Answers to Activities C-2-1; C-2-2; C-2-3; C-2-4; C-2-6
C-2-1
One day, when we were waiting for the teacher, my friend and I went to the shelf to look at the objects on it. We saw a toy car on top of the shelf and because it was too high to reach, my friend hung on the edge of the shelf and started to climb up. Suddenly his left hand collided with the flower vase. It fell on the floor with a little dry sound; the flower vase was broken into pieces.
C-2-2
1. was / got / 7. was going / decided / 13. didn’t know / had never gotten2. drove / 8. sped / started / 14. thought
3. was / was / 9. were / was / 15. got / asked
4. drove / were / 10. was / joked / said / 16. wrote
5. had passed / got / sped / 11. heard / saw / 17. kept / gave
6. used / 12. was / motioned / 18. got / continued
C-2-3
12
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22 / I felt surprised, then happy, the doubtful all in one split second when I found out I had been chosen to be a star in the school play. That was my dream, to stand on the stage to give a performance. When the notice was published, everyone congratulated me. At that time, I felt happy about it; on the other hand, I felt nervous. I asked myself, could I give a good performance on the stage? Could I adapt to playing in front of a crowd? Could I speak loud enough in the play? When I thought about these problems, my jaw shook. But I decided I would try my best to be a good actor. I had been in the drama society for two years. I had learned some acting skill, but that was not enough for the play. The play would be opening in two months. I rushed into the frenzied business of rehearsal. Gradually I got used to it, and I even began to enjoy acting. The night of the performance came. No sooner had the curtain gone up than my eyes were confronted with thousands of gleaming eyes in the darkness. I stood on the stage and spoke, but my hands and legs were trembling. My voice didn’t tremble, so I looked full of confidence, but, in fact, I was very nervous. When the curtain fell, the audience gave us a big hand and cheered.
Then we knewwe had done a good job in the play. When the curtain went up again, we gave thanks to the audience, but the cheer sounded louder than before. At that time I felt I had won an Oscar for the best actor. When we finished all of the work after the play, we took some pictures as a memento. Now, I keep a copy of that picture on my dresser. When I look at this picture, I think about the cheer from the audience, the events during rehearsal, and the personal satisfaction of entertaining the people. That memory will be in my mind forever.
Chi (Matthew) Wong
1.Part One: Story starts on line 1 and ends on line 15.
Part Two: Comments start on line 16.
2. The verb tense that is used in the part that tells the story is the “simple past” because this is the tense used when telling a story.
3. a. line 1-2: found out – had been chosen: the choosing happened before the finding out; therefore, found out is in the simple past, and had been chosen is in the past perfect.
line 16: knew – had done: we did it before we knew it.
b. rushed – came – stood – spoke - looked: simple past tense is used in telling a story.
c. were trembling: past progressive is used to express an action in progress at some time in the past.
4. The verb tense that is used in the part that comments on the story is the “past perfect” because it expresses events that happened before the past event that is described.
C-2-4
12
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11 / One day I was hired to work for a tree company. My first day of work with this company was the beginning of a new experience which was very dangerous. We were in a place out of town. We begin to work under high power lines cutting small trees. Robert, my partner, was cut them with a big machete and I was spraying them to kill the roots of the trees. We are about one hundred yards from the truck when we have heard a strange noise coming from the brush which was two or three feet away from us. We couldn’t see anything. I jump away from there; at the same time, Robert hit his machete again and again until the noise stop. Then, he had put his hand in the brush and pulled out a big rattlesnake. That experience I had the first day of work was only the beginning of more exciting things that happen to me.
Victor Amaya
1. line 3: We began to work... Use the simple past to tell a story.
2. line 4: Robert, my partner, was cutting them... Use the past progressive to indicate that an action is in progress in the past.
3. line 5: We were about ... Use the simple past to tell a story.
4. line 6: when we heard... The hearing happened at the same time, so you need to keep using the simple past.
5. line 7: I jumped away... Still telling the story. Use simple past.
6. line 8: until the noise stopped... Still telling the story. Use the simple past.
7. line 9: he put his hand... This is not a comment, but one of the steps in the story; therefore, it needs to have the same tense as the story line, which is the simple past.
8. line 11: have happened... Many things have happened in that job after this first day experience. He is commenting on what things that happened before.
C-2-6
1. As soon as the bell rang, all the students rushed into their classrooms.
2. The moment that I walked into the class. Everyone stared at me as if I were a strange guy.
3. Until the teacher asked me to take a seat, I felt I was doing something wrong.
4. When I looked out the window, I saw a lot of students playing soccer, which was my favorite game.
5. When the whole class laughed at me, I felt so embarrassed.
6. While I stood in front of the school, the only thing I could hear was the sound of the birds that came from some trees.
7. After the sky became darker and darker, the houses began switching on lights.