3 Choose the best ending (a or b) for the sentences, 1 We couldn't open the front door because
a it had snowed all night. b it snowed all night
2 It was a lovely spring day and the birds
a sang
b were singing
3 I looked out of the window and noticed that
a it had stopped raining b it was stopping raining
4 The plants died because we
a were forgetting to water them.
b forgot to water them,
5 Before I left the house, 1
a locked all the windows, b was locking all the windows,
6 I wasn't particularly hungry because
a I'd already had lunch. b I already had lunch.
- a) it had snowed all night.
- b) it snowed all night.
Answer: a) it had snowed all night.
Explanation: The past perfect tense ("had snowed") is used to indicate that the action of snowing happened before the action of not being able to open the front door.
2. It was a lovely spring day and the birds
- a) sang
- b) were singing
Answer: a) sang
Explanation: "Sang" is the simple past tense and it indicates a completed action in the past. As the sentence does not provide any information about the duration or ongoing nature of the bird's singing, the simple past tense is appropriate.
3. I looked out of the window and noticed that
- a) it had stopped raining
- b) it was stopping raining
Answer: a) it had stopped raining
Explanation: The past perfect tense ("had stopped") is used to indicate that the action of stopping raining happened before the action of noticing. It suggests that at the time of noticing, the rain had already stopped.
4. The plants died because we
- a) were forgetting to water them.
- b) forgot to water them.
Answer: b) forgot to water them.
Explanation: The simple past tense ("forgot") is used to indicate a past action that is not ongoing. The sentence suggests that the plants died as a result of the failure to water them in the past, not because of an ongoing action of forgetting to water them.
5. Before I left the house,
- a) locked all the windows
- b) was locking all the windows
Answer: a) locked all the windows
Explanation: The simple past tense ("locked") is used to indicate a completed action in the past. The sentence implies that before leaving the house, all the windows were locked at one point in time.
6. I wasn't particularly hungry because
- a) I'd already had lunch.
- b) I already had lunch.
Answer: a) I'd already had lunch.
Explanation: The past perfect tense ("I'd already had") is used to indicate an action completed before a certain point in the past. The sentence suggests that having lunch already happened before the feeling of not being particularly hungry.