Grammar: Memorable journeys

 Narrative tenses

1Match the sentence halves. Then write them as one sentence using one past continuous phrase, one past simple phrase and when. 

You need to use normal letters and capital letters correctly in this task. You also need to use correct punctuation.

1the sun / not shine

2you / drop / your wallet in the sand

3the coach / reverse / into the entrance

4we / have / dinner in the hotel restaurant

5you / swim / by the side of the boat

6the sun / set / over the mountains

• I / wake up.
• it / hit / a car in the hotel car park.
• we / arrive / at the ski resort.
• you / see / the dolphins?
• the fire alarm / go off.
• you / walk / along the beach?

• 1

• 2

• 3

• 4

• 5

• 6

Narrative tenses

2Choose the option that means the same as the first sentences. 

• 1Rick was eating when I got to the restaurant.

  Rick started eating when I got to the restaurant.I got to the restaurant and then Rick started eating.Rick had started eating when I got to the restaurant.

• 2We visited the art gallery and had tea in a hotel.

  We had tea and then went to the art gallery.We went to the art gallery and then to a hotel.We were visiting the art gallery when we had tea.

• 3I'd learned a lot of Thai when I left Bangkok.

  I learned Thai when I was in Bangkok.I learned a lot of Thai after I left Bangkok.When I left Bangkok I was learning Thai.

• 4I heard a loud noise when the plane was taking off.

  I heard a noise before the plane took off.The plane started taking off and I heard a noise.After the plane had taken off, I heard a noise.

• 5We'd crossed the river when we saw the elephants.

  We crossed the river and then we saw the elephants.We saw the elephants when we were crossing the river.We saw the elephants before we crossed the river.

• 6We were walking to the station because our taxi hadn't come when we saw Bob crossing the road.

  We walked to the station, then the taxi didn't come, then we saw Bob.The taxi didn't come, then we saw Bob, then we got to the station.The taxi didn't come, then we arrived at the station, then we saw Bob.

Narrative tenses

3Complete the sentences. Use the correct past perfect or past simple form of the verbs in brackets. 

You need to use normal letters and capital letters correctly in this task.

• 1When we  (pack) our bags, we  (call) a taxi to take us to the airport.

• 2When the ticket inspector came, I  (realize) I  (lose) my ticket.

• 3Unfortunately, the fireworks  (finished) by the time we  (arrive).

• 4Everyone  (start) eating the birthday cake before we  (get) to the café.

• 5I  (not be able to) go to Maria's party because I  (promise) to go to Marc's!

• 6When the rain  (stop), we  (go) out to explore the city.

Narrative tenses

4Complete the text using the correct form of the verbs in brackets. 

You need to use normal letters and capital letters correctly in this task.

I ¹ (travel) up to Scotland by train once, when the train suddenly 

²

 

(start) to slow down. We 

³ 

(not come) to a station, so I wondered why we 

⁴ 

(go) so slowly. The train driver 

⁵ 

(say) the engine at the back of the train 

⁶ 

(break down), so we 

⁷ 

(travel) with the front engine only. I 

⁸ 

(be) annoyed because we 

⁹ 

(leave) London on time, and I really 

¹⁰ 

(not want) to be late for my meeting in Scotland. A few minutes later, the train 

¹¹ 

(come) to a stop in the middle of the countryside. The train driver 

¹² 

(tell) us that he had some bad news for us, and some good news. The bad news was that the front engine 

¹³ 

(stop) working as well. The good news was that at least we ¹⁴ (decide) not to travel by plane!

5 CHALLENGE! Imagine you have taken part in one of the three journeys below. Write a story about your experience for a magazine about extreme travel.  a trek through the Amazon rainforest a mountain-climbing expedition in the Alps a journey through the Sahara desert by camel  Write your task in another program (e.g. Word).  Save the file to your computer.  Upload your file.  If you want to add a note to your teacher, write it in the Comments box.  Select Submit to Dropbox to send your work to your teacher.