PAST CONTINUOUS

I. Complete the sentences with the past continuous form of the verbs in brackets.
1. Luckily, it ________________ (not rain) when I went out this morning.
2. ________ the rescue workers ________ (help) the victims at 9 o’clock yesterday?
3. The people ________________ (rebuild) their damaged homes when we visited the village.
4. _______ they still _________ (install) an earthquake warning system at the time the earthquake
happened?
5. A buffalo ________________ (eat) on the field when a lightning strike hit it.
6. I was outside at 8 p.m. I ________________ (not watch) the news about the hurricane at that time.
7. Some tourists ________________ (swim) in the ocean when the tsunami occurred.
8. What Josh ________________ (do) when you called him about the landslide?
9. My father ________________ (repair) the fences while my mom was fixing the windows.
10. The victim ________________ (look) for his emergency kit when the volcano erupted again.
II. Underline the correct answer.
1. A magnitude 7.1 earthquake shook / was shaking Southern California on Friday.
2. At that time, they provided / were providing food and water to earthquake victims.
3. Rescue teams saved I were saving hundreds of people from floods in Metro Manila.
4. Last year, about 20 typhoons hit / were hitting the northern regions of the country.
5. A massive landslide buried / was burying dozens of homes near a central Philippine mountain.
6. They repaired / were repairing roads and bridges damaged by the hurricane when we came.
7. At 7 a.m., people cleared / were clearing storm debris across the northwest Florida coast.
8. Everyone was running while the tsunami approached / was approaching the shores.
9. A submarine volcanic eruption caused / was causing tsunamis last month.
10. The firefighters put out / were putting out the fire when they noticed a baby koala.
III. Underline the correct form.
On 26 December 2004, Tilly Smith, a 10-year-old British schoolgirl (1) walked / was walking on the
beach with her family. Suddenly Tilly (2) felt / was feeling that something was wrong. She could see that the
water (3) rose / was rising and waves (4) came / were coming up the beach. The beach (5) got / was getting
smaller and smaller. She (6) didn’t know / wasn’t knowing that there had been an earthquake in Sumatra
that morning, but she suddenly (7) remembered / was remembering a geography lesson she had had at
school just two weeks before. She (8) told / was telling her mother what she had learned about earthquake
and giant waves. Tilly (9) started / was starting screaming at her parents to get off the beach. They (10)
took/were taking Tilly back to their hotel and (11) raised / raising the alarm. Thanks to Tilly, everybody from
that beach (12) survived / was surviving that terrible day.
IV. Put the verbs in brackets into the present simple, present continuous, past simple, past continuous or
future simple.
1. Look! The fire _______________ (burn) over 50 hectares of pine forests.
2. If they don’t run now, flames _______________ (trap) them inside that smoke-filled apartment.
3. _______ the tornado ________ (touch) down last night?
4. At that time, they _______________ (not know) where to shelter from the storm.
5. Tornadoes _______________ (come) from the energy released in a thunderstorm.
6. We _______________ (not drive) outside in the storm at 9 o’clock yesterday morning.
7. Oh no! We’re afraid that the heavy rain _______________ (flood) the whole city.
8. The volcano _______________ (erupt) and _______________ (cause) a tsunami last week.
9. Some tourists _______________ (put out) the fire when the fire engines _______________ (arrive) at the
cottage.
10. What _______ the students ________ (do)? ~ They(learn) about tsunami’s warning signs.
11. I _______________ (think) that we(run) out of food and water soon.
12. The rescue team _______________ (find) the child while they _______________ (search) the collapsed
building.
V. Choose the correct answers.
1. The drought happens because there ___________ no rain in this area at all.
a. are b. was c. is d. were
2. A flood ___________ when a large amount of water covers the land.
a. occurs b. occurred c. is occurring d. was occurring
3. Yesterday’s earthquake ___________ 8.0 on the Richter scale.
a. measures b. is measuring c. was measuring d. measured
4. Hurricane Dorian ___________ the Abaco Islands as a category 5 hurricane on September 1.
a. strike b. struck c. strikes d. was striking
5. We were frightened because the whole building ___________ violently.
a. trembled b. is trembling c. was trembling d. trembles
6. Look over there! A tornado ___________ the residential areas!
a. approaches b. approached c. is approaching d. will approach
7. Thanks to the help of technology, humans ___________ hurricanes and heavy rains now.
a. predict b. are predicting c. will predict d. can predict
8. A tornado watch is issued when there is a possibility that a tornado ___________.
a. will touch b. touches c. touched d. was touching
9. The fishermen ___________ to Hawaii when they witnessed a volcanic eruption.
a. is sailing b. are sailing c. were sailing d. was sailing
10. Cars can’t get through this area because people ___________ the damaged roads and bridges.
a. still repair b. still repaired c. will still repair d. are still repairing
VI. Make sentences from the cues given. Use the past simple or past continuous.
1. Unfortunately/ the blaze/ damage/ a total/10 houses/ the area.
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2. On the way/ the US Northeast/ Hurricane Sandy/ kill/ 72 people/ the Caribbean.
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3. 8 o’clock yesterday/ the tornado/ move/ across/ the Pacific Ocean/ high speed.
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4. the residents/ leave/ their homes/ when/ the volcano/ erupt?
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5. While/ the storm/ rage/ outside/ we/ sleep/ soundly/ inside our house.
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6. How many/ people/ hike/ through the forest/ when/ the landslide/ occur?
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7. Life/ be/ difficult/ when/ a drought/ hit/ Mekong Delta/ last year.
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8. A lot of people/ work/ inside/ that building/ when/ an earthquake/ shake/ the ground.
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