A Misunderstanding< A Misunderstanding 1. Do you find it necessary to know at least one foreign language ? 2. Why do you think so ? 3. How many foreign languages do you know ? 4. What is in your opinion more important to speak in a French or German-speaking country: an international language like English or the language of the natives ? Why ? Text: 1. Read the story below and guess what "Noch einmal" in English means. * A foreigner was once travelling through Austria. He was driving through many towns and villages. The weather was great and he liked the country and the people very much. ┘ * The sun was shining up in the sky, but the weather changed suddenly, it got cool, the sky turned dark and eventually a storm came: it was raining, bolts of lightning were flashing in the sky, it was thundering and it was hailing. The foreigner didn't drive further on such a storm, he entered into a pub instead. It was lunchtime and the man was hungry. A table by the window was free, so he sat there.┘ * The man couldn't understand a word in German. Besides his mother tongue, he could speak a little holiday English but that didn't help, because the host didn't speak any foreign language. With some pain, the foreigner ordered a vegetable soup. ┘ * Then he looked around. Some guests were eating schnitzel with potato salad, others were enjoying liver with a vegetable side. His neighbour was gorging himself on a portion of roast and mushrooms. He just called the host and told him in German: "Noch einmal". The host ran to the kitchen and brought him one more plate with roast and mushrooms. The foreigner decided to order a roast with mushrooms, too. He called the host and repeated the words of his neighbour: "Noch einmal."┘ * To his disappointment, the host brought him again vegetable soup. The traveller was puzzled and confused. He wondered why for his neighbour "Noch einmal" meant roast with mushrooms and for him it meant vegetable soup. 1 A Misunderstanding< 2. Underline examples of the Past Continuous (was/were + ing) in the text. 3. Find examples of the Past Simple (e.g. regular ordered; irregular was) in the text and circle them. 4. Fill in the gaps with Past Simple or Past Continuous. The ______________________ is used to describe an action in progress at a certain moment or during a period of time in the past. The_______________________ is used to talk about finished actions that happened in the past. The Past Continuous and the Past Simple Use 1. We use the Past Continuous to set the background of the story. The events and actions of the story are usually described using the Past Simple. I was peacefully drinking my coffee (background situation )when suddenly an explosion in the street interrupted the silence (event) . The use of Past Continuous to describe actions is also possible. It was raining and thundering and I was watching the storm from behind the glass of my window. Sometimes the events happen at the same time as the background situation. I was drinking my coffee when a loud explosion in the street broke the quiet of the morning. I almost choked on my coffee. 1 Underline the verbs which set the scene and circle the events. a) The sun was shining up in the sky , but the weather changed suddenly, it got cool, the sky turned dark and eventually a storm came. b) Then he looked around. Some guests were eating schintzel with potato salad, others were enjoying liver with vegetable side. His neighbour was gorging himself on a portion of roast and mushrooms. He 2 A Misunderstanding< just called the host and told him in German: "Noch einmal". The host ran to the kitchen and brought him one more plate with roast and mushrooms. The foreigner decided to order a roast with mushrooms, too. He called the host and repeated the words of his neighbour: "Noch einmal." 2. We use the Past Continuous when we are interested in the duration of the action and not in the particular order of the events . This time last year I was living in lockdown at home and working online. It was quite a difficult time! Compare with: Lockdown was declared. I lived in isolation at home. I worked several difficult months online. Form The Past Continuous is formed with the past tense of be and the -ing form of the verb. Positive statements I/ she/ he/ it Was working You/ we/ they were working Negative statements I was not (wasn’t) working. Wh-questions Where was he working? Yes/ No questions Positive short answers Negative short answers Was she working ? Were you working ? Yes, he/she/it was. Yes, we/ you,/they were. No I/he/she/it wasn’t. No,you/we/they weren’t. Why were they working? you were not. (weren’t) working. Grammar activity Exercise 1. Choosing the best form. Tick (✓) the best sentence for the speaker to use Example: I want to know about you and your friends’ reaction at the news that your football team won the match.. a) What did you do when your football team won the match. b) What were you doing when your football team won the match.✓ 3 A Misunderstanding< 1. I want you to describe the atmosphere in the pub when you arrived. a) The visitors were drinking, eating, talking and listening to music.______ b) The visitors drank, ate, talked and listened to music._______ 2. I’m thinking of the whole lecture. a) The lecturer was talking too fast.______ b) The lecturer talked too fast._____ 3. I want to tell you about the comedy show. a) Everybody was laughing._____ b) Everybody laughed._______ 4. I want you to see my room now. a) I cleaned it all day yesterday.______ b) I was cleaning it all day yesterday._____ 5. Look at my clothes ! They’re wet. a) Somebody poured a pail of water on me when I was on my way here.______ b) Somebody was pouring water when I was on my way here.______ 6. I want you to show that different things happened one after another. a) He was coming into his flat, putting off his clothes, going to the bathroom, washing his hands.______ b) He came into his flat, put off his clothes, went to the bathroom, washed his hands.______ 7. I want to show you that different things happened at the same time. a) When I arrived at the party, everyone was dancing, making jokes, laughing, serving drinks and snacks.____ b) When I arrived at the party, everyone danced, made jokes, laughed, served drinks and snacks._______ 8. Can you describe the situation at the time the accident happened ? a) The driver was legally crossing the street when the biker ran into his car._____ b) The driver crossed the street legally when the biker was running into his car._____ 4 A Misunderstanding< Exercise 2. Written practice Fill in the gap in story with the verbs in their right form (Past Simple/Past Continuous) It ____________ (rain) heavily that evening. Jamie______________(drive) to the café where Chad, her boyfriend, as she ________(think), _____________(wait) for her. She ________(be) in a hurry and the visibility________(be) poor. While she _______________(race) to the place of meeting, a man in a coat __________ (run) across the street. Jamie ____________ (notice) the pedestrian too late. She___________ (step) on the brake pedal with all her might. Still, she __________ (can not) avoid collision. The car _________ (hit) the man and now he ___________ (lie) motionless on the pavement. Jamie _________ (be) very scared but she ____________ (hesitate) to call the police and she________ (drive) on. When she entered the café, Chad_______________(not wait) for her. Question: Why do you think Chad _______(be) late for the date? Answer: Because Jamie ______________ (hurry) too much. Exercise 3. Story writing Write a short story of your own like the one in Exercise 2 and use the verbs in the Past Continuous and Past Simple. ___________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________ 5
