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ANUAL SAN MARCOS
Past Continuous or Past Simple
Do you know how to use the past continuous and past simple?

Look at these examples to see how the past continuous and past simple are used.

When I woke up this morning, it was snowing.

I was sleeping when you called me.

Grammar explanation
The past continuous and the past simple help us to show how two past actions or situations are connected.

Past simple

The past simple shows us that an action was in the past, not in the present. Regular past simple verbs have
-ed at the end (e.g. called, played, arrived). Irregular verbs have a different form, usually with a different
vowel sound (e.g. wake → woke, break → broke, feel → felt).

My parents called me yesterday.

I woke up early this morning.
Sam played basketball when he was at university.

We make the negative with didn’t and the infinitive verb.

My parents didn’t call me yesterday.
I didn’t wake up early this morning.
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We make the question form with did and then the subject and infinitive verb.

Did you wake up early this morning?

Did Sam play basketball when he was at university?

Past continuous

The past continuous shows us that the action was already in progress at a certain time in the past.

What were you doing at 8 p. m. last night? I was studying.

This means that I started studying before 8 p. m. and I continued after 8 p. m.

The past continuous can also show that an activity was in progress for some time, not just for a moment.

We were cleaning the house all morning.

We make the past continuous with was or were and the -ing form of the verb.

She couldn’t come to the party. She was working.

Three years ago, we were living in my home town.
I tried to give him some advice, but he wasn’t listening.
What were you doing this time last year?

Past continuous and past simple

When we use these two tenses together, it shows us that the past simple action happened in the middle of
the past continuous action, while it was in progress.

While I was studying, I suddenly felt sleepy.

We often use these tenses to show an action interrupting another action.

I broke my leg when I was skiing.

As I was going to work, I saw an old friend.
We were watching television when the power went off.

Can you see a difference in the meaning of these two sentences?

When the guests arrived, Jane was cooking dinner.

When the guests arrived, Jane cooked dinner.

In the first one, Jane started cooking dinner before the guests arrived. We know that because it uses the
past continuous. In the second sentence, the guests arrived first and then Jane started cooking.

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 Exercises
Text 1: Labrador Duck
The Labrador duck, sometimes known as the pied
duck or sand shoal duck, was a species of sea duck
that went extinct in the 1800s. It was the first North
American bird species to go extinct; the last duck
was seen in New York in the 1870s. The duck was
rare even before it went extinct, and because of
this, we have little information about the duck and
why it may have disappeared.
Male Labrador ducks were black and white with
white wings, and females were mostly gray. The
ducks’ bills were almost as long as their heads, and
they had a refined beak shape—a wide, flat tip—
that was tailored for a strict diet of mollusks. The
Labrador duck was unique among North American
ducks in that its breeding range was confined to the
North Atlantic regions of Canada, although it winte-
red as far south as New York and New Jersey. No
other North American duck breeds exclusively in
this area, as all others that breed in the North Atlan-
tic breed in other locales as well. Having a narrow
breeding and wintering ranges likely made the La-
brador duck more vulnerable to changes in its ha-
bitat than other ducks.
There are various theories for why these sea ducks
may have gone extinct. While they were killed and
sold in New York and Baltimore markets for their
meat, they were poorly regarded for taste. Over-
hunting alone cannot explain the ducks’ extinction,
but overharvest of the birds and their eggs in bree-
ding grounds might have been a contributing factor.
They were also hunted for feathers. In addition, the
birds may have struggled to find food in the win-
ter; mussel and shellfish populations declined as
a result of human population growth on the coast,
leading to less food for the ducks during the winter
months.
Fifty-five old specimens of the Labrador duck are
preserved today in museums around the world.
Even though our information about the species is
incomplete, the extinction of this beautiful duck
can serve as a reminder of how delicate our
ecosystems are.
1. Which best describes the Labrador duck?
A) A duck that was once common but beca-
me extinct because of overhunting
B) A duck that was never common but beca-
me extinct for various reasons
C) A duck that was once common but beca-
me extinct for various reasons
D) A duck that was never common but beca-
me extinct because of overhunting
2. Where would you be least likely to see a Labra-
dor duck when it existed?
A) In the ocean
B) In the North Atlantic
C) In the Pacific Ocean
D) New York
3. Which of the following represented an adapta-
tion discussed in this passage?
A) The bill of the Labrador duck
B) The coloring of the Labrador duck
C) The breeding range of the Labrador duck
D) The feathers of the Labrador duck
4. According to the author, what was the major diffe-
rence between male and female Labrador ducks?
A) coloration
B) size
C) bill shape
D) wintering range
5. Which of the following does not qualify as a
cause and effect relationship?
A) As a result of overhunting, Labrador duck
populations declined
B) As a result of the narrow breeding and winte-
ring range of the Labrador duck, the mollus-
ks that it preyed upon likely became scarce
C) As a result of human population growth,
Labrador duck populations declined
D) As a result of the harvest of its eggs, Labra-
dor duck populations declined
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Text 2:
U.S. GOVERNMENT (Congress)
THE SENATE
The U.S. Senate is the upper house of Congress. Unli-
ke the House of Representatives, the Senate consists
of two senators for each state, regardless of that sta-
te’s population. This ensures equal representation
for each state. Hence, there are 100 senators.
Senators serve six-year terms, however, senate
elections are held every two years to ensure that no
state ever holds an election in which both Senate
seats are in contention. Elections are held on the
first Tuesday after the first Monday in November in
even-numbered years. Senators must be 30 years
of age, a citizen of the United States for the prior
nine years, and must live in the state they seek to
represent. Much of the work done in the Senate is
performed in committees. 16 standing committees,
each with a specific jurisdiction (such as foreign
relations, judicial review, or finance) edit, amend,
and consider bills related to those jurisdictions.
Powers exclusive to the Senate include the appro-
val of treaties as a condition to their ratification, and
the approval of federal judges and cabinet mem-
bers as a condition of their appointment. The Sena-
te also tries impeachments.
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
The U.S. House of Representatives is one of the two
houses of Congress. Unlike the Senate, a state’s
number of representatives is based on its popula-
tion. States with large populations have more repre-
sentatives than states with small populations. The
state of California, America’s most populous state,
currently has 55 representatives. There are 435 total
representatives, and each serves a two-year term.
Like the Senate, the House of Representatives per-
forms much of its legislative work in committees.
The House of Representatives has 20 standing com-
mittees. Much like the Senate committees, these
committees meet to review, amend, edit, and con-
sider bills specific to certain jurisdictions such as
agriculture, revenue, or foreign relations. The top
officer of the House of Representatives is referred
to as the Speaker of the House. He or she is elected
by other members of the House and has substan-
tial powers, including choosing the order in which
other representatives speak, choosing members of
conference committees, and choosing which com-
mittees review specific bills. Representatives must
01- B 03- A
4 02- C 04- A
be 25 years old, a U.S. citizen for seven years, and a
resident of the state they wish to represent.
Much like the Senate, the House of Representa-
tives has exclusive powers including the right to
impeach (an impeachment is a legal statement of
charges against an official. The Senate only has the
power to try impeachment.), to initiate revenue
bills (those involving money), and to elect the pre-
sident in the case of an electoral tie.
6. Which of the following is NOT true about a U.S.
Senator?
A) Only men can be senators.
B) They must be a citizen of the United States
for at least 9 years prior to appointment.
C) They must be 30 years old.
D) They must live in the state they hope to
represent.
7. The top official in the U.S. House of Represen-
tatives is known as the _______________ of the
House.
A) Leader B) President
C) Speaker D) Master
8. The number of representatives per state in the
House of Representative is determined by the
____________ of that state.
A) population B) total area
C) income level D) power
9. ____________________ has the most
representatives.
A) California B) New York
C) Texas D) Alaska
10. In the following passage:
The House of Representatives has 20 standing
committees. Much like the Senate committees,
these committees meet to review, amend, edit,
and consider bills specific to a certain jurisdictions
such as agriculture, revenue, or foreign relations.
What does “amend” mean?
A) determine B) change
C) withdraw D) trade
05- B 07- C 09- A
06- A 08- A 10- B