NARRATIVE ESSAY

(in Simple Past Tense)

Complete the table with the correct Simple Past Tense of the verbs

Regular Verbs

Present Past Present Past

walk pitch
play camp
watch collect
study cook
carry open
weigh lock
look close
clean serve
pick happen
reach arrange

Irregular Verbs

Present Past Present Past

eat drink
run write
Go read
hold hang
catch shut
teach drive
buy make
sell lead
choose feel
take think
Verbs to-have, to-be and to do Modals

Present Past
Is Present Past
can
are
will
has
shall
have
Do

Does

62
Sample 1

Question: Write a story about an accident that ends with “It had been a long
sleepless night.”

Hasmah has two children. The older child is a girl named Minah, aged nine, and the
younger boy named Yassin, aged seven.

One evening when Hasmah was in her kitchen, Minah ran in to tell her

that Yassin had fallen from the mango tree that he was climbing. He could not get up.

In a state of shock, Hasmah ran out to find Yassin lying on the ground one hand holding
the other arm. He was in considerable pain and kept crying. Fortunately Hasmah’s husband,
Jamal, returned home just then and saw what happened. Quickly he carried Yassin into his car
and together the whole family rushed to the hospital.

In the emergency room of the hospital, the attending doctor examined Yassin and had him
X-rayed. Yassin had broken his upper arm and had to be hospitalised.

The orthopaedic surgeon was called to treat Yassin. After setting the broken bone, the
surgeon applied a plaster cast to the arm. Yassin had to rest the arm for a few weeks in order for
it to heal properly. Meantime he had to remain in hospital for a week at least.

By the time Yassin was treated and warded, it was near midnight. Hasmah told Jamal to
take Minah home to sleep while she stayed at the hospital to look after Yassin.

The hospital provided a reclining chair for Hasmah to rest on but she could not sleep the
whole night through.

Hasmah tossed and turned in the unfamiliar chair. All through the right her eyes were
wide open. Sleep was furthest from her mind. Her only concerned was for Yassin. She hoped that
he would be all right.

After what seemed to be an eternity, Hasmah noticed a silver of light appear on the
eastern horizon outside the hospital window. It was dawn.

A new day had begun. The worst was over. Hasmah looked at the sleeping Yassin . She
was glad that he was resting comfortably. Hasmah breathed a sigh of relief. It had been a long
sleepless night.
Exercise 1

Rewrite the story by changing the words that have been underlined with suitable words.

Question: Write a story about a caring mother that ends with “She was thankful to the
people who had saved her beloved child.”

1. about 2. take 3. landed 4. missed 5. with 6. tell 7. all 8. well 9. dishonest 10.
fair 11. end 12. low 13. already 14. told 15. heart 16. would 17. returned 18.
scored 19. full 20. now

Jill was walking to her class slowly. She was worried about the History test she would have
to take that morning. As she was reaching the classroom, a piece of paper suddenly fluttered
down and landed near her feet. As Jill glanced down at the paper, her heart nearly missed a beat.
It was the History test paper completewith answers !

Jill's very first thought was not to tell anyone about what she had found. She would
memorize all the answers and do extremely well in the test. After some hard thinking, however,
she knew that it would be a very dishonest thing to do. Besides, it would not be fair to her
classmates. In the end, Jill returned the paper to her History teacher, Miss James.

"Thanks, Jill. I have been searching high and low for it," said the teacher.

"I...I've read all the questions already, Miss James," Jill confessed.
Miss James told her not to worry as she would think of new questions for the test.
Jill's heart sank. She was half hoping that the test would be cancelled. Nevertheless, she did her
best in the new test later that day.

A few days later, the test papers were returned to the class. To her pleasant surprise, Jill
discovered that she had scored eighty marks.

"You know something," she told her friends. "I could easily have scored fullmarks if I had
cheated on this test. But I wouldn't be as pleased as I am now with the eighty marks I obtained."

Answers
1. I have been waiting here since morning.
2. It hasn’t stopped raining since yesterday.
3. I have always been interested in metaphysics.
4. They have lived / have been living in this street for twenty years.
5. I have never been to a foreign country.
6. Where does the sun rise?
7. I am seeing Susie Monday.
8. We will need the money on the 15th.
9. ‘There is the doorbell.’ ‘I will go.’
10. She spends half of her time traveling.

Grammar Exercises - Mixed Tenses Exercises

Do the exercises below on the English tenses and click on the button to
check your answers.

(Before doing the exercises you may want to revise the lessons on the English tenses)

Put the verbs into the correct tense (simple present or present progressive)

1. Look! Sara (go) is going to the movies.

2. On her right hand, Sara (carry) is carrying her handbag.
3. The handbag (be) is very beautiful.
4. Sara usually (put) puts on black shoes but now she (wear) is wearing white
trainers.
 5. And look, she (take) is taking an umbrella because it (rain) is raining

Put the verbs into the correct tense (simple past or past perfect)

1. When he (wake up) woke up , his mother (already /prepare) had already
prepared breakfast
2. We (go) went to London because our friends (invite) had invited us
3. He (hear) heard the news, (go) went to the telephone and (call) called a
friend.
4. When she (start) started learning English she (already /learn) had already learned
French.
5. Jane (already / type) had already typed three pages when her computer
(crash) crashed .
6. By the time the doctor (arrive) arrived at the house the patient ( die) had died
.
7. Before that day we (never / think) had never thought of traveling to Japan.
8. I (know) had known him a long time before I (meet) met his family.
9. They (not / know) did not know where to meet because nobody (tell) had told
them.
10. It (be) had been / 'd been cloudy for days before it (begin) began to rain.

Put the verbs into the correct tense (simple past or present perfect).

1. I (just / finish) have just finished my homework.

2. Mary (already / write) has already written five letters.
3. Tom (move) moved to his home town in 1994.
4. My friend (be) was in Canada two years ago.
5. I (not / be) have not been to Canada so far.
6. But I (already / travel) have already traveled to London a couple of times.
7. Last week, Mary and Paul (go) went to the cinema.
8. I can't take any pictures because I (not /buy) have not bought a new film yet.
9. (they / spend) Did they spend their holidays in Paris last summer?
10. (you / ever / see ) Have you ever seen a whale?
Put the verbs into the correct tense (Simple Past or Past Progressive).

1. The receptionist (welcome) welcomed the guests and (ask) asked them to fill
in the form
2. The car (break) broke down and we (have) had to walk home.
3. The boys (swim) were swimming while the girls (sunbath) were sunbathing .
4. My father (come) came in, (look) looked and (tell) told me to tidy up my
room.
5. While one group (prepare) was preparing dinner the others (collect) were
collecting wood for the campfire.
6. While the parents (have) were having breakfast the children (run) were running
about.
7. Martha (turn) turned off the light and (go) went to bed.

Put the verbs into the correct tense (simple future or future perfect)

1. Tomorrow I think I (start) will start my new project.

2. I (finish) will have finished it by the end of this month.
3. The teacher (probably/assign) will probably assign a test to his students next
Monday.
4. He (correct) will have corrected it by the end of next week.
5. My friend (certainly/get) will certainly get a good mark.
6. By 9 o'clock, we (finish) will have finished our homework.
7. They (leave) will have left the classroom by the end of the hour.
8. I think I (start) will start my trip tomorrow

Passive – Tenses – Exercise

1. The words are explained by the teacher today.
2. We were sent a letter the day before yesterday.
3. This car will not be stolen. It's too old.
4. This street has already been closed because of snow.
5. A new restaurant will be opened next week.
6. He was invited to the party yesterday.
7. The blue box cannot be seen.
8. I was given the book by my friend last Sunday.
 9. The dishes have not been washed by my little brother.
10. I will not be asked by Robert.

Comprehension
The earth is losing its forests. Presently, trees cover about 30 percent of the earth's surface, but
they are being destroyed at an alarming rate, especially in the tropics. Timber harvesting is a
major reason for the destruction of the forests. Trees are used for building houses, making
furniture, and providing pulp for paper products, such as newspapers and magazines. At least 40
hectares of rainforest are being felled every minute, mostly in order to extract the valuable
timber.

Another way that man is destroying the world's forests is by burning them down. In the Amazon,
for example, rainforests are being burnt down at a rate of 20 hectares a minutes. The main reason
for this is to clear the land for farming. Farmers in rainforest countries are often poor and cannot
afford to buy land. Instead, these farmers clear rainforest h land to raise their animals or grow
their crops. Because tropical rainforest soil is so poor in nutrients, framers cannot reuse the same
land year after year. In the following years, farmers just clear more land, destroying the forest
piece by piece. Already more than 30 tropical countries have reached a critical level of forest
destruction and one-time exporters of timber such as Nigeria and Thailand now have to import
timber for their domestic needs.

Should we get all excited and worried about the loss of the forests ? Yes, we should. Healthy
trees are a vital part of the environment, and keep the entire balance of the atmosphere agreeable
to all life forms. Forests are catchment areas for rainwater, holding the rainwater in the leaves of
the trees, so that it will not sink so quickly into the earth's crust. Furthermore, the forests help
maintain the water cycles in the area. The masses of cloud that provide the rain are formed over
the moist forests. Thus, the destruction of forests may also lead to a reduction in rainfall over the
area, resulting in drought.

Forests also protect and feed the earth's fragile mantle of soil. Tees curb soil erosion. Without the
tree cover, the land is totally exposed to the agents of erosion, such as strong winds and heavy
rainfall. The strong winds blow away the top layers of the soil and he flowing water carries it
away into the rivers, lakes or sea. Consequently, the once fertile land is converted into a barren
wasteland. In addition, denuded hill slopes are vulnerable to landslides, which can be
catastrophic disasters, resulting in the loss of homes and lives.

Apart from preventing soil erosion and landslides, forests, with their abundant supply of leaves,
give compost back to the land, thus helping it to remain fertile. the leaves of the trees and the
droppings of the birds, animals and insects which live in them, fall to the ground, where they
decay and replenish the soil with mulch, minerals and manure.
Forests are rich in flora and fauna. The rainforests are home to over half of the entire species of
the world, which are being destroyed with the rainforests; and some of those species that are
killed will never return again. Plants and creatures are god's gift to us and they serve mankind,
each in its own way. For example, plants are the source of our clothes; and the rubber used for
tyres comes from trees. Plants are also the source of sugar, coffee, tea, rice, wheat and many
delicious and nutritious fruit.

In addition, most of the medicines that have been used by men are derived from plants and
animals. Most of the Chinese medicines, for example, such as ginseng and ginkgo, are herb-
based. An example from the realm of modern Western medicine is the drug 'vincristine'. This
drug, which is derived from a jungle plant, is used in the treatment of leukemia. Many of those
species that have not yet been discovered may very likely cure cancer, AIDS, and many of the
other diseases and virus-based illnesses of today. In fact, one research scientist in the field of
botany has concluded that in Costa Rica's forests alone, 15 percent of the plant species may have
the potential as a treatment for cancer. What potential life-saving medicines are we losing each
day as the forests are being destroyed ?

Apart from all this, let us keep in mind the most basic function of trees, which is that they
provide oxygen. All living creatures need to breathe oxygen in order to stay alive. A treeless
planet will be an airless and, therefore, a dead one.
From paragraph 1-2 :
1. (a) State two main ways that forests are being destroyed.
(b) What is the main purpose for the burning of the trees in the forests of the Amazon ?
From paragraph 2 :
2. What point is the writer trying to show in mentioning the fact that Nigeria and Thailand have
to import timber ?
From paragraph 3 :
3. (a) Explain why the destruction of forests may lead to drought.
(b) Find a word in this paragraph which means "very important".
From paragraph 4 :
4. (a) Why is soil erosion a greater problem in areas that have been cleared of forests ?
(b) Explain the meaning of "... denuded hill slopes ..." without using the italicised word.
From paragraph 7 :
5. What is 'vincristine' ?
Answers
1. (a) They are felled and burnt down.
(b) The land is cleared for cattle grazing.
2. They have lost too much of their forests.
3. (a) Forests are catchment areas for rainwater, preventing rainwater from sinking so quickly
into the ground. Masses of rain-bearing clouds form over the moist forests. Thus the
destruction of the forests may cause a reduction of rain in the area.
(b) Vital
4. (a) Without the tree cover, the land is totally exposed to the agents of erosion, such as strong
winds and heavy rainfall.
(b) Hills that have been cleared of all vegetation.
5. It is a drug used in the treatment of cancer.
Error identification
Answers

1. T h e r e w e r e ma r k s o n t h e s n o w b u t t h e y w e r e u n re c o g n i z a b l e .
2. H e l e d me t o t h e r e a r o f t h e s h o p w h e r e mo r e g o o d s w e r e
stacked.
3. T h e b r a n c h s t r u c k h i m h a r d a n d l a i d h i m u n c o n s c i o u s .
4. T h e s u d d e n n o i s e fr i g h t e n e d t h e b a b y a n d m a d e i t c r y .
5. T e d o g w a g g e d i t s t a i l w h e n i t s a w me a p p r o a c h i n g .
6. T h e r e w e r e s i g n s o f n e g l e c t s h o w i n g t h a t n o o n e w a s l i v i n g
there.
7. A ft e r a fe w m o m e n t s , t h e w o ma n o p e n e d t h e w i n d o w a n d
looked out curiously.
8. C a n y o u w r i t e a n a r t i c l e t o b e i n c l u d e d i n t h e n e x t i s s u e o f t h e
magazine ?
9. D e c i d i n g t o l e a v e , I p a c k e d my c l o t h e s a n d l e f t a n o t e t o s a y I
had gone.
10. O n e o f t h e fo r me r s t u d e n t s d o n a t e d a l a r g e s u m o f mo n e y t o
the school.