Let's English

Complete the text with the past simple form of the verbs in the box. Sir Isaac Newton die     change     provide     design    use    publish     produce     live      study     move Isaac Newton was born on December 25, 1642 in Woolsthorpe, near Grantham in Lincolnshire, England. He was born in the same year that Galileo ________. Newton is probably the most important scientists in history. His work on mathematics and physics _________ a basis for modern science, and his ideas ________ the world. Newton _________ his work in two books, Opticks and Principia . These contain his laws of motion and gravity. He ________ these laws to predict the movements of the stars, and the planets around the Sun. He also ________ and built the world's first reflecting telescope. Newton ________ at Trinity College, Cambridge, from 1661 to 1696. In this peri...

1. A film has just won a prize. Journalist Ali has interviewed the director, Mike, and the star, Nika, for his magazine. Fill in the gaps using the verb in brackets in the present perfect simple or the past simple. Ali: How long ___________ (you/know) each other? Mike: We _________ (meet) two years ago. Ali: And when _______ (you/ decide) to make a film together? Mike: Oh, very quickly. Nika: We _________ (begin) filming immediately. Mike: It was hard work, and seven months ago our money ________ (run) out. Nika: That was frightening! Mike: Yes. We _______(have) to borrow a million pounds and of course we ________ (not pay) it all back yet. Ali: But now your film ________(win) this prize, all your problems _________(disappear). Mike: I hope so. Ali: And ________(you/plan) your next film yet? Nika: We want to make another film soon, but we still ________(not choose) the story. Ali: Well, congratulations on this one. Mike: Thank you. Lots of people _________(h...

Complete the text with the correct form of the verb in brackets using Past Simple or Past Perfect Archimedes and his bath Archimedes, the Greek mathematician, is probably most famous for the story of King Hieron II of Syracuse and the gold crown. The king _________(want) to give a gold crown as a gift to the gods, and ________(give) a carefully weighed amount of gold to a goldsmith. The man ________(produce) a beautiful crown, but the king was worried that the craftsman __________(not use) all the gold to make the crown. Dishonest craftsmen often ________(mix) gold with silver, which was cheaper, but the king could not find a way of proving that the man _________(do) this. He _________(ask) Archimedes to solve the problem. Archimedes ________(know) that gold and silver have different densities. The problem was that nobody could calculate the mass of an object like a crown. While Archimedes ________(think) about this problem, he decided to go to the public baths to relax. While...

Complete the text with the Past Simple or Past Continuous form of the verbs in brackets. The Vikings in America  According to Viking records, around the year 1.000, while some Viking sailors _________(look for) the coast of Greenland, they _________(reach) the eastern coast of America. While they _________(live) there, they _________(try) to trade with the local Native Americans, known by the Vikings as Skraelings, but in the end the Native Americans _________(fight) them and __________ (drive) them out. After several attempts to return, the Vikings ___________(give up). In 1968, while some archaeologists _________(work) in Newfoundland, they _________(discover) the remains of one of the Viking settlements, and _________(prove) that this story was true.

1. Look at each pair of sentences. Mark S if their meaning is the same or D if it is different. Have you ever ridden a motorbike? Have you ridden a motorbike recently? She's worked here since the summer She didn't work here after the summer  I've been to London twice this year. I've just come back from London. This is the most expensive holiday I've ever had. I've never had such an expensive holiday before.  My father hasn't been to the theatre for ten years. My father didn't go to the theatre ten years ago. 2. A journalist is interviewing a politician on a radio programme. Choose the correct form . Interviewer: Mrs Blake, you want people to vote for you again. Our listeners want to know why. Politician: I think our achievements are very clear. I: Well, not always. For example, under your government unemployement has risen/ rose  by ten per cent. P: Yes, but you have to look at the international context. The price o...

1. Complete the following text using Past Simple or Present Perfect: Climate Change At the moment, scientists agree that the world's climate _______________ (become)  warmer over the past 50 years, but they disagree about the causes. Some believe that human activities ______________ (cause) climate change. They argue that for 1.000 or 2.000 years before 1850, when records ____________ (begin) ,  the temperature was more or less stable. Short warm or cold periods _____________ (occur) during that time, but the climate always ___________ (return) to the same level. However, since the Industrial Revolution, human being ____________ (burn) more and more fossil fuels, such as coal and oul. In 1800 the atmosphere ______________ (contain) around 280 parts per million of carbon dioxide (CO2). Since then there _________ (be) an increase of about 31%. This extra carbon dioxide ______________ (raise) the world's temperature because of the greenhouse effect. Other ...

Computers Since computers were first introduced to the public in the early 1980's, technology  has changed  a great deal. The first computers were  simple machines designed for basic tasks. They  did not have  much memory and they  weren't  very powerful. Early computers were often quite expensive and customers often  paid  thousands of dollars for machines which actually  did  very little. Most computers  were  separate, individual machines used mostly as expensive typewriters or for playing games.  Times  have changed . Computers have become  powerful machines with very practical applications. Programmers have created  a large selection of useful programs which do everything from teaching foreign languages to bookkeeping. We are still playing video games, but today's games  have become  faster, more exciting interactive adventures. Many computer users  have also got  on the Inte...

A Christmas tree On Saturday, the Jenson family shopped for a Christmas tree. They got in the car. They drove to the tree farm. Mr. and Mrs. Jenson walked around the tree farm with their kids. The Jenson family looked at all the trees. They looked at tall trees and short trees. They looked at fat trees and skinny trees. They looked at every tree on the farm. They wanted the perfect tree, but it was not easy to find it. The Jenson kids finally found the perfect tree. It wasn't too tall or too short. It wasn't too fat or too skinny. The tree was exactly what they wanted. It was the perfect Christmas tree! 1. Look for all the verbs in the text. They are in Past Simple. Can you make your own structure of Past Simple using them? 2. Now that you have its structure, can you write any use of Past Simple? 3. What did the Jenson family do on Saturday? 4. Where did they go? 5. What kind of trees did the Jenson family look at? What kind of tree did they w...