MEETING 2
THE TENSES: Present Continuous Tense, Simple Present Tense, Past Tense & Past Continuous Tense
BREAKING THE ICE
Guessing the Tenses
What tense does each sentence refer to?
1. It is related to our daily activities.
2. The singer is singing now.
3. ‘DID’ is the word we use to start a yes – no question.
4. A fortune teller often use this tense.
5. SINCE and FOR are the adverbs of times used in this
tense.
6. VERB ING and IS, AM, ARE are used in this tense.
7. CERTAIN TIME in the PAST is required to form this
tense.
8. Present verb with S, ES or IES sometimes are used in
this tense.
9. My brother went to California yesterday.
10. Will Mr. Morningstar marry that news anchor?
READING COMPREHENSION
Choose the correct alternative.
Edison, Thomas Alva (1847-1931) US inventor
Thomas Edison (1) started / was starting work on the railway
when he was twelve, selling newspapers and snacks. There
were long periods with nothing for him to do, so he (2) built
/ was building himself a little laboratory in the luggage van.
He could carry out experiments there when he (3) didn't sell
/ wasn't selling things to passengers. He also (4) joined / was
joining a library and (5) read / was reading every single book
in it.
One day, when he (6) waited / was waiting at a station, he (7)
noticed / was noticing a small boy. The boy (8) played / was
playing by the track, unaware that a train (9) approached /
was approaching. Edison (10) ran / was running out and (11)
grabbed / was grabbing the child just in time. The child's father
was so grateful that he (12) offered / was offering to teach
Edison to be a telegraph operator. Edison accepted the offer
and soon he (13) had / was having regular lessons. After a
year, he was good enough to get a job in the telegraph office.
He continued to read and experiment whenever he (14) had /
was having time. At twenty-one he (15) left / was leaving the
telegraph office to devote all his time to being an inventor. He
(16) went on / was going on to invent the electric light bulb,
the phonograph and the movie camera.
VOCABULARY ACQUISITION
The symbol (S) indicates that an idiom is separable-that a direct ob-
ject may be placed between the verb and the prepositional particle.
In these cases, examples are given with the idiom both separated and
unseparated.
1. to get on: (to enter, board. Note also how get or catch
is used.)
- I always get on the bus at 34th Street. I catch it at 8:30
a.m.
- William gets on the subway at the same station every
morning. He gets the one on 8th Avenue marked "AA."
2. to get off: (to leave, descend from)
- Helen got off the bus at 42nd Street.
- At what station did you get off the subway?
- Do you usually get off there?
3. to put on: (to place on oneself—usually said of
clothes) (S)
- Mary put on her scarf and left the room.
- Why is John putting on his coat and hat?
- Put your hat on before you leave the house.
4. to take off: (to remove: said particularly of clothes) (S)
- John took off his hat as he entered the room.
- Is Helen taking off her coat because it is too hot in the
room?
- Take your sweater off in this warm room.
5. to call or call up: (to telephone) (S)
- I forgot to call up Mr. Jones yesterday, although I
promised to call him exactly at 3 o'clock.
- Call me up tomorrow, Jane: we’ll arrange to have lunch
together.
6. to turn on: (to start, begin) (S)
- Please turn on the light; this room is dark.
- Someone turned on the radio while we were out.
- Do you know who turned it on?
7. to turn off: (to stop, terminate, extinguish) (S)
- Shall I turn off the stereo or are you still listening to it?
- Please turn off the light when you leave the room.
- Shall I turn the oven off?
8. right away: (immediately, very soon)
- Dad says that dinner will be ready right away, so we’d
better wash our hands.
- Can William come to my office right away? I must see
him immediately.
- It will only take me a minute to repair your shoes;
they’ll be ready right away.
9. pick up: (to take, especially using one’s fingers) (S)
- Harry picked up the newspaper which was on his desk.
- Why didn’t you pick up that pencil which was on the
floor?
- I would have picked it up if I had noticed it.
10. at once: (immediately, very soon, right away)
- He was in a hurry, so he asked me to come to his office
at once.
- I want you to send this telegram at once; it’s urgent.
11. to get up: (to arise, to move from a lying or sitting
position to a standing one) (S)
- I get up at 7 o’clock every morning.
- What time does your brother usually get up? "What!" said Jim. "I had guessed they were worth at (6)
- The man was so weak that the nurse was unable to get _____________ five."
"No," said the man, "they aren't worth a penny more (7)
him up from the chair. _____________ two dollars."
"Are you sure?" asked Jim.
12. at first: (originally, in the first instance) "Very sure," said the man.
- At first he seemed to find English difficult, but later he "Well," said Jim, taking two dollars out of his pocket, "here's your
money. These pants were hanging outside your store with a price
made good progress.
(8) _____________ that said $6.50, but I thought that was too much
- At first I thought it was Sheila at the door, but then I money, (9) _____________ I wanted to make sure how much they
saw that it was Betty. were really worth."
Then he walked out of the store with the pair of pants and dis-
Substitute an idiomatic expression for the word or appeared before the surprised store owner could think of (10)
words in italics.* Make any necessary changes in the
_____________ to say.
form of the word in parentheses. Some substitutions
may require other grammatical changes as well. Now, listen to the story your teacher tells you and check
1. He arises at the same time every morning. your answer
(get _____________)
Example: He gets up at the same time every morning.
2. She telephoned me very late last night.
(call _____________)
3. Helen said that she was going to mail the letter
immediately. (right _____________)
4. Be sure to extinguish the light before you leave the
room. (turn _____________)
5. Pat placed on herself her new hat while looking in the
mirror. (put _____________)
6. Remove your overcoat and sit down for a few minutes.
(take _____________)
7. Originally I thought it was Bob who was calling me:
(at _____________)
8. We boarded the bus at Broadway and 79th Street.
(get _____________)
9. The bus was so crowded that we had difficulty in
leaving. (get _____________)
10. John took with his fingers the pencil which was lying
on the floor. (pick _____________)

LISTENING COMPREHENSION
Complete the missing gaps. Use only one word for each.

Jim walked (1) _____________ a store which had a (2)

_____________ outside: "Second-hand clothes bought and (3)
_____________." He was carrying an old pair of pants and asked the
(4) _____________ of the store, "How much will you give me for (5)
_____________?" The man looked at them and then said rudely,
"Two dollars."