Практикум по грамматике английского языка : учебное пособие

Exercise 44. Put in the correct form of the verbs in brackets. Use either 
Past Continuous or Past Simple.
Thomas Edison ____________ (start) work on the railway when he was 
twelve. He sold newspapers and snacks. There were long periods with nothing 
for him to do, so he ____________ (build) himself a little laboratory in the lug-
gage van where he could carry out experiments when he ____________ (not/
sell) things to the passengers. Another way that he ____________ (occupy) 
himself was by reading. He ____________ (join) a library and ____________ 
(read) every single book in it. One day, when he ____________ (wait) at a sta-
tion he ____________ (notice) a small boy who ____________ (play) by the 
track, unaware that a train ____________ (approach). Edison ____________ 
(run) out and ____________ (grab) the child just in time. The child’s father 
____________ (be) so grateful that he ____________ (offer) to teach Edison 
to be a telegraph operator. Edison ____________ (accept) the offer and soon 
he ____________ (have) regular lessons. After a year, he ____________ (be) 
good enough to get a job in the telegraph office. He ____________ (contin-
ue) to read and experiment, whenever he ____________(have) time. At twen-
ty-one he ____________ (leave) the telegraph office and devoted all his time 
to being an inventor. He ____________ (go) on to invent the electric light 
bulb, the phonograph and the movie camera.
Exercise 45. Choose the correct form of the verbs in the following stories.
A. When I was a boy, I wanted/used to want to be a musician. I used to play/
would play the drums. I was practising/would practise for hours every 
evening. I went /used to go to my local jazz club every week to listen. 
The Rollers played/were playing there. Unfortunately, their drummer 
would fall ill/fell ill so he couldn’t play. They were asking/asked me to 
take his place, and, of course, I used to agree/agreed. It was awful. After 
that, I still went/used to go to the club, but I would never offer/never 
offered to play again, and they certainly didn’t use to ask/didn’t ask me.
B. People sometimes say that there’s nothing new in the world of fashion. 
Gloria was a well-known model during the seventies. When her children 
were in their early teens they were enjoying/used to enjoy looking at 
her old photo albums. They were find ing/found it hard to believe that 
she was wearing/used to wear such strange clothes. Did people really 
use to think/Were people really thinking flared trousers looked good? 
And those ugly platform shoes! She was admitting/admitted that people 
were often falling over/often used to fall over because the heels were so 
high. In the early nineties, however, Gloria would notice/ noticed to her 
amusement that the styles of the seven ties were/used to be in fashion 

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again. «I planned/was planning to throw all my old clothes away,» she 
said, «but my daughter used to go/went to a party last week, and guess 
what she wore/was wearing—that’s right, some of my old clothes!»