Grammar unit 1

1 Complete the texts. Use the past simple, past

perfect and used to form of the verbs in each text.

3 Complete the text with the past simple, past

continuous or past perfect form of the verbs.
In music history, Stuart Sutcliffe is known as

1 (belong / buy / live)

My mum and dad _________________ in this

the fifth Beatle. In 1960, when the Beatles

street. They _________________ a house here

(1)_______________ (play) in Hamburg, Germany,

which _________________ to a 50s rock star.

Stuart (2)_______________ (be) the bass guitarist.

He (3)_______________ (be) also in love. He

2 (buy / use / write)

Our dad ______________________ his first

(4)_______________ (meet) a girl called Astrid

computer in 1980. It cost 300. Before that, he

Kirchherr. The Beatles (5)_______________

______________________ an old typewriter. He

(return) to Britain at the end of the year without

______________________ letters on it.

Stuart because he (6)_______________ (decide)

to stay in Germany to study art. But things went

3 (be / change / not have)

Jessica ____________________ blonde hair.

wrong when he (7)_______________ (start) to

Before she ___________________ her hair colour,

have terrible headaches. The doctors

it ___________________ brown.

(8)_______________ (not know) what was wrong

with him. One day, while he (9)_______________

4 (go / meet / not have)

Grandad ______________________ Gran in the

(study) in an art class, he (10)_______________

1950s. They ______________________ to the

(become) very ill. When the Beatles

cinema a lot. Before that, Grandad

(11)_______________ (return) to Germany in

______________________ a girlfriend.

1962, Astrid (12)_______________ (wait) for

2 Look at the diagram. Then write sentences. Use

the past simple, past continuous or past perfect
form of the verbs.

them with some terrible news. Stuart

(13)_______________ (die).
4 Write past simple or past continuous questions
for these answers. Use the prompts in the box.
why / Jason / library
what / shoes / your mum / 1980s
what / hairstyle / your gran / 1960s
where / 8 p.m. yesterday evening
1

1 when / Alice / wake up / it / rain

_________________________________________ ?

__________________________________________
__________________________________________
2 when / she / go / downstairs / her / mother /

__________________________________________

I was sitting in a caf with some friends.

2

_________________________________________ ?
_________________________________________ ?

make breakfast

She had a beehive.

__________________________________________
__________________________________________

_________________________________________ ?

3 while / they / eat / breakfast / the radio / play / music

He was doing his homework.

__________________________________________
__________________________________________
4 when / they / finish / breakfast / it / stop / raining
__________________________________________

_________________________________________ ?

_________________________________________ ?
_________________________________________ ?
She wore platform boots.

__________________________________________

 PHOTOCOPIABLE OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS

Vocabulary unit 1
1 What is the difference between these pairs of
words? Match them to the correct definition
a or b.
1 look

fashion

a a popular style of clothes, hair, etc.

3 Complete the dialogue with the words in the

box.
a detention a job a shock home married
on with presents the impression
Tom

b a particular combination of clothes, hairstyle

and make-up
2 invention

sixteenth birthday, Grandad?

Grandad

innovation

maths homework and Id got

introduced

(1)_______________ from the teacher.

b an object that has been made or designed for

But when I got (2)_______________,

the first time

my parents had arranged a party

obsession

for me. I got some fantastic

a when lots of people are very excited about

(3)_______________ from people.

something for a short time

b when a person can only think about one thing
4 discovery

Of course I do! It was a funny

day, because I had forgotten my

a when new ideas or ways of doing things are

3 craze

Do you remember much about your

exploration

I still have the watch my father gave me.

Tom

Was Gran there?

Grandad

Yes, she was. Wed known each other

a when you travel through a place to learn

for a few months. But her parents

about it

werent very happy about it. I never got

b when you learn about something for the first

(4)_______________ them. I got

time

(5)_______________ that they didnt like

2 Complete the text with the singular or plural

form of the words in exercise 1.

me very much.
Tom

How did they react when you

The world has changed since the Second World

and Grandma decided to get

War. Through space (1)_____________, we know

(6)_______________?

more about the planets in our solar system.

Grandad

They got (7)_______________ at first

Buildings look different, food is more exotic and

but they were happier when I left school

there has been a lot of (2)_____________ in the way

and got (8)_______________.

we treat our environment. Medicines are improving.

Scientists are making new (3)_____________ all the
time and we can treat more diseases. With
television and the internet, pop stars and actors
quickly become icons. Their faces are everywhere
and they influence many peoples lives. But fans
behaviour has also changed. Its normal to hear
about a fans (4)_____________ with a celebrity
which has got out of control. But while things have
changed in many ways, some (5)_____________ are
moving backwards. Some (6)_____________ from
the 60s and 70s are popular again and music from
that time is very popular, too!

4 Complete the sentences for you.

1 The last time I (or a friend) got a detention ____
__________________________________________
2 I got some fantastic presents ________________
__________________________________________
3 I get the impression that _____________________
__________________________________________
4 I got a terrible shock when ___________________
__________________________________________
5 I get on really well with ______________________
__________________________________________
6 The last time I (or a friend) got upset was ______
__________________________________________

 PHOTOCOPIABLE OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS