1.9

Activity 9

Complete the sentences with simple past tense form of the verbs in brackets.

1. Did you watch (watch) a film last night?

No, I studied (study) at home.

2. Where did you go (go) shopping last weekend?

I went (go) to apm and I bought (buy) a lot of new clothes.

3. How was (be) the football match, Tom?

We lost (lose) two goals.

(Booker, R., & Daswani, R. (2012). Longman Activate: Workbook 1A (p. 19). Hong Kong: Pearson Education Asia Limited.)

In this activity, students are asked to turn the given verbs into simple past tense without the need to consider the meaning of the dialogue.

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1.10

Activity 10

Read the sentences and underline the correct answer.

1) I visit/visited Tokyo Disneyland in 2009.

2) John eat/ate noodles for lunch yesterday.

3) We go/went ice-skating at Cityplaza last week.

4) My day helps/helped me with my homework last night.

5) The film is/was very exciting.

6) Ivy doesn’t want/didn’t want to go shopping yesterday.

(Harfitt, G., Potter, J., Rigby, S., & Wong, K. (2012). Longman Activate: Book 1A (p. 38). Hong Kong: Pearson Education Asia Limited.)

Students have to choose the correct verb forms based on the time adverbials (e.g. “yesterday”, “last night”). In order to complete this activity, students should refer to the meaning of the adverbial expressions. There is only one correct answer.

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1.11

Activity 11

Step 1

Listen to the following statements made by a journalist about the life of the footballer David Beckham and decide whether each statement is referring to his past life as a Manchester United player or his life now as Real Madrid player in Spain.

Past Present [sentences heard by learners]

1) □ □ David Beckham receives a lot of money from advertising.

2) □ □ David Beckham donated money to charities.

3) □ □ David Beckham reserved more time for his family.

Step 2

Now read the sentences you have just listened to and decide if David Beckham was more famous when he was a Manchester United player or a Real Madrid player.

(Benati, A. G., & Lee, J. F. (2008). Grammar Acquisition and Processing Instruction: Secondary and Cumulative Effects (p. 176). Bristol/Buffalo: Multilingual Matters.)

In this activity, students are asked to listen to ten sentences which describe the present or past activities and decide whether the sentences describe David Beckham’s past life or present life. Then, students read the sentences they have just listened to once again and express their opinion about whether David Beckham was more famous when he was a Manchester United player or a Real Madrid player. It should be noted that adverbial phrases (e.g. “yesterday”, “last night”) are absent from the sentences so that students do not rely on these adverbial phrases but verb endings to decide whether the activity takes place now or occurred in the past.

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