed early.
  2. If you ___________________________ (paint) your room white, it will be brighter.
  3. When the maid got home, she __________________________ (empty) the bag of groceries.
  4. While the child ____________________________ (cross) the road, he fell down.
  5. Do you know the woman who is presently __________________________ (talk) to your mother?
  6. He tried hard but he _________________________________ (not succeed).
  7. There __________________________ (be) a fire here last night.
  8. We _____________________________ (talk) about him when he came into the room.
  9. The alarm clock ___________________________ (ring) for ten minutes before he woke up.
  10. My family _________________________ (live) here for the last ten years.
  11. Sugar ___________________________ (taste) sweet.
  12. I ____________________________ (revise) my work in the library this evening.
  13. If I _________________________ (be) a bird, I would fly away now.
  14. Babies _____________________________ (wail) when hungry.
  15. While listening to the music, Tom _____________________________ (fall) asleep.

RC Pr. 6 Tense Exercise 1b

Renting a house

  Tommy 1________________(live) alone in a small flat in the city but he 2_______________(work) in a factory in Tai Po. It 3____________________(not be) convenient to travel to Tai Po in the morning because the trains 4__________________(often pack) with passengers. Every day, he 5________________(need) to report duty on time. He 6_______________________(not allow) to drive his car because there 7_______________________(not be) enough parking spaces in the factory.

  Now he 8__________________(consider) moving to Tai Po so that he 9__________________(not need) to spend so much time travelling. Besides, he 10__________________(get) married soon. The wedding 11_______________(arrange) at the moment. Yoyo, his fiancée 12__________________(enjoy) country life very much. She 13_______________(work) as a florist at the moment and her shop 14_________________ (locate) near Tai Po, too.

  Now, Tommy and his fiancée 15__________________(look) for a house. The house agent 16__________________(drive) them to a nice house which 17__________________(overlook) the bay. The house 18_________________(even equip) with a garden and a small pool. If Yoyo 19______________(like) the house, he will rent it at once. They 20__________________(plan) to move in before the wedding.

RC Pr. 6 Tense Exercise 2

Fill in the blanks with the correct words.

            I   e.g.  am   (be) the eldest child in my family, so I always need to look after my little brother, Johnny. One day, Mom went out without 1____________________ (prepare) our lunch. She then phoned me and asked me 2____________________ (cook) for her.

            When all the ingredients 3____________________ (take) out of the fridge, I decided to fry a fish.However, while I 4____________________ (fry) the fish, Johnny came into the kitchen. He tried 5____________________ (help) me but he’s too short! He 6____________________ (break) a few plates and I was so angry that I shouted, “7____________________ (leave) me alone!” After Johnny had left, our cat, Mimi went into the kitchen. She didn’t make any noise, so I didn’t notice her. Before I noticed her, she 8_________________ already ____________________ (eat) up my fried fish!

RC Pr. 6 Tense Exercise 3

Read the following passage carefully. Fill in each blank with the correct form of the verb in the bracket.

As the taxi (1)____________________ (speed) on, Mary (2)___________________ (look) out of the window. It (3)_____________________ (rain), so the road (4)___________________ (be) wet. She looked forward to (5)_________________ (go) home after a long holiday abroad.

The taxi (6)___________________ (slow) down and then stopped at the airport. Mary got out of the taxi. While she (7)____________________ (look) for money in her purse to pay the driver, he (8)______________________ (take) out her luggage. Then he (9)____________________ (turn) round to receive the fare, and Mary gasped in surprise.

He (10)___________ (be) in the same secondary school as her. In fact, he was a former classmate.

RC Pr. 6 Tense Exercise 4

Read the following passage carefully. Fill in each blank with the correct form of the verb in the bracket.

Tooth decay (1)_____________________ (start) early in life. It (2)__________________ (continue) throughout adulthood so that many of us will (3)_____________________ (lose) quite a few of our teeth by the time we (4)__________________ (reach) old age.

There (5)______________________ (be) two causes of tooth decay. One reason is many of us (6)_______________________ (not take) proper care of our teeth. Besides, we eat a lot of sugary food, thus (7)______________________ (result) in tooth decay. Ever since we (8)_________________ (be) young, we (9)________________________ (encourage) to brush our teeth properly and regularly. However, most of us (10)___________________________ (not heed) this advice and neglect our teeth.